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

When They See Us is a Netflix original production that was released a few years ago about the central park 5. It took place in 1989 where a female jogger was attacked and rapped in central park supposedly by 5 black teenage boys. There was a bunch of black boys that got together that night to wild out. That became the story that the city was going to stick with. The DA pursued 4 of the boys after that night took place in order to formulate a story. The story was developed through coercive acts by the detectives such as promises, screaming and shouting, and also a lack of nourishment and sleep. Eventually the detectives had their story together, but there was a missing link. They needed another to fit the story together. When they picked up Yusef Salaam his friend Korey Wise went with him. When the police had received false confessions from the other 4 kids in the precinct. Korey Wise was asleep on a bench waiting on Yosef, and the cops took him in for questioning knowing he wasn’t even on the list. They had their 5^th guy and now they had enough to take them to court.

In New York City the legal age as an adult is 16 unlike the rest of the country which is 18. All the boys accused of the horrific crime were below the age of 16 accept Korey. Korey was tried as an adult and was sentenced to 6-15 in prison and went through all sorts of abuse which caused him to request to switch prisons multiple times. One of which was on Rikers Island, and Korey spent the majority of his time in solitary. Since the other boys were below the age of 16, they were taken to either a juvenile facility or another lighter sentence than prison. Through it all these boys went through a lot and upon their release they were officially registered sex offenders. It wasn’t until Matias Reyes came forward that he was the original attacker that these boys were finally given a chance to clear their names. Of course, it didn’t come without a fight, because the authorities never believed Matias of his confession. In the end, they finally got the man who committed the crime took the blame. Those 5 were finally awarded a settlement and were fully exonerated of the lies that were told about them.

The story of the central park five is sad, it’s upsetting to know that our justice system is not always correct. The thing that makes matters worse is that this was done on purpose. Which means that the justice system at that time was not looking for justice they were looking for answers. The 1989 jogger case or the central park five was not the only instance of wrongful convictions of a black male. Actually, black men are 7 times more likely than white men to be convicted of murder, and 3.5 times than white for sexual assault (Gross, 2017). By taking a look back we can see that this is a common theme throughout history as well. Through the Black Codes and Jim Crow laws it is evident that black men have been largely discriminated against. Since those five black boys were wild’n out in central park the night the jogger had been attacked the police had their answer. They had to come up with something quick, since the media was breathing down their necks for an answer, they acted fast. Why wouldn’t they think it was a few black boys, that’s what our country thought the answer was for years. Blame the black man it’s the easiest thing to do. This trend trickled down for years all the way through the 90’s even with the crime bill being passed. Even politicians calling them super predators, and its truthfully sad. Which is why we have so many individuals protesting for black lives matter, and activist writing books and trying to make changes. It’s all because of incidences like Emmett Till, the Central Park Five, Kalief Browder, and countless others whose lives were either taken or unwilling changed against their will.

Which is why watching the film When They See Us is important to watch. Not only is it written well, it tells a good story, and it is engaging, it tells the story of black men whose lives were changed at the will of others. It gives an insight to people who watch it what decisions in our courts do to men and women every day. In my opinion, I would recommend anyone to watch it. For it is very insightful, but it paints a picture of the lives that shape history. Without this story we may not know of the wrong that takes place in our courts. In the end, our justice system is in need of some reform, and we most definitely would not know this without films like this.

By: Josh Dauberman

Work Cited

DuVernay, A. (Director). (2019). When They See Us [Video file]. Retrieved December 6, 2020, from https://www.netflix.com/search?q=whe&jbv=80200549

Gross, S. R. (2017). RACE AND WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS IN THE UNITED STATES. Retrieved December 6, 2020, from http://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/Race_and_Wrongful_Convictions.pdf