Reference no: EM133436244

Question

On February 26, 2012, 17 year old Trayvon Martin, a young African American male, was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, a man of mixed ethnic descent. At the time, Martin was walking to the home of his father's girlfriend in a gated community when Zimmerman began following him while contacting the Stanford Police Department to report what he described as suspicious behaviour. The police dispatcher tape recorded him saying, "This guy looks like he is up to no good or he is on drugs or something." Soon afterward, there was a confrontation that ended with Zimmerman fatally shooting the unarmed Martin once in the chest at close range. Despite claiming self-defense, Zimmerman was eventually charged with second degree murder. What might this incident tell us about the "racialization of crime" and the "criminalization of race" in our society? How is this relevant to police practices such as racial profiling?