When They See Us
There is no other way to describe this series than painfully real. The chain of events that occurred to the Five was disgusting but the story is one that needs to be told. The level of discomfort felt in the fourth episode needs to be experienced. And the anger at the repetition of “guilty” needs to be felt. This series provides conversation that needs to be had yet has been avoided due to our hierarchal system of the US. This piece opened my eyes to the atrocities that happen everyday. It made me delve into aspects in my life, particularly with my position as Youth Development Professional at the Boys & Girls Club. The majority of kids at this specific club were African American or Hispanic, and almost everyone coming from a title one school — the exact targets of the perpetuated pattern of racism and injustice. It made me think about how they probably have to be raised differently in the off chance they become a victim of the criminal justice system. This thought crossing my mind developed an even more emotional lens to watch the series through.
In “When They See Us Now”, a sit down with Oprah Winfrey, director Ava DuVernay expressed, “She’s (Linda Fairstein) part of a system that’s not broken. It was built to be this way. Okay? It was built this way. It was built to oppress. It was built to control. It was built to shape our culture in a specific way, that kept some people here and some people here.” This quote reminded me of the reading Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, where the author described white privilege as a system passed on generation to generation putting one group dominant. I agree with both women that this system is further ingrained into our society as people don’t make the dominant aware of the problem. I hope that the Netflix series is the first step to bringing awareness to the issue and holding the true perpetrators accountable.