Raul Alonzo/ Staff Writer
Texas A&M Corpus Christi played host to it’s own Trayvon forum on April 10th. “The Case of Trayvon Martin: A Clash of Power and Culture,” consisted of a panel including Corpus Christi Neighborhood Watch Coordinator Brenda Moreno, American Civil Liberties Union Attorney Abel Cavada, Associate Professor of Criminal Justice Dr. Melissa Jarrell and the Interim Licensed Counselor specializing in Families and Marriage, John Stewart.
Sponsored by the Corpus Christi chapter of the International Socialist Organization and moderated by Associate Professor of Sociology, Dr. Isabel Araiza, the forum analyzed the media’s role in the case, Florida’s controversial “Stand Your Ground” law, the role of race in the shooting and criminal justice system as a whole, and the social construction of crime.
In the packed lecture hall attendees received copies of the “Stand Your Ground” bill to better understand the role the law has had in creating distortion over the situation – such as possible confusion over why an arrest has yet to be made.
“The way these laws are worded – ‘stand your ground,’ ‘your home is your castle,’ speaks to how we see ourselves – they provide the hook for our consent,” Jarrell observed.
Race discussion often turned to the presence of institutionalized racism, and the disparities minorities encounter in the criminal justice system in its entirety.
