Title: Unveiling Racial Bias: A Critical Analysis of "Just Mercy" in the Late 20th Century
The late 20th century saw the persistence of racial bias in the American criminal justice system perpetuating systemic inequalities and denying individuals their fundamental rights. Bryan Stevensons book, "Just Mercy," explores this troubling reality. Recounting his experiences as a lawyer fighting against racial bias.
This essay aims to argue that "Just Mercy" effectively presents the pervasive nature of racial bias during this period by analyzing it alongside two additional media sources. In his book. Stevenson powerfully exposes the deeply ingrained racial bias prevalent within the late 20th century criminal justice system.
Through his narratives
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It is clear that African American defendants were subjected to harsher sentences. Did not receive adequate legal representation. And were more likely to be wrongly convicted. By combining individual stories with statistical data the book convincingly demonstrates the underlying racial bias within the criminal justice system. Another source that supports this argument is an article titled "Racial Disparities in Sentencing: Implications for the Criminal Justice System and the African American Community" from the Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment. This article critically examines the racial disparities in sentencing during the late 20th century and highlights how biased judgments influenced judges' decision making processes. "Just Mercy" aligns with these findings by emphasizing how racial bias affects sentencing outcomes. The author Bryan Stevenson explores implicit bias and cultural stereotypes illustrating their impact on judges' perceptions and judgments of African American defendants. Through concrete examples. "Just Mercy" vividly exposes instances of racial bias within the criminal justice system and reveals the unjust consequences faced by people of color. In conclusion "Just Mercy" serves as a powerful portrayal of racial bias in the criminal justice system during the late 20th century. Bryan Stevensons' narratives shed light on systemic injustices faced by African Americans and other marginalized communities. Supported by media sources such as The New York Times' report on racial disparities in criminal justice and scholarly articles on sentencing disparities based on race "Just Mercy" effectively demonstrates how pervasive this issue was. "Just Mercy," continues to show that it provokes contemplation expertly leads readers on an introspective journey through the shadows of our criminal justice system where we are confronted with the heartbreaking consequences resulting from racial bias. Through riveting narratives
He highlights how these issues have contributed to mass imprisonment, false convictions, and inequities in punishment. Through his stories, he reveals how these issues significantly impact minority groups. Despite its serious message, Just Mercy is an uplifting book. Stevenson's relentless devotion to justice provides hope that even in the most difficult of situations, change may occur. His belief in redemption and rehabilitation rather than punishment echoes throughout the book.
In Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson retells powerful stories to highlight how minorities and juveniles within the criminal justice system are often unheard. Stevenson addresses Walter McMilliam’s case to prove that he was ignored by the police and others because he was an African American accused for interracial romance with a white women and murder. During the 1800’s, racial discrimination was extremely harsh onto black people which led their community to be targeted by the criminal justice system. The criminal justice system incarcerates African Americans but no other races which proves that they’re avoiding their safety and rights.
The author Bryan Stevenson teaches his audience about criminal and racial discrimination in judicial systems using his own firsthand knowledge of devastating occurrences, and references in the nonfiction novel Just Mercy. The stories that Stevenson tells are all examples of how the legal system has been corrupted. Firstly, Stevenson uses ethos throughout his prose to provide an individual's perspective on America's racial injustices. Stevenson is a civil rights lawyer who shares personal experiences with injustice.. When Stevenson states, "I've represented abused and neglected children who were prosecuted as adults,"(9)
Second, this novel provides a powerful critique of the justice system and how it can be used to perpetuate inequality. The novel indicates how the justice system fails to protect the innocent and how it can be manipulated to serve the interests of the powerful. While this novel may promote an early form of racism, it is also an “early step in formulating an
Stevenson closely examines the role of racism in the criminal justice system showing how America’s past still haunts the present. Through his experiences as a lawyer, he recognizes
Ashley Tinajero Mrs. Trull AP Language and Composition 27 December 2022 Just Mercy The book Just Mercy tackles many different issues throughout the novel however its most notable one being the political injustice that consistently damages people of color and to be specific Americans the author Bryan Stevenson translates this issue through his thoughtful rhetoric and eliciting a sense of hope and sadness within the reader to emphasize the issue of the flawed justice system targeting African Americans and imposing rules that are purposefully set to ensure African Americans do not succeed in trials of any sort. In the novel the main case is that of Walter Mcmillion who is wrongly accused by a white man of murdering a young girl with the blatant
Rhetorical Analysis of Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy Bryan Stevenson, a young and impressionable lawyer, whose work with Southern Prisoners Defense Committee (SPDC), opened Stevenson’s eyes to the defenselessness of death row inmates. Coupled with his own experience with bias and unfair treatment, Stevenson wrote a book based on the lives of those he helped- and attempted to help. Slightly shadowed by his own bias, Just Mercy was an inciting piece of literature of the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020.
Just Mercy, by Bryan Stevenson, is a powerful book that provides you with another perspective of racial injustice. This book features injustices done to young people and innocent people. Some kids as young as middle schoolers have been put behind bars for their entire lives. Being a caucasian male, I have never been the victim of racial and sexual abuse. Learning about our justice system made me sorrowful and outraged.
In an excerpt from his book, Just Mercy, Bryan Steveson - renowned civil rights lawyer - utilizes contradictions and characterization to demonstrate to uneducated readers the racism and failure of the justice system in order to motivate them to fight to dismantle the corrupt system. Throughout the description of Walter’s illegal placement on death row - death row lawyer Byran Steveson - details the contradictory actions of the sheriff and the other inmates to reveal to the American readers the failings of the justice system. After discussing Walter's despair created by his imprisonment, Bryan recounts the arrest of Walter. Bryan narrates Walter’s complete confusion during his arrest due to the, “racist taunts and threats from uniformed police
The book Just Mercy tells the long and sad story of what African American lawyer Bryan Stevenson had to go through in fight towards freeing Walter Mcmillian from his wrongly accused sentence. Walter Mcmillian was put in this position because of the murder of Ronda Morrison who was a white teenage girl that lived in Monroeville Alabama. There was no evidence on the crime scene and the only reason the police arrested Walter was because of a false accusation of man who wasn't even at the crime scene and the whole trial only lasted 2 days. As a result of his case, he ended up with a 30-year sentence in prison for murder but only ended up spending a total of 6 years due to his retrial that was led by his lawyer. Bryan Stevenson, his lawyer, is the founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative, a human rights organization with the goal of fighting for people who have experienced any form of racial injustice or discrimination.
1/5/23 Racial injustice has been a prominent issue in the American criminal justice system for centuries prior to Bryan Stevenson's entry in the criminal justice world. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, goes in depth on specific unjust criminal charges based on racial assumptions. Bryan Stevenson does work on ending these suffrages and freeing clients who have been unfairly accused on death row. Throughout the book, Stevenson addresses systemic racism through examples of jury selection, several case studies of unfairly incarcerated individuals, and police brutality which his advocacy for inmates overcomes by creating racial justice within the criminal justice system.
Bryan Stevenson knew the perils of injustice and inequality just as well as his clients on death row. He grew up in a poor, racially segregated area in Delaware and his great-grandparents had been slaves. While he was a law student, he had interned working for clients on death row. He realized that some people were treated unfairly in the judicial system and created the Equal Justice Institute where he began to take on prisoners sentenced to death as clients since many death row prisoners had no legal representation of any kind. In Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson focuses on some of these true stories of injustice, mainly the case of his client, Walter McMillian.
"Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson is a compelling and thought-provoking book that delves into the deep-rooted issues of racial inequality, injustice, and the flaws in the criminal justice system. Through a series of gripping narratives, Stevenson offers readers a poignant and eye-opening exploration of his personal experiences as a lawyer fighting for justice and fairness in the American legal system. Throughout Stevenson's journey as a lawyer, he experienced many trials and tribulations. He presented many arguments throughout "Just Mercy," such as racial bias, inequality, flaws, and injustices in capital punishment, the importance of mercy and redemption, the need for criminal justice reform, and humanizing the accused and incarcerated.
In Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy, he writes to illustrate the injustices of the judicial system to its readers. To do so, Stevenson utilizes multiple writing styles that provide variety and helps keep the reader engaged in the topic. Such methods of his include the use of anecdotes from his personal experiences, statistics, and specific facts that apply to cases Stevenson had worked on as well as specific facts that pertain to particular states. The most prominent writing tool that Stevenson included in Just Mercy is the incorporation of anecdotes from cases that he himself had worked on as a nonprofit lawyer defending those who were unrightfully sentenced to die in prison.
Coker gives great evidence that supports racial injustice in the criminal justice system. She discusses on the Supreme Court’s rulings and accusations of racial preference in the system. This article is helpful because it supports my thesis on race playing a role on the system of criminal justice. Hurwitz, J., & Peffley, M. (1997). Public perceptions of race and crime: The role of racial stereotypes.