...because they provide ready-made justification for present racism and oppression. Martin went out for a snack while visiting his father, but his background was meticulously scrutinized for evidence of his menace and threat. His killer, an armed, aggressive vigilante, is thus transformed into the righteous dispenser of homeland security and protector of sacred property rights.

Conservatives are already gleefully pointing out how if the races of these two men had been reversed, there never would have been an arrest and trial.

Liberals know if their races had been reversed, the shooter would have been arrested on the spot at the scene, and the burden of proof for a 'stand your ground' defense would have been entirely his from the start.

This case has filled me with a great sadness for my country. I had hoped that with the double election of a black President, racism and its consequences had finally been eliminated from American culture. I guess I was mistaken.

It is part of the unforesen consequences of slavery, which has long outlived both the benefit it brought to its perpetrators, and the great injustice inflicted on its victims. The punishment for that monstruous crime continues to plague the descendants of both.