White Men Can Stand their Ground in Florida. Black Women Like Marissa Alexander Better Not Try It

Marissa Alexander

That pesky Florida " stand your ground" law that was George Zimmerman's excuse for murdering seventeen year old Trayvon Williams, works differently if you are a black woman fighting off an abusive husband  who has threatened to kill you, than if you are a 28 year old Hispanic man fending off an un-armed seventeen year old black boy in a hoodie.  It seems that it is OK (as the law puts it) "to  use force in self defense without the duty to retreat first"only if you are a white or Hispanic male.

If you are a black female like Marissa Alexander, a black women in fear of her life from a violent and abusive husband against whom she had an order of protection-- if you are Marissa and have a legal permit and know how to use a gun, and if when your soon to be ex husband threatens to kill you nine days after you have given birth to his child and you fire a warning shot from your gun into the ceiling and call the cops-- well, in that case, when the cops arrive they arrest YOU, throw you into jail and you end up facing 20 years in prison.

Are you hopping mad yet?  I am.  Obviously, racism and sexism are alive and well in Florida. A woman who has just given birth to a premature baby is attacked by a violent husband with a history of domestic abuse and ends up in jail, while George Zimmerman actually murders a seventeen year old  un-armed boy and the law does not have enough evidence to take him into custody until there is a national public outcry and he gives himself up.  What is wrong with this picture, I ask you?  Go read Mraissa's online deposition here and then hie yourself on over to The Immoral Minority where Gryphon has posted a summary that explains the whole case in well organized bullet points.  You'll get the entire picture.

I don't know if it is just that Florida is more racist and sexist than the rest of the country or what.  All I know is that the " stand your ground" law is causing a lot of trouble and it has got to go.