South Bay labor resolution condemns the killing of Trayvon Martin

The following resolution was unanimously adopted by the South Bay AFL- CIO Labor Council, at the general membership meeting held on July 15 in San Jose, Calif.

Whereas, George Zimmerman took it upon himself to determine that Trayvon Martin, a young African American, was “suspicious” and then disregarded the instructions of a 911 dispatcher, first stalking and then initiating a confrontation with Trayvon Martin that left the unarmed youth dead, and;

Whereas, Trayvon Martin, an innocent young man, was unjustifiably killed, and George Zimmerman is walking free, acquittal of the crime only makes this injustice both palpable and maddening, and;

Whereas the decision of the Florida jury to acquit George Zimmerman is causing many to not respect the decision of the jury any more than we would respect the jury that acquitted the 1955 killers of Emmett Louis Till, and;

Whereas, we can only conclude that Trayvon Martin was a victim of this senseless crime because of his race, and;

Whereas, when an unarmed 17-year-old African-American youth is approached and killed with impunity by a gun wielding adult, the acquittal in this case sends the wrong message that the value of a human life depends upon race or skin color, and;

Whereas, our shared humanity demands that we are all entitled to equal human and civil rights and when those rights are violated, the federal government must uphold them when the state or local government will not;

Therefore Be it Resolved, that we demand that Attorney General Eric Holder bring criminal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman, and;

Be It Further Resolved that we send this resolution to Attorney General Eric Holder and to the four congressional representatives in the jurisdiction of this Labor Council, to our Senators, to our affiliates, to our neighboring central labor councils, to the AFL-CIO, and to our affiliates asking for their  immediate concurrence and action.