Students In Mahwah March In Trayvon Martin ‘Justice’ Rally

About 70 students wearing hoodies marched through the campus Wednesday night in memory of Trayvon Martin. The march coincided with the widely reported arrest of George Zimmerman, who was charged Wednesday with second-degree murder in connection with the shooting death of the Florida teenager.

According to numerous reports, Zimmerman, 28, a Florida man with a white mother and Spanish father, claims he shot Martin, 17, in self-defense. A USA Today article explained that “the murder charge is likely to face intense scrutiny in the weeks ahead as it is weighed against Florida's "stand your ground" law, which police cited the night of the shooting as the reason Zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer, was never charged in the first place. The law gives Florida citizens the right to use deadly force if they feel threatened; Zimmerman contends that he was attacked by Trayvon and brutally beaten.” Zimmerman is expected to plead not guilty.

Across the country and in Mahwah, the highly publicized case sparked discussions about race relations and self-defense laws in America.

“We are not taking sides,” Santali Villafane, a junior at Ramapo who helped organize  ‘Justice for Trayvon Martin,’ said. “We really just want to educate people about the facts in this case, and let people discuss their questions and opinions.” An hour-long discussion between students, faulty members, and members of the public kicked off the event, which was followed by a silent, candlelit march through campus.

The event was sponsored by the Greater Northern Chapter of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, and several different groups and clubs at Ramapo. “We really feel that this event is bringing together a lot of the Ramapo community,” Villafane said.

The discussion focused on race.

“To say that anyone is truly colorblind is inaccurate,” one visitor to Ramapo, Pamela, said during the public discussion. “We need to learn about other cultures, [because] Trayvon could have been any one of us.” College students, she added, “need to be the ones who learn the facts, and correct stereotypes of our parents’ generation.”

Another man in the crowd spoke to the group about the applicability of the Florida case to residents in and around Mahwah. “New Jersey is one of the most segregated states in the union,” he said, to shouts of agreement from the crowd. “Think about where you sit in the cafeteria. When I went to college, I sat with ‘little Africa,’” the Montclair State graduate said. "We have to ask why we are continuing to live with institutionalized racism, and separating ourselves from one another.”

"We don't have a huge minority community here at Ramapo, and we deal with racial issues here too" Villafane said. "I think it's important that despite our differences, people on campus can come together to support a cause that brings up issues we face on campus."

The rally ended with a silent march through campus, which students said was to show solidarity with Trayvon and his family. The group wore hoodie sweatshirts, which is what Trayvon was wearing when he got shot, and have become a symbol of similar marches throughout the country.