About two hours south of Gainesville, there was Trayvon Martin. About an hour north and 10 months later, there was Jordan Davis.
With Gainesville left in the middle, locals are feeling the effects of the death of 17-year-old Davis and the trial of the man involved, Michael Dunn.
In November 2012, Davis, from Jacksonville, was riding in a car with three of his friends when Dunn shot into their SUV. Dunn was recently tried and found guilty of attempted second-degree murder for firing into the car, but the jury could not decide on the murder charge for the death of Davis.
For some, the Dunn trial brings back memories of George Zimmerman’s trial and the death of Trayvon Martin.
Sharon Davis, UF director of African-American Studies, said the deaths of Martin and Davis reveal a deeper problem.
“It’s a scary thing that so many people in society are trigger happy,” she said. “I have a 17-year-old nephew. It could have easily been him.”
Zimmerman’s case brought Florida’s Stand Your Ground law to the forefront of national discussion. This law was revisited by Dunn’s lawyers in their case.
Kenneth Nunn, a Levin College of Law professor, said something needs to be done about the current law.
“There is this view that it is reasonable to use deadly force against African American males while they’re basically doing nothing,” he said. “The law symbolically suggests to people that this is acceptable behavior. That is concerning.”
After the Dunn mistrial, Americans took to Twitter to voice their concerns. Users have been posting pictures with the sarcastic Twitter hashtag #DangerousBlackKids.
Awurama Acquah, a 19-year-old UF telecommunication sophomore, said she thinks the hashtag is a brilliant way to discuss how people should stop stereotyping.
“Young black people are not dangerous. They are normal kids,” she said.
Davis and his friends had been playing music in their car when Dunn got into an argument with them about the noise level. Dunn then thought he saw a gun and fired into the car, Reuters reported.
Charles Goston, former Alachua County Democratic Black Caucus president, said the murders of the two teenagers show that, even with a black president, not much has changed in America.
“People are still flying rebel flags. They don’t only have the flag on their cars,” he said. “They got the rebel flag on their hearts.”
[A version of this story ran on page 1 on 2/19/2014 under the headline "Dunn trial draws local reactions"]
