Black America’s Heartbreaking Burdens - The Daily Beast: The killing of Trayvon Martin is a terrifying tragedy that has inflicted a loss that is irrevocable. What remains to be seen is the outcome of competing responses to the calamity. Encouraging has been the extraordinary effort to prevent the shooting from being swept to the margins of public attention. Demands voiced in letters, blogs, petitions, and demonstrations have prompted government at all levels to respond to the pressure. Absent massive, persistent, and loud expressions of outrage, there would have been no recusal of the city police chief and the county prosecutor, no convening of a state grand jury, no appointment of a special state prosecutor, and no initiation of a federal investigation.
