by Sierra Riley, Student at Ravenscroft High School and CJPC Intern
The Netflix documentary series When They See Us is disturbing, but necessary to watch. The film not only shares the story of the Central Park Five, it brings awareness to the broken legal system which we still have today. This film also shows that innocent young boys are victims of police corruption more often then we all would like to believe. Detectives will literally beat a false confession out of innocent people; no matter the age.
As a high school student, I hope that this film opens the eyes of parents that they need to start teaching their children of color their Miranda rights as early as they possibly can. The system was built against people of color, so these simple lessons can possibly save a young child’s life. This film has shown and proven that when it comes to the criminal justice system, the color of your skin is the only thing that matters when it comes to conviction. Also, a detective and the prosecution will create any story necessary to solve a case no matter the evidence provided.
If you are contemplating on watching this film, please do, even if you think it will make you upset and or angry. The director Ava DuVernay has done an amazing job making the five men’s experience visible and heard.