Trayvon Martin’s Parents to Attend Capitol Hill Forum on Racial Profiling

The event will also examine the effect of “Stand Your Ground” laws.
By Joyce Jones
Posted: 03/27/2012 11:25 AM EDT
Filed Under Barack Obama, President Barack Obama, U.S. Department of Justice, President Obama, racial profiling, Ben Jealous, hate crimes, Frederica Wilson, Congressional Black Caucus, Trayvon Martin, NAACP

Barack Obama, President Barack Obama, U.S. Department of Justice, President Obama, Sheila Jackson Lee, Ben Jealous, racial profiling, Frederica Wilson, hate crimes, Congressional Black Caucus, NAACP, Trayvon Martin

The fight for justice for Trayvon Martin heads to Capitol Hill Tuesday when lawmakers will host a briefing on racial profiling, the interplay between the federal government and states when hate crimes occur and the effect of "Stand Your Ground" laws. The teen’s parents are scheduled to attend the event, which was organized by Texas Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and other Democratic members who sit on the House Judiciary Committee.

 

The fatal shooting has put a spotlight on the fact that the nation is a long way from being "post-racial," an idealistic idea that Americans flirted with after President Obama won his first White House bid. Lately, however, millions of African-Americans from all walks of life have been forced to confront often painful memories of times when they’ve been profiled.

 

“If you walk into any inner-city high school in the African-American community and ask students have you ever been racially profiled, trust me, every one of them will raise their hands, boys and girls,” Florida Rep. Frederica Wilson said in remarks delivered on the House floor Tuesday morning.

 

The lawmaker has posted a sign outside of her congressional office that marks down the number of days that have passed since Trayvon was fatally shot without an arrest.

 

Benjamin Crump, the Martin family attorney, is scheduled to speak at the House briefing, in addition to NAACP president Ben Jealous; Rebecca Monroe, acting director of the Justice Department’s community relations service; Robert Parker, a former director of the Miami-Dade Police Department; and others.

 

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