The new Trayvon Martin case?

Renisha McBride was driving through Dearborn Heights, Mich., early Saturday after she was involved in a car accident.

When the Detroit teen, who is black, approached a stranger's house apparently looking for help around 3:40 a.m. in a predominantly white neighborhood, she was met with gunfire and killed.

So let me get this straight: If you knock on someone's door looking for help, you run the risk of being shot in the head and killed?

What the heck is this? And where is the national outrage over it?

McBride, 19, was not breaking into this person's house, according to the accounts I've read. She didn't break a window. She just knocked on the door, and she was shot and killed.

The man who shot her told police Thursday that he thought the young woman was trying to rob him and that his shotgun discharged accidentally.

Will this homeowner claim self-defense, much like George Zimmerman did in the Trayvon Martin case in Florida? McBride was not armed, and family members described her as a hardworking, soft-spoken young woman who minded her own business.

Police have released few details, only saying that a report has been sent to a prosecutor for review. One of McBride's relatives said the teen was shot as she was walking off the porch and half of her face was blown off from the gunshot.

Michigan has a "stand your ground" law that is similar to the one in Florida. It basically says that if you feel threatened, you have a right to use deadly force. The law allows people to use deadly force without first retreating if they believe it's necessary to prevent imminent harm.

I don't think a black woman looking for help after an accident is a threat. I also don't believe that an unarmed black teen walking in a gated Florida community at night is a threat.

Black men, and some black women, will always be considered threats by some whites. It's the reason a woman clutches her purse a little tighter when she sees a group of black males. It's also the reason a former Milwaukee police officer once told me that when he closes his eyes and thinks of a "suspect," he see a black male, although national statistics do not support his belief.

Given what I know at this point, the shooting of McBride feels like racial profiling to me. If she had been a white teen looking for help at night, do you believe she would have been shot in the head in the same neighborhood?

I think we know the answer to this question.

James E. Causey is a Journal Sentinel editorial writer, columnist and blogger. Email jcausey@journalsentinel.com. Facebook: fb.me/james.causey.12 Twitter: twitter.com/jecausey