Blog #1: Relevance to Current Events

Before this year, I wasn’t much of a nonfiction reader. However, after starting the book Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson I might start to read more. The book is enjoyable to read and digs deep into racism and the injustice in the criminal system in America. 

At the beginning of Just Mercy, we begin to learn about Stevenson's background and how he made his way through law school. At Harvard Law, Stevenson was first unsure that he had made the right decision. He knew that he was to work with the lives of the poor and deal with the long history of racial inequality in America but was unsure of the path he had to take to do this work. It wasn’t until after he took a course on race and poverty litigation that he truly knew what he wanted to do (Stevenson 5). He spent time working with the Southern Prisoners Defense Committee (SPDC) in Atlanta for his course. After graduating, Stevenson traveled back down south to help defend underprivileged black men and women in court. Throughout the book, he also connects to his own life experiences, like when he was accused of being a robber because he was a black man who stayed in his car a little longer than normal. The experiences that Stevenson describes throughout Just Mercy bring light to the major racial issues throughout America.

 Bryan Stevenson talking at Harvard.

Image courtesy of Rose Lincoln.

Throughout the beginning of the book, Stevenson brings up many examples of how mistreated blacks are, especially in the south. However, his book is mostly about the mistreatment of one individual: Walter McMillian. McMillian was accused of murdering a white woman in a laundromat in Alabama. The only “evidence” against him was that he was “an African American man involved in an adulterous interracial affair” (Stevenson 34). There was no real evidence against McMillian for this murder, except for the outrageous lies coming from Ralph Meyers, a white man who had a “lengthy criminal record” (Stevenson 31). However, the criminal justice system seems to trust the word of a white criminal over an innocent black man. 

Later on, when Meyers came forward and said his allegation was a lie, the police officers continued to give Meyers ideas on how to lie about the case: “one of the officers suggested to Meyers that McMillian might have sexually assaulted him” (Stevenson 47). The clear favoritism in this case towards Meyers is a problem that is still relevant today. However, the bigger problem today is using excessive force against blacks, even if they didn’t commit a crime. 

This story from the book, which was published in 2014, is similar to the stories we are hearing today. One of the most recent stories is the one about George Floyd. In May of 2020, George Floyd bought cigarettes at a convenience store with a counterfeit $20 bill (Hill et al). After police arrived at the scene, the officers were hostile with Floyd and eventually led to one of the officers pinning Floyd to the ground where he was unable to breathe. The officer stayed like this for eight minutes and fifteen seconds, which is when he lost consciousness and died (Hill et al). This murder, which happened over the course of 30 minutes, was all because of a counterfeit bill. While using a counterfeit is a crime, it is not one that is punishable by death. Especially not by a police officer.

George Floyd next to the officer who suffocated him (Officer Chauvin).

Image courtesy of KTSP Eyewitness News.

Racial injustice has been a major problem in America for many years. In this century, “one in every three black male babies are expected to be incarcerated” (Stevenson 15). Also, 1 in 11 black men are in prison or parole and 1 in 1000 black men are expected to be killed by the police (Lee et al). This makes black men 2.5 times more likely to be killed by the police than white people (Lee et al). The racism in the criminal justice system towards blacks has caused an uproar in many cities in America. Protests and petitions have been used to try and advocate for reform in the law system yet little change has occurred. 

From reading the book to just watching the news, I have learned a lot about how divided the actual world is. Growing up in small-town Hopkinton had made me originally think that most of the world accepted each other no matter what race we were. However, reading stories in Just Mercy and on the news recently has made me think otherwise. Black people were being framed for crimes they didn’t commit and they are still being framed today. The current criminal justice system needs to be changed and needs to look beyond the color of someone's skin when determining crimes. Racial profiling is much too common these days and must be fixed if we are to be a united country again.

Works Cited

George Floyd and Derek Chauvin. KSTP Eyewitness News, 28 May 2020, kstp.com/news/george-floyd-fired-officer-overlapped-security-shifts-at-south-minneapolis-club-may-28-2020/5743990/. Accessed 4 Mar. 2021.

Hill, Evan, et al. "How George Floyd Was Killed in Police Custody." New York Times, 31 May 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george-floyd-investigation.html. Accessed 4 Mar. 2021.

Lee, Hedwig, et al. "The demographics of racial inequality in the United States." Brookings, 27 July 2020, www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/07/27/the-demographics-of-racial-inequality-in-the-united-states/. Accessed 4 Mar. 2021.

Lincoln, Rose. Bryan Stevenson addresses an audience. The Harvard Gazette, 5 Dec. 2018, news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/12/yes-you-can-change-the-world-bryan-stevenson-says-at-harvard/. Accessed 4 Mar. 2021.

Stevenson, Bryan. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. 2019 ed., New York, Spiegel & Grau, 2019.