Ken Burns The Central Park Five Essay

Draft Paper In the documentary film, “Kids for Cash”, Robert May shows his audience the horrors of the Luzerne County justice system. He uses imagery, appeals to logos and pathos, personal experiences and anecdotes to support his claim. Robert May made this documentary to show the world that the government needs to make sure that even minors have a fair trial and justice before being incarcerated.

Title Countless of people are arrested for crimes that they havnen’t committed. People are being sentenced to jail for life or are being put on death row. In an article called “ 8 Famous Faces Who Were Falsely Accused Of A Crime” has a case of a man named Dewey Bozella, who is a boxer, was accused of murdering a elderly woman in her apartment at the age of 18. He spent 26 years in jail before a group called The Innocence Project helped him prove his innocence.

According to the research of Kimberly Lonsway and police sergeant Joanne Archambault, when an individual is raped in the United States, 96% of the time the rapist dodges the crime. The majority of these rapes do not go through the prosecution process and when they do, less than 0.2% of these perpetrators spend time in a prison cell (Krakauer 121). The main cause of this ongoing problem is the ineffective and unfair representation of rape victims by the justice system. Jon Krakauer argues this point in his novel, Missoula: Rape in a College Town and the Justice System, using narratives as his main focus of support. Through this use of narratives, Krakauer appeals to logos, encapturing the various actions and perspectives of those who played

Whilst white citizens may believe in the themes of the country, it may not apply to minorities. After a sequence of credits the documentary begins to chronologically show the events between 1967 and 1975. The archival footage emphasizes speech rather than

Ava DuVernay suggests Slavery’s NOT Dead in 13th The recently released Netflix original documentary 13th identifies the issue of race in America and how the government instills fear in the nation in order to provide justice for the people by enforcing a ‘War on Crime.’ This tactic was Nixon’s way of incarcerating blacks during his presidency. Many of the elections beginning with President Truman’s era were a long list of former Presidents that used crime as a platform. Whoever was ‘tougher’ on crime would win the election.

Many of the speakers are frustrated at the fact that systemic racism is still very much alive, yet they remain professional. They discuss issues and problems in detail to give the audience a full understanding of the topic. Because of this and their desire to be direct, glossing-over details and censorship does not occur. The documentary has two main points of discussion: the history of oppression in America, and the prison industrial-complex. During the first half of the film, wherein the speakers discuss the discrimination of African-Americans, the tone used is factual and [smth].

Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Boys, a book by University of California, Professor Victor Rios, is set in the backdrop of Oakland, California. This book examines the very difficult lives of young Latino and African American boys who are caught up in the vicious cycle of delinquency in a legal system that restricts their chances of becoming successful. Rios studies the lives of boys growing up in a difficult background. He notes that the criminal justice system is very prevalent throughout many aspects of their daily activities.

As a young african american male, I’ve encountered many challenges and obstacles that has been tough to overcome for any male; especially male of color. Novelist Jennifer Gonnerman shared one forth of what African American males go through on a day to day basis, in her article, “Before the Law,” that sheds light on a particular incident about a kid from Bronx named Kalief Browder; who was falsely accused of taking a backpack from a New York resident on the day of Saturday, May 15, 2010. Kalief Browder spent the next two to three years confined in Rikers Island (Correctional Facility), which is a four-hundred-acre island in the EastRiver, between Queens and the Bronx. Kalief Browder was being charged with many charges such as robbery, grand

The Central Park Five is a documentary film that was produced by Ken Burns in the year of 2012. This documentary tells the story of five black teenage boys whose lives were changed forever when they were falsely convicted and imprisoned for brutally beating and raping a woman jogging in Central Park on the night of April 19, 1989. By creating this film, the filmmakers allowed the young men to share with the public their own accounts of that horrific night. The film exposed not only police intimidation, but the lack of evidence used to convict the five boys. Through blurbs of different newscast shown in the documentary, the viewer was also able to get a glimpse of how the crime brought about a cultural diversity causing extreme violence to erupt

We live in a society where ethnic minorities are target for every minimal action and/or crimes, which is a cause to be sentenced up to 50 years in jail. African Americans and Latinos are the ethnic minorities with highest policing crimes. In chapter two of Michelle Alexander’s book, The Lockdown, we are exposed to the different “crimes” that affects African American and Latino minorities. The criminal justice system is a topic discussed in this chapter that argues the inequality that people of color as well as other Americans are exposed to not knowing their rights. Incarceration rates, unreasonable suspicions, and pre-texts used by officers are things that play a huge role in encountering the criminal justice system, which affects the way

In Alabama nine African American were on a train ride and when the train stopped and they got off, two white women dressed in boy's clothes also exited the train. Victoria Price and Ruby Bates were the names of the women and they ended up testifying against the boys and made up a story on how they were raped by the boys. When the trial was started the boys were provided with volunteer lawyers at the last minute. The final verdict was not only unjust but truly sad, “Nine black youths charged with the rape of two white women… Despite testimony by doctors who had examined the women that no rape had occurred, the all-white jury convicted the nine, and all but the youngest, who was 12 years old, were sentenced to death.”

To summarize this article, Tawana Brawley was an innocent 15-year-old girl that viciously been gang raped by six man one described as a cop. Her fragile body was found smeared with manure. Tawana later became a symbol, representing the unequal Justice for African Americans. Her story received many attention and was given lifelong donations that would benefit her in the future, but justice was never fought for this blameless girl. Nevertheless, When Rev. Al Sharpton, Alton Maddox Jr., and C. Vernon Mason took on her case that would be the beginning of the end to finding justice for Tawana.

The conviction was based on false confessions that four out of the five young men had given, all coerced by the police through lengthy interrogations. One of the boys even revealed years later that he could hear the others being beaten during their confessions, with officers warning him, "You realize you're next." In 2002, a convicted serial rapist and murderer named Matias Reyes confessed to the Central Park attack. After further examination, DNA evidence was found that confirmed his guilt. Immediately after, the five men's convictions were overturned, and they were released from prison after spending between 6 and 13 years behind bars.

This shows that the blacks were treated very unfair as compared to the whites who had more advantages. The audience on the other hand would not be

Black women are treated less than because of their ascribed traits, their gender and race, and are often dehumanized and belittled throughout the movie. They are treated like slaves and are seen as easily disposable. There are several moments throughout the film that show the racial, gender, and class inequalities. These moments also show exploitation and opportunity hoarding. The Help also explains historical context of the inequality that occurred during that time period.