The week of June 10 was symbolic for the African-American community. It marked the beginning of the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin trial. It also marked 50 years since the assassination of Medgar Evers, who lost his life to assassin Byron De La Beckwith of the White Citizens Council on June 12, 1963
Zimmerman stands trial for the murder of a unarmed adolescent African-American male. Like De La Beckwith, Zimmerman was a part of a organization whose agenda is to keep a certain group of people (African Americans) in check. Zimmerman is protected by Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law, which gives citizens the right to protect themselves in the threat of danger. But young Trayvon was not a threat to Zimmerman, it was the other way around.
Though Evers was killed in 1963, De La Beckwith was not convicted until 1994, the year before Trayvon Martin was born. The deaths of Evers and Martin revolve around racism. I can only hope that the Martin family does not have to wait 30 years for justice to be served.
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Grady Brown
East St. Louis