On Trayvon Martin: A Guest Post From a Teenager, and Some Teaching Suggestions

Updated | April 1, 2012

How are you talking about the Trayvon Martin case in your classroom — or at your dinner table?

On March 23 we published a guest post that touched on the case and suggestedways to talk to students about sensitive issues in the news in general. We also posted a Student Opinion question, “What Is Your Reaction to the Trayvon Martin Case?”

Now we’re following up with a guest post by Anthony Turner, a 19-year-old senior at Brooklyn Community Arts and Media High School.

Mr. Turner is a writer for Youth Communication, a New York City organization that publishes true stories by teenagers to “help marginalized youth develop their full potential through reading and writing.” I reached out to the organization, one I’ve admired since I was a classroom teacher myself and read its publications with my students, to ask if any of its writers would like to submit a guest post. You might invite your students to post comments on Mr. Turner’s essay, below.

We’ve also listed some related resources from The Times and The Learning Network, along with a few key questions they raise on race and stereotyping, gun laws, activism and the role of young black men in our society.

Please tell us how you’re addressing this news with the young people you know.

Trayvon Martin, Unarmed and Innocent

By Anthony Turner

Youth CommunicationAnthony Turner

You would never think a walk to the store would get you killed, right? Well, that was what happened to 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. As he was coming back home from the store carting an iced tea and Skittles, a neighborhood watch volunteer named George Zimmerman felt “intimidated” by the young man and shot him, killing him.

This brings up a lot of questions: When does an innocent high school student become “intimidating,” “threatening” or “suspicious”? How intimidating can someone be with a few munchies in their hand, just walking down the street? If you’re a black kid with a hoodie, is it immediately assumed that you’re “bad” or a “troublemaker”? Would things have been different if Martin was a white kid strolling down the street or if he had been dressed differently?

As a young black male myself, I sometimes get the sense that other people judge me on my appearance. The fact that I’m a black kid in a hoodie is a mark against me (even though I don’t do anything “suspicious” at all). At times I feel self-conscious, wondering if people on the subway or street automatically wonder: “Is he a troublemaker? Should I hold onto my phone tighter?” It makes me feel bad to think that these kinds of thoughts surface in people’s heads when they see a black person.

Part of the problem is that the media — including some black celebrities — depict black males as dangerous. In many music videos we’re the same people who talk about shooting, stealing people’s money and being tough in the ‘hood. That has an influence on both young men of color and on perceptions of us. In my neighborhood a lot of guys sag their pants, wear hoodies and walk with a distinct swagger and cold glares. However, there is a big difference between copying a “tough” look and actually being a real threat.

That is one reason Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” law, which justifies bodily harm or death if the person feels intimidated or threatened, is so flawed: anyone can feel threatened if they are scared or paranoid about their safety. And it seems that Zimmerman was paranoid. A recent New York Times articlesaid that Zimmerman “had placed 46 calls to 911 in 14 months, for reports including open windows and suspicious people.” But simply “looking suspicious” in someone’s eyes shouldn’t give that person the right to put his hands on you. Or shoot you in the chest.

Even if you are feeling threatened, it seems ridiculous to follow the person who is scaring you, which is what Zimmerman did. I have felt legitimately threatened before, and I didn’t “stand my ground.” For example, one time, I was walking around Atlantic Mall, a popular shopping center in Brooklyn. A group of kids tried to rob me and my friend. My friend ran, but I went into a nearby store. To my surprise, the guys followed me. I asked the store manager for help and he was able to get a cab for me to avoid the guys. I was so scared I was shaking and my heart was pounding wildly. I felt betrayed that my own race would try to come after me, to rob me. But I never thought: “You know what would make New York a safer, more fair place to live? A law that would allow me to carry around a gun and shoot anyone who makes me feel intimidated.”

Respond to Mr. Turner’s essay by posting a comment here.

Key Questions for Teaching

The following questions are suggested by the related Times articles and Opinion pieces that are linked above them.

From “In the Eye of a Firestorm,” an in-depth article on the case and the questions it raises published on April 1. (For earlier articles on the details of the case, search the Times Topics page on Trayvon Martin.)

What are the known facts in this case? What does George Zimmerman say happened? What do the 911 tapes show? What do witnesses say?
What is not known? What questions have been raised about the events?

From “Trayvon Martin, My Son and the Black Male Code”

What is the “black male code”? Are you familiar with it, or something like it?
Do you think that, because of stereotyping, black men and boys have to “go above and beyond” to show strangers that they are not threatening?
Is this father “doing what any responsible parent would do: teaching my son how to protect himself,” or do you think, as he says his white friends might, that he is unnecessarily teaching his son to be paranoid?

From “Young, Black and Male in America”

Why are young black men disproportionately singled out for discipline in school and more likely to be stopped and frisked by New York City police officers?
What can be done to address these imbalances?

From the Room for Debate post “Killing, With the Law on Your Side”:

What is the “Stand Your Ground” law and how does it apply in this case?
What have been the consequences of the law in Florida since it was passed in 2005?
Does self-defense legislation like Stand Your Ground laws provide too much criminal immunity when innocent people are shot by someone who feels threatened? Or are these laws still needed to allow people to protect themselves?

From “The Fairness of Hate Crime Laws”, and from the Op-Ed piece, “Tyler and Trayvon.”

What makes a crime a “hate crime”?
Do hate crime laws protect against intimidation and bigotry, or are they unnecessary and unfair?

From “Hashtag Activism, and Its Limits”:

Is digital activism — that is, posting about causes to social networks — real activism, or just “slacktivism”? Can it make the world a better place?

From “For Martin’s Case, a Long Route to National Attention”

How does this case highlight the complex ways that news does and does not travel in the Internet age?
Does the case attest to the need for diversity in newsrooms?