“Now imagine she’s white.”
I want you to keep those words in mind, and I’ll return to them and their origin later down.  At the time of the writing of this article, I’m in America.  While there, I’ve been  following with avid interest the Trayvon Martin shooting and the subsequent countrywide frenzy that has accompanied it.
For those not familiar with the Martin case, let me recap.  Martin, a 17-year-old Black teenager was walking home from a shop when he was followed and confronted by a lone, armed White community watch volunteer, George Zimmerman.  In an ensuing struggle, Zimmerman shot Martin in the chest, killing him.  He was arrested at the scene, spent two hours in jail and then released, with his weapon.  The local police investigating the matter said that since they found no evidence to counter Zimmerman’s claim that he was acting in self-defence, they released him.  Following a national public outcry, Zimmerman was finally arrested and charged with second-degree murder.

Largely from White America, there have been counter claims saying that Zimmerman’s actions were perfectly legal, and since he was ‘attacked’ (a point Martin cannot argue against) he had all right to use deadly force, despite the fact that he was the one following Martin, even as he was advised not to do so by 911 officials.

Years ago I was watching this movie, based on the John Grisham novel of the same name, A Time To Kill.  In the specific scene, attorney Jake Brigance goes into excruciating detail about the rape and torture of a young black girl, asking the mostly white jury to imagine it.
The girl’s father is on trial for shooting and killing the white men responsible after they were acquitted by an all-white jury, despite overwhelming evidence that they had brutally assaulted the girl.  When Brigance finishes the horrific recollection, he then abruptly tells the jury to “Now, imagine she’s white.”
While the actual stories are dissimilar, at the heart of the Trayvon Martin case are the core issues that are present in A Time To Kill:
vigilantism, race, and a colour-based presumption of guilt or innocence that pervades American society, inclusive of the legal system.  In my mind, there seems to be a direct relation between colour, not so much ethnicity per se and being subject to racial prejudice.  For example, Zimmer claims to be half Hispanic but the classification of ‘Hispanic’ ethnicity in America covers Black, White and Asian – had Zimmerman been a black Hispanic, like baseball player, Sammy Sosa, I doubt whether so many White Americans would have clamoured in his defence.
It is also notable that in the aftermath of a struggle between two private citizens in which one ended up dead, it is the black dead one that was subjected to drug and alcohol tests as well as a criminal background check, and not the living white one who came away with debatable injuries.

I notice recently that the White House sent out a release stating that Obama would no longer comment on the shooting citing the fact that it was before the court.  I believe that this case may potentially – along with the yet-to-be realised outcome of the Supreme Court ruling on his healthcare plan – cost the President his re-election bid later
this year.  While here in the US, I spoke to several White Americans who voted for Obama; most of them believe that, from the evidence presented, George Zimmerman had the right to shoot Trayvon Martin.  In my opinion, had Obama had the exact personality and looked like Martin, he would not have been elected President.  That precise colour
prejudice that would label a 28-year-old armed white-skinned citizen a “hero” for following, confronting and shooting dead a 17-year-old dark-skinned unarmed citizen, is the same one that would prevent some of Martin’s complexion from being elected President in 72 percent white America.

Whatever the outcome of this case, the President will be pressured into making a statement: if Zimmerman is acquitted of the second-degree murder that he was finally charged with, Obama will be caught between endorsing the decision of a legal system that continues to be fraught with problems of racial bias, and at least rhetorically
pleasing his liberal base.
If Zimmerman is convicted, despite Zimmerman’s father’s claim of a multicultural heritage (none of his claimed “black relatives” have come out in support of the shooter), the militant racist core of White America that has been behind claims of Obama being Muslim, of him not being American, of him being communist, is going to have a new
recruitment tool for white Americans who – while not outright KKK members – maintain the same inherent racial prejudices that automatically make criminals of young men like Trayvon Martin; and many of these are people who would have voted for the current President.
The thing is, Barack Obama does not deal directly with issues of race in America, certainly not to the degree that his core supporters, liberal whites and minority groups, expect him to deal with it.
Coming from an interracial background in a country where interracial strife exists to some degree, I guess I am fortunate in that I could say that I have never been subjected to racism. That said,I am acutely aware of how stereotypes based on appearance can affect people personally – despite my mother being primarily Indian, I look more like my Afro-Guyanese father; but a relative of mine with the same racial mixture looked more Indian, and would shave his head because he didn’t want to be subjected to whatever prejudices, perceived or real, came with it.
That said, at the basis of all the questions about race and politics is the more fundamental one of justice.  The life of a young man going about his business at a decent hour of the night was snuffed out.
Parents are left to mourn the loss of what appears to be their only son.

Every time I see a picture or video of Martin’s parents, his mother in particular, I’m moved to tears.  Despite the unimaginable hurt that his parents must be going through, what you see is not rage or calls for revenge, but a dignified and steadfast call for justice.  As a father of a son the same age and complexion of Trayvon, while I cannot
understand exactly the pain this young man’s parents is feeling, I can imagine some sense of it.  And for them, the whole uproar of politics and race aside, nothing short of a decision in which Zimmerman is held responsible for their son’s death is going to be considered justice; and even that may not be enough.