“For blacks and women, little ground left to stand on.”
That was the headline of a Gawker.com article back in the summer after the George Zimmerman verdict. Two African-American women have stepped into the glare of Stand Your Ground laws. Both cases expose the hypocrisy and racism of the law which abides in some form in 32 states.
The two cases are the 2011 case Marisa Alexander in Florida and the most recent case of Renisha McBride in Michigan. Their cases are more than a challenge to self-defense laws; they will test an important foundation of the U.S. Constitution –equal protection under the law for all citizens.
Most of the country only found out about the Alexander case by way of the now infamous Trayvon Martin case. The unarmed youth was murdered by George Zimmerman who claimed self-defense; Zimmerman was summarily acquitted and has moved on with his troublesome life.
Zimmerman’s acquittal caused justice-seeking Floridians to raise Marissa’s case in the same breath for two reasons: Alexander and Zimmerman both claimed self-defense under Florida’s law, and Angela Corey prosecuted both cases.
Marissa, who had no previous criminal record, was convicted by a jury in 12 minutes and is serving a 20-year sentence after having fired a warning shot in the air to ward off an abusive husband. The appeals court has overturned that conviction and granted Marisa a new trial scheduled for spring 2014. Marissa could not use Stand Your Ground as part of her defense at trial, and the appeals court has prohibited her from using it in the new trial.
Last week, a judge refused to grant bond to the mother of two, and she may have to stay in jail until her court date. But at least there is a court date, thanks to pressure from the Free Marissa Campaign.
Renisha McBride is dead, shot in the face by Theodore Wafer in the early morning hours when she went to his house seeking assistance after crashing her car. Wafer, a white airport employee, has been charged in the 19-year-old’s murder. According to initial reports, Wafer didn’t call 911 to report an intruder, nor did he ask the teen any questions about why she was on his front porch. A toxicology report established that the teen had marijuana and alcohol in her blood. No toxicology test was done of Wafer.
Renisha ended up in Dearborn Heights after her car accident. I first heard about D-Heights’ racist history when I visited Detroit. Its motto for years was “Keep Dearborn Clean,” code for “Keep Dearborn White.” The suburb of Detroit has stayed true to its motto. To date, it’s nearly 90 percent white, according to the U.S Census. The NAACP has raised consistent concerns over the city’s racial profiling numbers, and there are constant complaints about racial harassment by law enforcement. The point is, if you’re black you don’t stop in D-Heights.
Stand Your Ground is starting to look like a law for whites to ensure they never have to face criminal charges when they kill a black or brown person regardless of the circumstances. If that’s the way the law plays out consistently, then there truly is “little ground left to stand on” for non-white citizens. We will see how all this plays out over the next year as these cases go to court. The U.S. Supreme Court may see a Stand Your Grand case on its docket in the near future.
In the meantime, the fear factor of black and brown citizens has increased with the escalation of racist attacks accompanied by relatively little justice for victims. A vivid example is the case of Oriana Ferrell, who took a chance on out-driving a hail of New Mexico police bullets on an isolated highway to get to safety in a more public area. Some may see her actions as reckless, especially with five children in the car, but citizens of color have to make split-second decisions when faced with white people with guns.
This is no way for civilized people to live.
