6.3.19: Nation – (Politics): An untold number of scenes in Ava Duvernay’s new Netflix miniseries could, and likely will, be replayed and analyzed for both its profundity and its subtleties.
When They See Us, which retells the narrative of the 1989 Central Park jogger rape and the ensuing legal proceedings, compels its viewers to empathize with the five, wrongfully convicted teenagers (Raymond Santana, Kevin Richardson, Korey Wise, Yusef Salaam, and Antron McCray) whose childhoods were snuffed out by a criminal justice system that appeared eager to have the boys fit descriptions which weren’t provided.
The malicious prosecution of black men and boys is an enduring American practice.
An early scene in When They See Us shows the quintet in a holding room, which is the first time all five boys met. After apologizing for lying on one another, the result of apparent coercion by detectives, there was a quick but salient exchange between two of the teenagers.
“Why are they doing us like this,” a battered and bruised Kevin Richardson (Asante Blackk) asked, seemingly rhetorically.
“What other way they ever do us,” Raymond Santana (Marquis Rodriguez) responded.
Mr. Santana at age 15 appeared to understand an unspoken rule: poor black and brown men and boys present society little value, particularly when their image is juxtaposed to that of harmed white skin. More often than not, black and brown men and boys suffer the presumption of guilt, and their innocence is farfetched.
Nearly 60 years before the Central Park Five, all of whom were from Harlem, there was the Scottsboro Boys, a group of nine African-American teenagers who in 1931 in Alabama were falsely accused of raping two white women while aboard a train. The Scottsboro Boys, similar to the Central Park Five, were imprisoned, their childhoods ravaged, their plight known to the world and yet no physical evidence tied them to a crime.
In the case of The Scottsboro Boys, it appeared no rape even occurred.
During the second round of trials – the initial Alabama verdicts were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court due to a violation of the 14th Amendment – one of the two women recanted her accusation and testified for the defense. But that didn’t matter much, as an all-white jury convicted Mr. Haywood Paterson and recommended the death penalty.
When They See Us could be a title applied to almost any case involving black and brown men and boys and malicious prosecution. The title’s context implies that the world largely sees this specific group in a distinct way: dangerous, incorrigible, and ultimately guilty of something, even if not the crime for which they were arrested; it hints at the incomparable burden that Blackness and its adjacent hues can manifest.
Mr. James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk – a compelling work of fiction published in 1974 that in 2018 was adapted for the movie screen by filmmaker Mr. Barry Jenkins – presents a storyline similar to the aforementioned cases: Alonzo “Fonny” Hunt is a 22-year-old, African-American sculptor from Harlem who is wrongfully accused of raping a white women and imprisoned at length. If Beale Street Could Talk was art imitating life.
Mr. Baldwin, a former resident of New York City, died a little over a year before the Central Park Five became a phraseology. But had he lived, the prolific African-American author wouldn’t have been surprised by the railroading of the teens and their impending convictions. Because Mr. Baldwin, maybe more than most, understood and lamented how they see us; he knew of America’s enduring practice and was among the many writers to properly frame it.
Ms. Duvernay is the most current creator to apply their genius to such a story. But she’s unlikely to be the last.
For as much progress as America has made, the way they see us has largely remained.
CLICK HERE to listen to ‘Reflections on the Central Park Five.’
Thanks for reading! Until next time, I’m Flood the Drummer® and I’m Drumming for Justice!™
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