This was a case that divided America sharply along race lines and the ripples traveled across the Atlantic and impacted on Black Britain with plenty of debate across the social media along with a reasonably-sized protest outside the American embassy earlier this year which I attended (see picture). Trayvon’s parents enjoyed a warm and sympathetic reception when they visited London.
The fact that there was so little coverage on British TV and in newspapers is a consequence of UK decision-makers in the media writing Trayvon off as an exclusively American story, and betrays the virtual absence of Black media executives who would have realised there was far more interest in the story than was assumed.
Trayvon’s murder exposed more than anything how talk of a “post-racial society” that accompanied Barack Obama’s election in 2008 was always hollow and far removed from reality, and how engrained and stark racism remains.
This, combined with a spate of British cases of deaths in custody – such as Mark Duggan, Smiley Culture and Sean Rigg – heightened the sense kinship with our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora in America.
As disproportionate Black unemployment in Britain rises inexorably driven in large part by public sector austerity cuts and an atmosphere of stigmatising benefit recipients, and an awareness that ‘race’ remains firmly off the political agenda no matter what the evidence of growing race inequality, the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon reinforced the reality that injustice afflicts the African family no matter which outpost of Babylon we live.
Zimmerman’s 911 call clearly showed he was brimming with racial prejudice as he followed Trayvon. The fact that America do not appear to have an additional offense of ‘racially-aggravated’ crime to add to the penalty if convicted is a great regret. Despite the editing of Zimmerman’s call by the broadcast media his attitudes still rang out loud and clear.
His account of the fateful night was riddled with inconsistencies, from his claim that Trayvon was on top of him when witnesses saw the opposite, to the fact that witnesses heard the teenager crying for help.
He had previously been charged with violence and battery, had undergone anger management, had been the subject of numerous complaints by neighbours over his aggressive behavior and had called police 46 times in the year before the murder. Neighbours also testified that Zimmerman had a “fixation” with crime and black men.
And questions remain over the police investigation, including revelations that the original investigating officer had failed to arrest a lieutenant’s son who was videotaped attacking a homeless black man and the failure to breathalyze Zimmerman for alcohol.
Zimmerman’s acquittal is unlikely to be the end of the matter as Trayvon’s parents could mount a civil action. However the fact that reaction on Twitter was so polarised sharply along race lines is a signal to Obama that America’s racial divide needs healing not ignoring.
In Britain, I am sure many will continue to follow this case. I hope that it has brought the Black community closer together with African-Americans and that connecting the Diaspora across the globe – in positivity as well as unity in adversity – continues.
By Lester Holloway @brolezholloway