Trayvon Martin Shooting Equated To Muslims As His Death Is Remembered

As Trayvon Martin is remembered almost three years after his death at the hands of George Zimmerman, some are using his name to describe how Muslim Americans might feel after the Chapel Hill shooting. But friends and family only want to focus on ending racism, and some believe the focus should be on unity and not what divides.

In a related report by the Inquisitr, some people thought the St. Louis hoodie ban law was a Trayvon Martin backlash and claimed racial discrimination.

Speaking on MSNBC, Chris Hayes gave this thoughts on the recent killing of three Muslim students in North Carolina by declaring the Chapel Hill shooting to be a “Trayvon Martin moment.” Hayes says the “unfathomable tragedy” has become “a rallying point both across the world with Palestinans protesting the killings outside U.N. headquarters in Gaza City today and here at home, with a outpouring of support for the three promising, young Muslim-Americans.”

Hayes then went on to explain why the incident could be equated to Trayvon Martin.

“It feels to me, as someone observing this admittedly from the outside, like a galvanizing moment for Muslim Americans — a Trayvon Martin moment, a Michael Brown moment — for Muslim America,” Hayes said, according to Newsbusters.

“Like the killing of Trayvon Martin or Michael Brown, the senseless deaths of these three young people has struck such a profound nerve and mobilized so many because millions of people who look like those victims are fed up with the routine stereotyping, the marginalization in mainstream media representations and the vilification by political leaders seeking to score cheap political points.”

Trayvon Martin died on February 26, 2012. This anniversary was commemorated by the Trayvon Martin Foundation’s third annual Trayvon Martin Remembrance Weekend with a Peace Walk. Event director Troy Wright says the focus should be on unity and the end of racism in America.

“We’re here to celebrate unity, we’re here to celebrate peace,” he said according to WSVN.

“It’s about Trayvon Martin and letting the world know that we haven’t forgotten about him. And it’s so beautiful, because we have so many people that have come together to say, ‘You know what? We’re all about justice, we’re all about peace, and we’re all about empowerment for our young people.”

Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon’s mother, attended the event and said she thinks about her son every day, and wishes he could have celebrated his 20th birthday on February 5, 2015.