The fact is that many black men have been taught to NOT run - not because they want to be confrontational but because running is often considered to be indication of guilt.
Black men, especially black men in the South, have to deal with automatically being considered suspicious even if all they are doing is walking down the street. In a town like Sanford with a long history of racism they have to be especially careful.
Trayvon's parents probably had the same talk with him that Jonathan Capehart had with his mother, warning him of the same things. Dont run in public. He'd already broken that rule when he ran from GZ initially. That could be one reason he was so worried even after he thought he'd lost the strange man in the SUV.
TM probably realized that running again would be MORE dangerous for him than walking fast, even if walking increased the chance the person stalking him might catch up to him.
This is why the Trayvon Martin case is making such a national impact. Every single black man in this country has lived with the likelihood that they will be found "suspicious while being black" no matter where they live, how they dress, what they have done - or not done - or any factor under their control. No matter how much the white population may deny this, it exists and it happens, probably every day.
This case is a mess indeed - if the Sanford Police Department had investigated the shooting thoroughly from the beginning we would not have all the questions we do. Maybe GZ was justified but we will never know. The SPD did not make sure that all the facts were documented - they used the excuse of the 'stand your ground' law to evade their responsibility.
Given the respective histories of the two individuals, I prefer to give the younger man without a police record the benefit of the doubt over the older man with a history of violence and a lack of impulse control.
