The Black History Month part 3: The People vs. Black People

In the last post, I discussed some tragic events that happened to African American during the Civil Right Movement. Racism had changed their lives, made them suffer, killed innocent people, and shut down justice, the freedom that they were supposed to have. But one thing is for sure the legacy that the last generations fought for will never be forgotten and lived forever in our hearts. 

Yes, when the Civil Rights Act was finally signed in 1964 and 1968, African Americans had finally won the war that they had fought for a long time in history. But the happiness had to end so soon because Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968 and it had begun riots in over 100 cities around the nation including burning and looting just like what happened after George Floyd’s death. The assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King had shown that even though the Civil Right Act was signed but it did not mean it stopped the hate and racism in this nation. 

Source: iStock

So let’s begin with a very famous event during the 1980s which related to a group of black teenagers and Donald Trump. Before, I did not know about this event, but after I watched the TV Series named “When they see us” on Netflix, created by Ava DuVernay, to be honest, I was speechless by the justice of this nation and how it put on African American. You know, I think that white people (of course some of them, not everyone) have problems with their eyes when they see someone with different skin color doing some unusual things even though it is entirely usual if white people do it. Or they claim that colored people can not own a thing. For example, I think you should know about BBQ Becky. Jennifer Schulte called the police on a black family barbecuing in Oakland, California. She claimed that the family was using charcoal to grill the meat in the undesignated area, which was the designated area. I laughed all the time when I watched that video. Also, there was a white lady called the police because she claimed that a 9 years old black boy grabbed her ass even though he did not do it and it was shown on the camera. Damn! Unbelievable. What’s wrong with these people? Have they checked their mental issues? It is not ok. While people are making fun of those incidents, I think they are a very serious issue because the hate inside them is more significant than what they can give to other people. Human nature is being destroyed so badly that I don’t know if we can save it or not. 

So please return to the event that I mentioned before, Central Park Five. Sounds familiar? On a spring night of 1989, Five teenagers, Kevin Richardson, 14, Raymond Santana, 14, Antron McCray, 15, Yusef Salaam, 15, and 16-year-old Korey Wise, got involved in a rape case of a 28-year-old white woman named Trisha Meili which they did not commit. The police made five of them confess and pushed them hard to make them admit what they have done without showing evidence against them. Even though the semen at the crime scene did not match any of them.

I can see that five men were being abused by the police at that moment. Both from the soul and the body. It was so horrible. Then, they were put on trial. Five of them were found guilty of offenses including attempted murder, rape, assault, and robbery, and were convicted to six to 13 years in prison. No chance to speak, no chance to explain, no opportunity to know why they were being convicted, and no chance to talk with the lawyers at that time being arrested. The police department had violated the 5th Amendment and 6th Amendment, which give the people the right to an attorney and the right to know the charge against, to confront witnesses in court and to bring forth witnesses, and the right to counsel. 

A businessman named Donald Trump believed that five teenagers did rape that woman. He got mad and highly aggressive. So he spent $85,000 on four full-page adverts in New York newspapers titled: "Bring Back The Death Penalty, Bring Back Our Police!". Well, I don’t know what to say, but Donald Trump would do anything at any price to ensure that five men would be dead meaning being executed. He also believed that hate is necessary because someone needs to get mad, someone has to speak up, and something needs to be done. No matter. He has raised fear in our nation right now. He had created fear before, and the fear was put on the families of all five men. What if the death penalty was adapted to all of them? If I had been there at that time in front of Donald Trump, I would have said shut the hell up, you do business so focus on doing business, you are not them, you don’t know any damn about them so don’t put those noses inside this, mind your own business and stop raising fear among people. 

The real criminal, in this case, was Matias Reyes. Reyes was coincidentally in the same prison that Korey was in. Reyes later talked to Korey about the incident and confessed to the police that he was the real criminal in that case. He told the police exactly what he did that night, and the DNA belonged to him. Reyes was not one of those suspects because he had been convicted of another rape case. Reyes is right now serving 33 years to life in prison.

After the confession of Matias Reyes, five men who were wrongfully convicted, together, filed a civil suit against New York City and received $41m in the settlement. Korey Wise received the biggest share of $12m because he was the only one who'd been sentenced as an adult and so spent the longest time in prison. But I think that the money they receive will not erase the loss of their reputations, recover the time they were supposed to be outside to join the freedom lives, loss of their youth, and loss of their respect. It will never be enough. The case keeps me thinking that if the rapist were a white man, would the police department have done the same as they did to five men? I don’t think so. When black man commits a crime, the police will soon arrest them, brutally attack them if they resist, and treat them really badly. But if a white person commits a crime, they will act differently, and treat them like a guest. The justice system of this nation to me is covered with the color white which means only white people can get justice and the law will protect them.