Topic rebuttal
Our topic Is Stand Your Ground Race Neutral? Our stand is Yes!
Need a Rebuttal for this
ARGUMENT 3
Stand Your Ground (SYG) is a law that has given citizens of the United States further rights to protect themselves. SYG differs from common self-defense in many ways. The most notable difference is that with self-defense you are required to attempt to diffuse or get away from the situation and with SYG you are not required to retreat from an attacker if you are in a place you are lawfully allowed to be (Baldwin, n.d.). The SYG law ensures that lawful citizens are safe when they protect themselves or others from harm. The principal idea of SYG is no different than the Good Samaritan Law.
There are some who think that SYG laws are racist by nature, yet they have failed to see what the data clearly shows. According to the FBI statistics over 50% of murders and robberies were perpetrated by African Americans in 2017. The majority of murders and robberies continued as a trend with 50% of African Americans committing these crimes during 2018 and 2019 according to FBI statistics. In 2019 it was estimated that there were over 328 million people living in the United States, 13.4% of that population claims to be black according to the United States Census Bureau. Statistically, over multiple years 13.4% of the U.S. population has been guilty for over 50% of murders and robberies.
A Florida investigation off 200 SYG cases found that offenders were found not guilty 73% of the time if the victim was black compared to only 59% of the time if they were white (Tampa Bay Times, 2012, as cited in Jonsson, 2013). At first glance and out of context this statistic may lead you to believe that SYG laws are racist, but we must look beyond the superficial. This data, when paired with the statistical trends of previous years clearly shows a violent tendency amongst African Americans; one which would warrant and require the defense SYG laws offer. We have good Samaritan laws to protect citizens and encourage them to help others, SYG laws stand on the same principal and do nothing more than the same.
COUNTER
However, this is true that they were found not guilty 73% of the time if the victim was black compared to only 59% if they were white. From 2012 to 2013, a team of scientists examined data from the Tampa Bay Times for 237 instances and updated all unsettled case categories for their 2015 analysis. They analyzed the data using traditional and well-accepted social scientist procedures. In Florida, SYG legislation has a provable racial bias that demonstrates special treatment in convictions if the victim is a non-White, demonstrating rough treatment under the law. They also verified that if the suspect is black and the victim is white, the culprit’s chances of getting convicted are twice as high.
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