contextflorida | The
Armed Occupation Act of 1842 gave 160 acres of Florida land to anyone
who could fight the Seminoles and hold his ground for seven years. The
congressional legislation was designed to increase the nonnative
population of Florida.
In 2005, the Florida Legislature
approved the “stand your ground” provision of the self-defense law
ostensibly to protect folks who kill in self-defense in a public place.
Given the universal reaction to the recent Michael Dunn verdict, “stand
your ground” is likely to have the opposite effect. As one friend said
to me, “If I were black, I would move out of Florida. I wouldn’t live in
a place where it’s OK to gun me down because I am a Negro woman.”
By failing to convict Dunn on
first-degree murder charges for killing 17-year-old Jordan Davis, the
jurors essentially couldn’t bring themselves to convict a white man who
perceived a young black man as a threat. Cynics suggest that by
convicting Dunn of attempted murder, it’s as if jurors punished him for
failing to finish the job.
Dunn claimed he feared for his life
after he complained to a car-load of young black men about their loud
music. He said he saw a gun and fired his. So much of Dunn’s defense is
laughable except to those who believe “young black man” is synonymous
with “thug” and with threat. Dunn wasn’t on his front porch complaining
about his neighbor’s music. He was in public. There is no expectation of
peace and quiet outside a convenience store.
Dunn’s behavior is a reflection of how
gun-toters are irrationally emboldened by legislation that could only be
cooked up in the offices of the National Rifle Association. Like the
Armed Occupation Act of more than 160 years before, politicians have
given folks license to kill people of color.
And they aren’t done yet. The Legislature is poised to expand the legislation to include “the threatened use of force.”
In modern Florida, people have no
obligation to retreat if they feel threatened in public, even if as in
the case of the retired Tampa police officer in the Pasco County movie
theater, the assailant triggered the confrontation. Sadly, our
legislators have imposed a 19th century solution — summary execution by firearm — on a 21st century problem — incivility.
