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On Thursday, April 13, in Kansas City, MO, 16-year-old Black male Ralph Yarl was shot by 84-year-old white male Andrew Lester on Lesters porch. Yarl mistakenly rang Lesters doorbell on Northeast 115th St. instead of his intended address of Northeast 115th Terrace.

Yarl was picking up his younger twin brothers from a friends home and went to the wrong house. Lester thought he was trying to break in and shot the young boy twice, once in the head through his homes glass door and once in the arm while he was on the ground after telling Yarl, Dont come back around here, according to NBC.

Yarl miraculously survived the traumatic brain injury he sustained from the first shot and ran three homes down the street before finding his aunt, Faith Spoonmore, who finally helped him.

Clay County, Missouri prosecutors filed two felony counts against the white homeowner: assault in the first degree and armed criminal action. Authorities are investigating whether or not Lester is protected under Missouris Stand Your Ground law.

Stand Your Ground laws are instated in at least 28 states. The law essentially says individuals have the right to use appropriate force, including deadly force, to protect themselves against an intruder in their home. However, this law is associated with higher homicide rates and disproportionately negatively affects the Black community because it leaves the danger levels up to the armed individual, even when there is none.

Missouri's own Stand Your Ground law states that a person may use deadly force to protect himself, or herself or her unborn child, or another against death, serious physical injury or any forcible felony.

This law also includes threats to property, which Lester attempted to use as his reason for using deadly force. Lester said he was scared to death and claimed to have seen a large, 6-foot Black male at his door. Lester claimed Yarl tried to enter his home, but there was no evidence because Lester fired shots through the door, according to Time Magazine.

In 2013, the Urban Institute conducted a study that analyzed the percentage of justified homicide cases from 2005 to 2010. The probability of a white person killing a Black person and the legal system considering it justified is 281% greater than a white person killing another white person.

Missouri attorney Bill Tacket said it seems unlikely Lester will be able to effectively use Stand Your Ground as a reason. The law would only have applied if Yarl threatened the mans safety. There was no real threat either and this will weaken Lesters possible defense, according to NBC.

He also claimed that violence was his last resort but was incredibly afraid because of Yarls size. In actuality, Yarl is 5-foot-8 and 140 pounds. These wild misinterpretations of Black young mens sizes are a vicious cycle and are used as an excuse when committing acts of violence against them.

In an American Psychological Association journal, the studys researchers asked participants to judge the size of Black men compared to white men of the same age range and size. The study participants saw Black men as larger and stronger than they were and gave Black children the characteristics of adults. This troubling discovery confirms the idea that violence against Black men is justified because they are deemed more dangerous than their white counterparts, according to APA.

In similar instances to what happened to Yarl, this racial bias is even more prevalent among law enforcement. In 2014, a police officer shot Black 12-year-old Tamir Rice. The president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmens Association supported the officer by describing Rice as a 12-year-old in an adult body. That same year, police officer Darren Wilson killed Black 18-year-old Michael Brown. Brown compared the struggle with Wilson inside Browns vehicle before the deadly shooting to a 5-year-old holding onto Hulk Hogan, according to the Washington Post.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas puts it perfectly when he said,People need to reassess their biases and fears and recognize that Black people are not villains, that Black kids are not a threat. There was no reason to fear this boy.

I have rung the wrong doorbell myself when picking up my own siblings from a friends house. It makes me sick to my stomach. This is something parents will have to teach their kids now: to not ring an unfamiliar homes doorbell. How will a child discern between a safe and unsafe home? How will a child never make the mistake of going to the wrong house again? Intruders do not ring doorbells, but that did not stop Lester from letting his racially motivated fear and prejudice from shooting first and thinking second.

Shooting should not be someones first instinct when faced with this situation. It is time to rethink our countrys dangerous and deeply ingrained racial stereotypes and gun rights.

Read more:
Ralph Yarl: Another victim of America's unjust racial bias and Stand ... - The Arkansas Traveler