'Justice for Trayvon Martin' Beating Means Less Justice for Him
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COMMENTARY | According to The Blaze, Matthew Owens, who is white, was beaten bloody by a mob of black men and women in Mobile, Ala., after he allegedly "fussed" at a group playing basketball in the middle of the street. A witness reports Owens apologizing and protesting as a group of attackers swarmed the porch of his home with bricks and bats. As the attackers departed, leaving Owens laying on the porch, one supposedly said "Now that's justice for Trayvon."
Except it's not. If anything, racial violence in retaliation for the death of Trayvon Martin only strengthens the opinions of those who see racial profiling as justified based on stereotypes of minorities as aggressive and violent. Those who believe George Zimmerman, the shooter of Martin who is claiming self-defense, was justified even if he did engage in racial profiling will have their beliefs more firmly entrenched by news of this beating.
Black youths, the peers of Martin, are harmed by news of mob violence against whites, with more whites reacting with suspicion toward groups of black teens and adults.
Violence, particularly in aggression rather than defense, never helps improve public opinion toward any particular group or class. If an attacker of Owens did say "Now that's justice for Trayvon," he should have realized Owens, his friends and family will be more suspicious of black people in the future, and justifiably so. Is that justice for Trayvon? If anything, this attack has only made people in Mobile and around the nation less likely to support those who look like Martin. One reader questioned why the media was not publishing the story more prominently. Lack of prominent media coverage of the attack on Owens also hinders justice for Martin by causing a backlash against the media's focus on hate crimes against minorities while ignoring such crimes toward whites. By beating Owens and claiming it was justice for Martin, the attacker did as much as he could to undermine societal support for Trayvon.

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