Whites invoke self-defense laws far more successfully than Blacks do.

Evidence

The difference between the Zimmerman and Murray cases exposes the harsh reality that even in the modern era, the enforcement of self-defense laws varies widely according to race. Like many previous such laws, Stand Your Ground depends on the perception of threat, and research shows that Black people are often linked with danger in the minds of white people. … Eberhardt summarizes this study, noting “the stereotypic association between blacks and crime influences not only how we see black people but how we see guns.” … This may be why, as shown in study after study, white people are decidedly more successful in invoking Stand Your Ground as a defense than are African Americans. — Nikole Hannah-Jones et al., The 1619 Project, 779

Categorization

• SEED: The claim that perception of threat — not actual threat — governs Stand Your Ground is a clean causal mechanism an essay could unpack with the Eberhardt/Goff/Greenwald studies as evidence chain.
• XREF: Finely complements the reader’s past work on colonial justice and reputation systems: the same perceptual gap encoded in legal doctrine.