A man argues with a police officer as supporters of Trayvon Martin march while blocking traffic in Union Square in New York on Sunday, July 14. A jury acquitted George Zimmerman of all charges related to the shooting death of Martin. View photos of key moments from the trial. 
Police hold positions on I-10 in Los Angeles as protesters retreat up an embankment, after demonstrators walked onto the freeway, stopping traffic, on July 14. 
People gather at a rally honoring Trayvon Martin at Union Square in New York on July 14. 
Demonstrators march following a peaceful rally at the Torch of Freedom in downtown Miami on July 14. 
People hold hands in a circle at a rally honoring Trayvon Martin at New York's Union Square on July 14. 
Parishioners arrive for Sunday service at Allen Chapel AME church in the historic black neighborhood of Goldsboro on Sunday, July 14, in Sanford, Florida. During the service Pastor Valarie Houston compared Trayvon Martin to civil rights icons Medgar Evans and Emmett Till. 
People wear hoodies during services remembering Trayvon Martin at Middle Collegiate Church in New York on Sunday, July 14. 
People in New York react to the news that George Zimmerman was found not guilty on Saturday, July 13. 
"Justice for Trayvon" is written on the ground as people gather at Union Square in New York on July 13. 
People attend a rally in Los Angeles following the Zimmerman verdict on July 13. 
A protester shouts in the streets of New York on July 13. 
People gather for a demonstration in Los Angeles on July 13. 
A man in Los Angeles wears a shirt in support of Trayvon Martin on July 13. 
Protesters chant outside the Seminole County courthouse in Sanford, Florida, after Zimmerman was found not guilty on July 13. 
Tanetta Foster cries in front of the courthouse on July 13 after hearing the verdict. 
A Trayvon Martin supporter rallies outside the courthouse on July 13. After Martin's death, protesters started wearing hoodies in solidarity against racial profiling. 
Darrsie Jackson cries and comforts her children Linzey Stafford, left, 10, and Shauntina Stafford, 11, outside the courthouse on July 13. 
A woman addresses the media after the verdict on July 13. 
Protesters react to the not guilty verdict on July 13. 
Melinda O'Neal, left, breaks into tears and hugs Shedrick Burfect outside the courthouse on July 13. 
A man outside the courthouse gets emotional after the verdict was announced on July 13. 
A woman outside the courthouse reacts to the verdict on July 13. 
Demonstrators and members of the media gather outside of the courthouse on July 13. The jurors deliberated for more than 16 hours before delivering their verdict. 
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
- Nicole Austin-Hillery: Justice in U.S. often hollow, especially for blacks killed by non-blacks
- She says whites can't conceive of a Zimmerman-like outcome happening with their children
- She says killers escaping punishment in death of young blacks has long history in U.S.
- Writer: Every verdict that fails to hold killer of black accountable erodes black's trust in courts
Editor's note: Nicole Austin-Hillery is the Director and Counsel of the Washington Office of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law.
(CNN) -- In the iconic film, "To Kill a Mockingbird," Atticus Finch, a white lawyer defending a black man accused of attempting to rape a white woman in the deep South, is delivering his closing argument to an all-white-male jury: "In this country, our courts are the great levelers ... in our courts, all men are created equal," he says.
Like the fictional defendant in the film, black America knows all too well that in this country, the promise of equal justice for all is often a hollow one. That is never more true than in cases where a black man or boy is killed by a non-black.
There will be much debate in the coming days about whether the not guilty verdict in the Zimmerman self-defense trial was the right or wrong outcome. Experts will analyze the strategy, tactics and performance of the prosecutors and the defense attorneys, seeking to explain it. This, however, will miss the bigger and more important point: In truth, when black boys and men are killed by non-blacks, more often than not, justice will not be served.
Many black parents will try to explain to their children, especially their sons, what to make of the verdict, and they may be at a loss for words. How is it possible that a black child, walking where he had a right to walk, doing absolutely nothing wrong, could be pursued, confronted and ultimately shot dead by a neighborhood watch volunteer -- and the killer escape punishment?
LZ Granderson: Trayvon could have been my son
White America cannot conceive of such a thing happening to its children, nor can it imagine that, were such a travesty to occur, the killer would escape punishment. But for black America, Trayvon Martin is the latest name on a long list of African-American men and boys whose non-black killers escaped justice in America's courts -- a list that runs from Emmett Till to Amadou Diallo to Oscar Grant to Sean Bell.
The George Zimmerman Trial: Not Guilty 
Jones: Dress now in tux to buy Skittles? 
A Special Preview of CNN's "Crossfire" Often, the killers are never even charged and brought to trial, which is precisely the course that the Zimmerman case would have taken were it not for the protests of African-Americans and others across the country.
Waldman: Zimmerman case echoes issues of race, guns
There was a time in this nation's history, not so very long ago, when black America looked to the courts, particularly its federal courts, for justice, and received it, most notably in the area of civil rights. The courts, particularly the Supreme Court, were places where black America's rights were validated and vindicated.
Now, our courts are places where black America's rights are often eviscerated.
Black America's belief in the possibility of receiving justice from our legal system is eroded by every verdict that fails to hold a killer who is not black accountable for the death of a black man or boy.
I was at the mall in my predominantly African-American community doing late-night shopping when the verdict was read. Like the Black store clerks who waited on me, I did not expect that Zimmerman would be found guilty, but I did harbor that hope.
Brazile: Doing what's right not just about law
Now, my heart is heavy, not merely because Zimmerman was acquitted, but also because we as a nation have yet to make Atticus Finch's words ring true. Until we do -- until our courts are really "the great levelers" in which "all men are created equal," African-Americans killed by non-blacks will not find justice in a system that fails to demand accountability for their lost lives.
Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.
Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Nicole Austin-Hillery
