Race, Ethnicity, Class, and Crime in the Media Fall 2020

The Media that I have chosen for the series was When They See Us. Which was about the central park five boys, and their names were Kevin Richardson 14, Korey wise 16, Raymond Santana 14, Yusef Salaam 15, Antron McCray 15. They were all falsely accused of rape and attempted murder of a woman that was jogging at night that they did not do. They were just young boys in a large group in the park. They were having fun, playing music, and talking, doing what teens do. As they were all in the park some police started to come and all the boys started running and hiding, trying to get away. When the police had caught some and started brutally beating one of the boys and took them in. They had found a white lady lying in the park that had been beaten, raped, and had several injuries to her body. While they brought the kids in, they had them sitting at their desks, and one of the ladies had asked the boys what he was doing at the park when he told her he mentioned to her a name Antron. She asks him where he lives, and she finds him. They began searching his house and took him in for questioning. They had a list, and Yusef was on that list, and because Korey was around him, but was not on the list, they took him as well. The five boys that were in questioning were being asked questions without any guardian, which they are not allowed to do. The detectives were scaring the boys into admitting that they are the ones that raped and beat the lady in the park that night. They started screaming and hitting on the boys. Their parents come in and sit with them. Their parents know that is not what they had done, but the detectives try to get them to believe that is what they did. The kids do not know each other, but the detectives made them accuse one another of doing something they did not even do and put the blame on each other. They went into the room and told them that one of the kids blamed him for doing the incident. One of the boys Korey Wise was taken to the back room, and the police officer beat him up and made him admit that he was a part of the crime. So, they all made a false confession when the boys continuously told them where they were, and what they were were doing that night, and that they did not see that lady jogging. They made them admit to something they did not do. The detectives told them that if they admit to the incident and sign the statement, then they will let them go home. They had the lady Trisha Mali put up on the stands in court, and they questioned her, but she seemed to not remember anything from that night but little stuff. The detectives had some evidence of DNA, but the evidence did not match either one of the boys. They had to do confessions on video also which they had shown in court that made decisions final. They were all guilty and had been taken to jail and been in there for years. As they had gotten older and got out, they had to sign for a sex offender, then try to find jobs, having to live in their house with their parents, and missed their teenage years being in high school not able to graduate. After all that they had found out years later that it was not either one of those boys who raped her. 

This series relates to the book Policing the Black Men Because it tells how Black boys are being treated unfairly. They relate in Away because it tells stories and what happens to them, which is being accused, beaten, or killed by a police officer. Also, the system accuses black males of whatever crime because they are black, so it is automatic to them that they did it when they didn’t. The book talks about a boy named Emilio, and he was on his way to school when he had gotten stopped by an officer because he was jaywalking. Then the police asked him to sit, but he refused to, so things started to escalate. The police officer grabbed him, pinned him, and started to beat him. Things escalated and more cops had come, and four get on top of him after he was slammed to the ground. Jaywalking isn’t anything to do that to someone. This series relates in a way to the boys being picked and beaten by the police. It is just going to show it is a race thing the color of one’s skin they make their assumptions that are based on color. 

The series is sad because they had been in jail for years for a crime that they did not commit. They lost all their teen years once they had come out of jail. They were grown men by the time they came out, everything was taken from them. Things had changed for them once they got out in the world, the type of jobs, and no diploma. They had to get straight back into the real world, and they could not live as teenage boys. The parents were worried about their kids in jail, which is a parent’s biggest fear is having their child locked up in jail, and never knowing what could happen. The things parents do tell their young black kids things to keep them out of trouble, and whenever it comes to a police officer, is to just act accordingly because you may never know what is going to happen when dealing with a police officer. Falsely accusing them just to have a person to say they caught, and because of the color of their skin, they automatically assumed it was them. To come to find out they did not do it. They had hurt the kids and took years from them the whole time the person who did the crime was still committing a crime. It’s nothing but hate. This situation is still happening today when black boys are being falsely accused of things they have not done. The fact they see the color of their skin they automatically think they did the crime or a bad person. They are either brutally beaten or they end up getting killed because they feel that they are resisting them. Today nothing has changed because black men are still getting hurt and accused. It is sad because men are the first pick of a crime, and fingers are already pointed at them. Young black males are losing years of their life or their life for crimes they are accused of. Young black boys are losing years of school and losing their learning. It is a sad thing to see the fact that it is still happening now. 

DuVernay, A. (2019, May 31). When They See Us. Retrieved December 08, 2020, from https://www.netflix.com/title/80200549

A. J. Davis, Policing the Black Man: Arrest, Prosecution, and Imprisonment (pg31-55)