Oh, look what just happened again.

Yesterday, when writing about the supposedly "radical" idea that the US legal system in inherently racist, I referred to the Oscar Grant murder case. Oscar Grant, a black man, was a passenger on San Francisco's BART transit system who had been accused of being involved in a fight on the train. BART police officers responding to the incident violently restrained Grant, and once they had him restrained, lying face-down on the ground with another officer kneeling on his neck, Officer Johannes Mehserle, a white man, drew his service weapon and shot Grant in the back. For the crime of shooting an unarmed, restrained man in the back, Officer Mehserle was convicted of "involuntary manslaughter" and sentenced to two years in prison, minus time served.

I cited this case as an example of racism in the legal system. One can only imagine the sentence if a black man shot an unarmed and restrained white man in the back. I said at the time that it was kind of a cheap shot, but wait a minute, look what just happened again:

Trayvon "Trey" Martin, 17, of Miami was visiting relatives living in a gated community in Sanford, Florida. He had just left a local 7-11 after buying a snack and was on his way home around 7:00 PM on February 26. George Zimmerman, a 26-year-old member of the local neighborhood watch, saw Martin and called police to report a suspicious man in the community. He tailed Martin in his car. He had a loaded pistol on him. The police told Zimmerman they would handle it.

For some reason, Zimmerman didn't obey. Minutes later, a number of local residents called police to report a fight. A gunshot was heard. Martin died 70 yards from the house he was staying in. Zimmerman was arrested and then released. He was carrying the pistol legally and has claimed that he was acting in self-defense.

...

"Zimmerman, an adult, had a gun. Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old, had Skittles. No way you can say self-defense," said the family's attorney, Benjamin Crump.

We'll see what, if anything, eventually happens to Mr. Zimmerman. But don't get any radical ideas about racism existing or anything.