Swain is an expert on race relations, immigration, black leadership and evangelical politics. Her newest book is called Be the People: A Call to Reclaim America’s Faith and Promise.

Black political leaders, such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, have used the death of Trayvon Martin to stir racial division for political gain, Carol Swain, professor of law and political science at Vanderbilt University, argued in a Tuesday interview with The Christian Post.

Most Americans, Swain believes, wanted an investigation into the Feb. 26 incident in which George Zimmmerman, 28, shot and killed Martin, 17, while on neighborhood watch. Martin was unarmed and walking to his father’s fiance’s house. Zimmerman claims he was assaulted and shot Martin in self-defense.

After black political leaders became involved, though, “it quickly became a racial issue fueling racial divide in America,” Swain said.

Swain is an expert on race relations, immigration, black leadership and evangelical politics. Her newest book is called Be the People: A Call to Reclaim America’s Faith and Promise.

Today’s black leaders “don’t put forth ideas and solutions that advance the cause of black people,” Swain said. Rather, they “prefer to heat up the situation.”

These black leaders benefit from depicting the incident as motivated by racism, Swain argued, because they can use it for voter mobilization. She noted that there have been voter registration drives at many of the rallies in support of Martin.
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