Seattle, WA -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/24/2013 -- Author and Nationally Syndicated Columnist Earl Ofari Hutchinson whose new book, America on Trial: The Slaying of Trayvon Martin http://www.amazon.com/America-Slaying-Trayvon-Hutchinson-ebook/dp/B00D5IGLIY examines the issues of race and the criminal justice system in the Martin case. Hutchinson contends that the divide over race between blacks and whites about George Zimmerman may have a devastating impact on the verdict. a Reuters/Ipsos poll in April, 2012 found that the overwhelming majority of whites did not feel that Martin was “unjustly killed.” The overwhelming majority of blacks felt just the opposite. Hispanics were caught somewhere in the middle. A majority felt Martin was “unjustly killed.”
Hutchinson points out that a significant minority did not. The odd wording of the response, “unjustly killed,” left one to wonder if that meant he was justly killed, or simply that there were so many doubts and heavy clouds in the doubter’s minds about the shooting, that it was easier to give Zimmerman the benefit of the doubt. This conformed to another poll finding that found the majority of blacks felt he was "definitely guilty," only a small percentage of whites agreed.
Hutchinson further notes that other polls taken in April, 2012 on the racial divide in the case found pretty much the same thing about racial opinions in the case. A Gallup/USA Today poll found that the overwhelming majority of blacks believed that Zimmerman would have been promptly arrested and charged if Martin had been white. The inference was that because he was black this made his life less important. Only a minority of non-Hispanic whites agreed with that.
The great peril, says Hutchinson, is that the racial divide has been omnipresent in just about every major high profile case involving a racially charged court cases. The Zimmerman trial could be the same.
Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. His new ebook is America on Trial: The Slaying of Trayvon Martin (Amazon). He is an associate editor of New America Media. He is a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on American Urban Radio Network. He is the host of the weekly Hutchinson Report on KTYM 1460 AM Radio Los Angeles and KPFK-Radio and the Pacifica Network.
Follow Earl Ofari Hutchinson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/earlhutchinson
The Hutchinson Report
Contact: Nikki Leigh
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