Jay Z broke his silence on George Zimmerman's acquittal for killing unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin, saying it made him "really angry" but that he hopes the law that exonerated Zimmerman will soon change.
"We all know it was wrong. It was wrong," Jay Z said of the verdict. "I was really angry, I didn't sleep for two days."
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Jay Z spoke in a two-part interview posted Wednesday to the rapper's "Life+Times" YouTube channel. He called Zimmerman an untrained amateur with no right to try to "defend" his neighborhood from black children on their way home from the store.
"This guy's not a professional," Jay Z said. "First of all, you're not a professional to profile someone. Professionals are taught not to profile … This guy is a novice. This guy is a f–king mall cop."
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"You know, I was really angry about it, you know, that the thing that we all knew that there was still a bit of racism in America, but for it to be so blatant, it was like, if you just ask the question — ask yourself the question — didn't Trayvon have the right to stand his ground?" Jay Z said. "He was being chased, he was being chased and fought back. You know, he may have won, that doesn't mean he's a criminal — he won! If you chase me and you try to attack me and I defend myself, how can I be in the wrong? How is that right?"
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The rapper said that though the case was a stark reminder that racism still exists in America, he had hoped that something good could come out of it: "His memory will live on … Hopefully this is the moment that changed that law and changed the way we interact with each other."
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