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PHOTO BY BRYCE ALBERGHINI
Participants representing Black Lives Matter and other movements gathered at the Moral March, sponsored by NAACP, in Raleigh on Feb. 10.
America must work harder for racial equality
EMILY SPIES
Sports Editor
espies@unca.edu
Those who were paying attention
both celebrated Trayvon Martin’s
23rd birthday and mourned the six-
year remembrance of his death in
the month of February, all while
observing Black History Month
and navigating racial politics.
IVayvon Martin’s death set fire
to silence
Martin was a 17-year-old boy
killed by a community watchman
in a gated neighborhood in Florida
where his father lived. Unarmed
and walking home from 7-Eleven,
many argue Martin was targeted
purely due to racial profiling.
George Zimmerman, the man
responsible for Martin’s death,
evaded persecution through lack
of evidence- and Florida’s stand-
your-ground law. According to the
Florida Legislature this law states
a person within their residence or
dwelling is not required to retreat
and may use deadly force if they
feel it is necessary to prevent “im
minent death or great bodily harm.’’
The incident was a familiar trag
edy to American families of color,
for which we often see too little jus
tice, if any at all. In the past, some
legislation allowed and encour
aged discrimination against people
of color, such as the Three-Fifths
Compromise and Jim Crow laws,
but today such inequitable statutes
are rightfully outlawed. The de
clared unconstitutionality of dis
criminatory laws does not ensure
laws will not have racial outcomes.
The War on Drugs for instance does
not contain specific language per
taining to race or other identities,
but very often has overwhelmingly
racial consequences due to system
ic racism and racial profiling.
Black Lives Matter stands up
and sinks its teeth into oppression
The acquittal of the innocent
teen’s murderer sparked a new
movement for racial justice that un-
apologetically lays bare the system
ic racism nurturing atrocities that
have claimed the lives of countless
people of color since the theft of
this continent.
The Black Lives Matter move
ment is a new crusade for an old,
enduring issue. Many argue racism
has decreased since the civil rights
movement, but that is just not the
case. An opinion of that level of
oversight is likely the result of spe
cific privileges. Racism is alive and
well, thriving within the hive of fi
nancial and bureaucratic securities
of prisons, public schools systems
and residential segregation.
The movement acts as an import
ant rung in the climb to awaken the
U.S., and the world, to the constant
injustices within the everyday lives
of people of color, Speaking out and
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