Executive Director Howard Simon’s statement about the tragic death of 17-year old Trayvon Martin and the deadly consequences of racial profiling.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 14, 2013
CONTACT: ACLU of Florida Media Office, media@aclufl.org, (786) 363-2737
This statement, following the verdict in the Trayvon Martin trial, may be attributed to Howard Simon, Executive Director, ACLU of Florida:
“The tragedy in this case is that the needless death of a 17-year old is yet another example of the deadly consequences that come from seeing the world through racial stereotypes.
“The confrontation that resulted in Trayvon Martin’s death occurred because, in a neighborhood that had experienced recent burglaries, George Zimmerman saw a young Black male as a threat to his community.
“Following the verdict in the Zimmerman case, our collective task now is to hasten the movement toward racial equality and an end to racial profiling in Florida and throughout the country. It is necessary to increase not only the commitment, but the work to end the policies in our schools and in our criminal justice system that are responsible for removing people of color from school, robbing them of the opportunity for an education, arresting, incarcerating them, and destroying their future at alarmingly unjust and discriminatory rates.
“The deadly confrontation between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin is a horrific reminder of the toxic mix of an armed citizenry and a society that still makes too many judgments filtered through racial stereotypes.”
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