By Peter Goonan, The Republican
on February 17, 2014
The Rev. Talbert W. Swan II (File photo / The Republican)
SPRINGFIELD — A partial mistrial in a Florida murder case for the shooting death of teenager Jordan Davis marks another example of failed justice involving a young black victim, according to the Rev. Talbert W. Swan II, president of the Greater Springfield chapter of the NAACP.
In a prepared statement released this week, Swan wrote that news of a mistrial on a first-degree murder charge against Michael Dunn left him saddened by the loss of life and angry at the justice system.
“The failure to convict Michael Dunn of murder only highlights the perceived value of black life and reinforces the stereotypes, which justify racial animus against Black males, their disenfranchisement, abuse, brutalization and mass incarceration,” Swan wrote. “It further sends a clear message that murdering a black male can be justified simply on the basis of him being a black male.”
The judge declared the mistrial after jurors reported they were deadlocked on the first-degree murder charge. However, Dunn was convicted on four charges, including three counts of attempted second-degree murder that could bring a long jail sentence. State prosecutors said they will again pursue the murder charge at a second trial.
The shooting occurred in November of 2012 at a gas station and was precipitated by an argument over loud music, according to the charges. Dunn, a white motorist, fired a gun multiple times into a parked car occupied by four unarmed black teenagers, including Davis, who was killed in the incident, according to a case summary.
Dunn claimed self-defense.
Swan said it marked the second time in seven months that the American justice system “has failed to produce justice and has demonstrated that it sees color vividly and in high definition.”
Swan referred to another Florida case: the second-degree murder trial of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, which ended with Zimmerman’s acquittal.
Swan said he is angry at a justice system “that refused to convict a white man for murdering a black boy on the basis of the stereotypical depiction of black males as threatening hoodlums, thugs and criminals.”
“Sadly, this experience is not an isolated one,” Swan wrote. “Largely, the lives of young Black men have never held great value in this country. From birth to untimely death, many of them have been treated as mules for labor, obvious scapegoats, easy targets and disposable — at no consequence to the disposer.”
Swan said that calls for justice in such cases “are often dismissed as overly sensitive people yet again playing the proverbial race card.”
His statement continued: “Yet tragedies like the Newtown, CT murders hold weight because they disturb the image of the ideal white America and draw sympathy over the untimely demise of innocent white children, who are never viewed in the same light as their innocent black male counterparts. Sadly, murders of ‘threatening’ black males at the hands of vigilantes like Michael Dunn and George Zimmerman or law enforcement officers who patrol the so-called ‘urban jungles’ across the nation are simply added to a tally.”
Swan said residents should act to repeal so-called “Stand Your Ground” laws in states where the laws exist.
“In a so-called ‘post-racial’ America, where black males can be shot down in the streets and their killers pay no price for their murders, we definitely need a change,” Swan said.
Below, the full text of the statement Swan issued:
For the second time in seven months, the American justice system has failed to produce justice and has demonstrated that it sees color vividly and in high definition.
As the news that Jordan Davis’ murderer would not be convicted murder flooded the airways I sat, familiarly reflective and saddened by the loss of yet another Black life at the hands of a sanctimonious racist and angry at a justice system that refused to convict a white man for murdering a black boy on the basis of the stereotypical depiction of black males as threatening hoodlums, thugs and criminals. Sadly, this experience is not an isolated one. Largely, the lives of young Black men have never held great value in this country. From birth to untimely death, many of them have been treated as mules for labor, obvious scapegoats, easy targets and disposable–at no consequence to the disposer.
This is why the death of a 17-year-old black boys like Jordan Davis and Trayvon Martin at the hands of vigilantes, and the murder of black youth on a daily basis across the nation can be forgotten with the wave of a hand. Calls for justice regarding their murders are often dismissed as overly sensitive people yet again playing the proverbial race card. Yet, tragedies like he Newtown, CT murders hold weight because they disturb the image of the ideal white America and draw sympathy over the untimely demise of innocent white children, who are never viewed in the same light as their innocent black male counterparts. Sadly, murders of “threatening” black males at the hands of vigilantes like Michael Dunn and George Zimmerman or law-enforcement officers who patrol the so-called “urban jungles” across the nation are simply added to a tally.
The failure to convict Michael Dunn of murder only highlights the perceived value of black life and reinforces the stereotypes, which justify racial animus against Black males, their disenfranchisement, abuse, brutalization and mass incarceration. It further sends a clear message that murdering a black male can be justified simply on the basis of him being a black male.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X., Marcus Garvey, Fannie Lou Hamer and other civil rights and human rights pioneers are rolling over in their graves bemoaning the fact that while America’s Supreme Court guts the voting rights act of 1965 and attempts to turn back the hands of time on gains made through their sacrifice, legislatures across the nation refuse to repeal Stand Your Ground laws, which only emboldens racists to act on their hatred with the same assurance the Ku Klux Klan of old had, that the law will stand behind their despicable actions. We must act now to repeal Stand Your Ground in every state where it exist, challenge the U.S. Department of Justice to file charges for civil rights violations in both the Dunn and Zimmerman cases, and work tirelessly to dismantle racism across the nation. We can begin with the wisdom imparted by the late Michael Jackson:
I’m starting with the man In the mirror
I’m asking him to change his ways
and no message could have been any clearer
If you wanna make the world a better place
Take a look at yourself, and then make a change
In a so-called “post-racial” America, where black males can be shot down in the streets and their killers pay no price for their murders, we definitely need a change.
