Police chief in Trayvon Martin case steps down, racial bias persists

Amidst allegations of misconduct and racism, Bill Lee has temporarily stepped down as police chief of Sanford, FL, the city where Travyon Martin was killed. Lee's decision comes on the heels of much criticism of his choice to allow Martin's killer George Zimmerman to go free under the state's Stand Your Ground law.

To many, Martin's murder and its subsequent treatment by the Sanford police is anecdotal evidence of the persistence of racial bias everywhere from the front of a 7-Eleven to the highest reaches of the national government. As the story goes, Zimmerman became suspicious of Martin as he (Martin) was "just walking around looking about." Writer E. J. Graff coined the term "Walking While Black" to describe this sort of unfounded suspicion of minorities.

In an interesting op-ed by Sally Kohn, Kohn draws parallels between Trayvon Martin and President Obama. Just as Zimmerman was suspicious of Martin for Walking While Black, Obama's critics don't trust him because he is Governing While Black. The kind of implicit racial bias that Obama faces isn't exactly subtle. As Kohn points out:

"President Barack Obama is the first African-American president...(and) from day one, conservatives have attacked the president's religion, citizenship, and essential patriotism....Their rhetoric often evokes the same racial animus that Zimmerman seems to have expressed....Newt Gingrich has labeled President Obama 'the most dangerous president in history'....Rush Limbaugh said: 'Obama is an angry black guy.'"

This racial bias is even rooted in scientific studies; we're all familiar with the Black Doll/White Doll experiment, but a recent study concluded that subjects showed more support for the exact same healthcare reform proposals if they were credited to Bill Clinton rather than Barack Obama.

Despite the acknowledgement of this problem, though, it doesn't seem like much has really changed, especially in terms of suspicion of black men, whether they be 17-year-old boys or leaders of the free world. Racial bias may not be overt anymore, but it's deeply embedded in the fabric of the politics, justice system, and people of the United States, so much so that it can threaten the dignity of the presidency or kill a harmless boy.

Please share any thoughts you have on these issues in the comments section...