Perceptions of The Trayvon Martin Shooting Essay

The Trayvon Martin shooting is a perfect case of intercultural communication involving racial perceptions. In this case Trayvon Martin was shot and killed because of his suspicious behavior and what he was wearing. This made national news and was associated with a hate crime. During the night of February 26, 2012 George Zimmerman was running an errand and while he was doing that Zimmerman spotted a Man walking and having a suspicious behavior by cutting in between houses. From seeing that Zimmerman proceeded to follow him in the meantime Zimmerman was on the phone with the Police the whole time. Zimmerman stopped his vehicle while still in contact with the Police and left his car. After he left his car there was a an altercation between Martin and Zimmerman leaving Trayvon Martin dead. Immediately after this Police arrived on scene taking arresting Zimmerman on the scene. The Sanford, Florida Police report â€Å"The encounter between George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin was ultimately avoidable by Zimmerman, if Zimmerman had remained in his vehicle and awaited the arrival of law enforcement, or conversely, if he had identified himself to Martin as a concerned citizen and initiated dialog in an effort to dispel each party’s concern† (William, USA Today). When this made national news made citizens were outraged about the shooting saying â€Å"â€Å"Trayvon was stopped because of his ethnicity† (NY Daily News). Many people across the country are relating to this shooting saying racial perception is going on every way. The shooting of Trayvon Martin is a prime example of how perception play its role in stereotyping. The reason why people have racial perceptions is because of selection. Selection is a three part process and the one that sticks out here is repetition. Obviously George Zimmerman has had repetitive personal experience’s involving suspicious behavior with African Americans. George Zimmerman was a concerned citizen and wanted to keep his community safe he â€Å"was extremely concerned about burglaries; he called the police several times to report suspicious people walking around Retreat at Twin Lakes, his gated community† (NY Times). If this wasn’t a innocent 17 year old getting gunned down for suspicious behavior then it would have been interpretive way differently. But instead in the eyes of the public this is interpretive as a teenager being shot because of the racial perception of wearing a hooded sweatshirt and being black. George Zimmerman could have approached this way differently then just chasing him down and getting into a violent altercation and leaving a teenager dead. If he would communicated with Trayvon then just assuming he was a thug and a thief just because he looked suspicious. The only reason why Trayvon looked suspicious is because of hooded sweatshirt because people associate it with hip hop culture and have the perceptual context that make people believe that the person is suspicious. The only reason why this happened is because George Zimmerman had such intense repetitive past experiences involving African American having suspicious behaviors so he just assumed. All in all, because George Zimmerman had past perceptions on suspicious behavior he just assumed Trayvon Martin to be a bad person. This will negatively impact racial perceptions for years to come. If George Zimmerman used effective ways of communication this could have ended way differently. References William , W. (May, 2012 18). Police report: Trayvon martin’s shooting was ‘avoidable’. . Retrieved January 30, 2013: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-05-17/zimmerman-trayvon-shooting-report/55046944/1 Current: This article rates 5 out 5. It was very current and got me up to date on the shooting Relevant: This article rates 5 out 5. it was very relevant in what I needed to find out about else could have happen Authority: The Author rank 5 out 5 for authority because it coming from the US Today which is a credible new source Accurate: I give it a 4 out 5 on accuracy because it didnt tell me exactly what happened but I had good insight on perception. Purpose: The purpose of this article ranks high 5 out 5 because it was related to what information I wanted Trayvon martin case (george zimmerman). (2012, Dec 12). . Retrieved January 30, 2013: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/trayvon_martin/index.html Current: This article was very current 5 out 5 because it was exactly what I was looking for Relevant: Very relevant 5 out 5 because It was information I was seeking for Authority: 5 out 5 because it comes from the NY times which is a very credible source Accurate: 5 out 5 because gave me a overview of the case Purpose: The purpose of this article ranks 5 out 5 it was exactly what I was looking for Spiliakos, P. (2012). A reason why the trayvon martin controversy got so big so fast. Retrieved January 30, 2013: http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/postmodernconservative/2012/04/06/a-reason-why-the-trayvon-martin-controversy-got-so-big-so-fast/ Current: 3 out 5 not very current it was more personal experiences Relevant: 3 out 5 not very relevant to what I wanted Authority: 2 out 5 it comes from a blog so it someones opinion Accurate: 2 out 5 Not very accurate made assumptions Purpose: 1 out 5 didn’t use the information at all Boyle, K. (March 25, 2012). Trayvon Martin’s death has put spotlight on perceptions about hoodies. Retrieved January 30, 2013: http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2012-03-25/lifestyle/35447016_1_million-hoodie-march-trayvon-martin-dark-hoodie Current: 5 out 5 very currant had the case but also what the country thought Relevant: 4 out 5 gave me the information on what the public saw Authority: 5 out 5 came from the Washington Post which is a very credible news source Accurate: 5 out 5 very accurate to what I need to find out Purpose: 5 out 5 gave me my evaluation of this case Weichselbaum, S. (March 27, 2012).Brooklyn[->0] In wake of controversial Trayvon Martin shooting death, Big Apple is becoming epicenter of call for justice. Retrieved January 30, 2013: