This essay presents two complementary culprits in the death of Trayvon Martin. First, Zimmerman’s acquittal under Florida’s self-defense codes demonstrates how simple communicative rites allow citizens to undergo a subjective transformation by which they are empowered to act “above the law.” Second, this transformation illustrates a darker side of our cultural dichotomization of speech and violence. Although this dichotomy generally functions to enforce the state’s exclusive privilege of violence, it also has the effect of constructing an escalatory logic between speech and violent acts. Fostered by vague self-defense codes, this escalatory logic of exception—by which the supposed failure of speech effortlessly escalates into its exceptional other—contributes to a cultural climate in which interpersonal conflicts easily escalate into lethal violence.
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GoffP. A.RichardsonL. S. (2013). No bigots required: What the science of racial bias reveals in the wake of Trayvon Martin. In YanceyG.JonesJ. (Eds.), Pursuing Trayvon Martin: Historical contexts and contemporary manifestations of racial dynamics (pp. 59-72). Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.
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