Black Americans and Americans of other ethnicities have widely-divergent views of the Trayvon Martin case, according to a new poll that shows the black community overwhelmingly believes he was murdered and that police let his killer get away due to racism.
“The average black American has strong views on the case, perceiving that Zimmerman is guilty of a crime and that race has played a major factor in the case,” Gallup reports in a survey of how “blacks [and] nonblacks” view the Martin case. “Nonblacks, by contrast, are much less likely to think Zimmerman is guilty and are substantially less likely to believe that race was a factor.”
“It is clear that the case struck a highly responsive chord with blacks across the country,” Gallup added “and that blacks’ immediate judgments are that this represents still another example of a racially biased criminal justice system.”
Fifty-one percent of black poll respondents “strongly believe” that George Zimmerman, who claims he shot Martin in self-defense, is guilty of murder,” according to a new Gallup survey on how “blacks [and] nonblacks” view the case. Another 21 percent of black Gallup poll respondents say he is “probably guilty,” bringing the total to 72 percent. Just 32 percent of “non-blacks” believe Zimmerman is guilty, with only 11 percent saying they “strongly believe” he is guilty.
Fully 85 percent of blacks surveyed believe that “racial bias” played a part in the shooting, including 72 percent who say it was a “major factor,” compared to 57 percent of non-blacks who think race figured in the shooting.
Seventy-three percent of black respondents also believe that Zimmerman would have been arrested if he had shot a white person, indicating that they believe he was not arrested because Martin was black.
Nonblacks say, by a 49-35, that police officers would have made the same decision not to arrest Zimmerman if he had shot a white person.
