Unsurprisingly, reactions to the recent verdict in the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman trial have been omnipresent in the media. Sadly, the reactions have been rather predictable and divided along the usual political divide: those on the left see the verdict as yet another miscarriage of justice involving African Americans, while those on the right have lauded the verdict as evidence of a jury unswayed by political correctness and able to follow carefully the law in deciding the case.

In reading through numerous blogs and reactions, I found myself most in agreement with Andrew Sullivan’s take. In particular, while believing strongly that Trayvon Martin was racially profiled during the initial pursuit, it is harder to disentangle what happened next, given the contradictory testimony of the various witnesses and forensic evidence presented.

What seems clear to me, however, is the absurdity of a legal system that (a) allows somebody to initiate an aggressive confrontation with another person, (b) to suddenly find him/herself on the losing end of this confrontation, (c) to then claim to be in fear for one’s life, and (d) to then shoot and kill the other person in justifiable self-defense. Given the power of the NRA and the inability of Congress to get anything substantive done, it is unfortunately easy to predict that we will see many more of these cases.

What is also clear to me, and especially sad, is the way that some writers on the right have used the particulars of this case to express their own prejudicial biases and fears. For example, Richard Cohen, of the Washington Post, writes that because young, black males are disproportionately convicted of violent crimes, it is acceptable to then assume that any young, black male is dangerous (and especially if dressed in a way that offends the sensibilities of Mr. Cohen). Many have already responded eloquently to this poorly informed opinion piece, and so I won’t repeat their arguments here. I do wonder, however, whether Mr. Cohen ascribes to this “justified stereotype” approach to other stereotypes about individuals from other groups?

Tying these two pieces together: a legal system that has dangerously empowered the use of guns plus an all-too-common view that certain individuals are dangerous and so worthy of profiling, and you get an explosive concoction with which this country will continue to struggle.