Skittles Become Cultural Icon in Trayvon Martin Case
A man holds up a package of Skittles candy in front of a photograph of slain 17-year-old Trayvon Martin as he stands with New York City Council members wearing hoodie sweatshirts on the steps of City Hall in New York, Wednesday, during a news conference and action to call for justice in the Feb. 26 killing of Martin in Sanford, Fla. The high school student, shot by neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman, was unarmed and holding just a bag of the sweets and a bottle of Arizona Iced Tea. Skittles, much like the hoodie he was wearing, have become a cultural icon, representing what many think is racial injustice, how the case has been handled and more. “The candy has been piled into makeshift memorials, crammed into the pockets of thousands of people who have shown up at rallies in his name and sent to the Sanford Police Department to protest the lack of an arrest in the case,” Kim Severson wrote in The New York Times. New details continue to emerge a month after the shooting, and Zimmerman has still not been charged.