Poll finds sharp racial divide in Trayvon case

By Starla Muhammad -Staff Writer- | Last updated: Apr 18, 2012 - 7:49:52 PM

Selina Gray, of Sanford, Fla., shows her sign at the rally. Thousands of supporters attend a march, lead by NAACP, from Crooms Academy to the Sanford Police Station for a rally in support of Trayvon Martin. Photo: AP Wide World Photos/Julie Fletcher

(FinalCall.com) - The contrived illusion Americans are living in a post-racial society was further shattered as a poll released April 5 showed a huge chasm in the way Blacks and non-Blacks view the tragic killing of Black teen Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman.

Blacks are paying much closer attention to news about the incident and overwhelmingly believe that Mr. Zimmerman is guilty of a crime, believe that racial bias was a major factor in the events leading up to the shooting and also believe the shooter would have been arrested had the victim been White and not Black, according to the poll.

In the USA Today/Gallup poll of 3,006 Americans, which included 242 Blacks, the views were as different as night and day.

Eighty percent of Blacks said they were following the case very closely or somewhat closely, compared to 59 percent of non-Blacks. Seventy-two percent of Blacks said Mr. Zimmerman was either definitely or probably guilty of a crime whereas 33 percent of non-Blacks felt that way. In a glaring difference, 61 percent of non-Blacks said it was unclear from available information that Mr. Zimmerman committed a crime or they had no opinion compared to 27 percent for Blacks.

Seventy-two percent of Blacks said racial bias was a factor that led up to the shooting and the shooting itself with only eight percent indicating it was not a factor at all. Thirty-one percent of non-Blacks thought race was a factor with 26 percent stating it was just a minor factor.

Forty-nine percent of non-Blacks said Trayvon Martin’s race did not make a difference in the case compared to only 20 percent of Blacks and lastly 73 percent of Blacks felt Mr. Zimmerman would have been arrested if the person he shot was White. Thirty-five percent of non-Blacks felt that way.

According to commentary by Frank Newport of Gallup, the current racial divide in the Trayvon Martin case is reminiscent of the 1995 O.J. Simpson trial in which the former football star was charged with the brutal murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend, Ronald Goldman, both White. Mr. Simpson is Black.

“The situation in the Trayvon Martin case is different from the Simpson situation, however, because the victim, rather than the alleged perpetrator, is black. Still, both situations, even though 17 years apart, apparently tap into the same deeply felt views of the average Black American that the criminal justice system in America is biased against Blacks.”

Recent high profile killings and shootings of Black people around the country have many activists questioning whether Blacks will ever receive complete freedom, justice and equality in America’s system of jurisprudence.

The USA Today/Gallup poll on the Trayvon Martin case was conducted April 2-4 based on telephone interviews of adults ages 18 and older from various states.

The Feb. 26 shooting death of the unarmed 17-year-old Black teenager by George Zimmerman, a White, self-appointed neighborhood watch captain, who has not been charged with a crime, has touched off a firestorm of outrage and activism around the country.

Blaming Trayvon? (FCN, 04-04-2012)

Trayvon Martin - The fight for justice continues (FCN, 03-28-2012)

Killing of Black teen, Trayvon Martin sparks outcry, national mobilization (FCN, 03-20-2012)

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