Beyond Trayvon: Black and Unarmed

Beyond Trayvon: Black and Unarmed

These 17 sad stories prove that it's nothing new for a black man without a weapon to be killed.
Captions by: Jenée Desmond-Harris

The killing of unarmed Florida teenager Trayvon Martin by a neighborhood-watch captain who deemed him "suspicious" and claims that he shot the 17-year-old in self-defense has started a heartbreaking national conversation about race and justice. His story is all the more tragic because it follows a familiar pattern. The Root reviewed incidents in which black men and boys without weapons lost their lives to law-enforcement officers or others who decided that they were dangerous enough to die.



Ervin Jefferson

There are still unanswered questions about this case, unfolding a month after Trayvon Martin's shooting. But police have confirmed that the 18-year-old Jefferson was shot and killed by two security guards -- also African American -- outside his Atlanta home on Saturday, March 24, 2012. His mother says he was unarmed and trying to protect his sister from a crowd that was threatening her.


http://www.theroot.com/multimedia/beyond-trayvon-black-and-unarmed