The Unfair Marathon

In this world, we all know the people that complain about how unfair something is, most of the time they are talking about someone cheating or a game being rigged. Little do they realize people out there deal with something way worse than a one-sided ref at a soccer game, or undeserved grade on an English paper. I know a few of these people myself. Just because of the color of your skin you may live an unjust  life, or unrightfully accused. With the fairness of your skin the easier the world is on you, from casual shopping to the court of law. With the time I have gained I have been able to do some research of my own. 100 Humans, The Hate U Give, and When They See Us, all point to the fact that people's lives are not equal  because of the color of their skin. Something a lot of us overlook from time to time.

100 Humans is a very interesting show on Netflix. Three scientists are trying to find answers to life's greatest questions by doing experiments on 100 humans, every human coming from a different background with ages ranging from 20 to 60+ years old. One of the episodes they talked about bias. They answered such questions like do women take longer to get out of the house, which scientifically proven is a no. That was not the question that caught my attention. Does the color of your skin make you more likely to be a victim of violence? The answer was sadly yes. In the experiment they had 2 people, one white and one a person of color, jump  out from behind a car or doorway. They would be holding either a cell phone or a gun. The humans were asked to shoot the person with the gun and not hurt the civilian. 63% of the humans shot the black man, who was holding a cellphone. Compared to 37% shot the white man, with the gun. I am going to make your story even harder to tell if you still don’t believe we have a bias. The black man that 63 people shot was the show's talent manager, JP. The humans see this man every day and they all like him a lot, but they still shot him. We find ourselves judging and thinking the worst of these people, just because their skin is a different color. 

The movie The Hate U Give is based on a book by Angie Thomas. The title is just a small part of a bigger thing. TUPAC wrote a rap album called ThugLife and he later explains to us that thug life is an acrostic poem that stands for “The hate u give little infants fs everyone”, this is talked about and stated many times throughout the movie and book. In the movie, a young teenage boy named Khalil, was shot right in front of one of his oldest, best friend Starr Carter, but he did not do anything to be worthy of being shot. Driving home from a party, Khalil and Starr were stopped by the police for a missing tail light.  Khalil asked why they were being pulled over, and the officer asked him to get out of the car and proceed to frisk him, checking for weapons.  While Khalil was standing outside of the car waiting for the police officer to return he leaned into the car to make sure his friend was okay. Starr was frantically moving things around trying to find her phone, and Khalil picked up  his hairbrush. Then bam before you could blink, the police officer shot him.  The officer ran up to Khalil to look for the weapon, which did not exist.   “In his hand, it does”(1:40:25). They are talking about a hairbrush.  In his hand, a hairbrush looks like a weapon, because he is black. He is being labeled as a drug dealer, criminal, and all of these awful things without people knowing what is going on behind their door. This poor boy was trying to protect his family and make sure they were able to afford to put a meal on their table. Khalil passed away in the arms of his best friend, in the middle of the road that night.  This is such an awful thing to think about, let alone talk about, but someone needs to talk about the truth. Later in the movie, Starr is talking to her uncle, a police officer who worked with the officer who shot a Khalil,  and brings up an awful point. She asks him what he would do if Khalil was white, would you shoot him right away or would you give him a chance to put the “weapon” down. He didn’t answer with words but by lowering his gaze and his  face, covered with shame and guilt, was enough of an answer. If he was white he would have been given that chance, but since he was black he is dead. I can not speak for everyone but when I was 9 or 10 I was not taught to be afraid of the cops or how to act around them, to put my hands on the dash and not move, answer their questions, and only their questions. Starr was only 9, and her half brother Seven was only 10 when they were first given this talk.  It is awful that this conversation is a right of passage for families of color, yet my friends and I never think twice about it.It is unfair  they are treated differently so many believe people of color are not being treated  any differently. 

The Central Park 5 is a pretty well-known group of boys from Harlem, NY that went to jail in April 1989 for something they did not do. The boys, all of color,  were wrongfully accused of raping, beating, and leaving a  white woman in Central Park in a coma. When she woke up she had no memory of what happened that night. The boys were interrogated for hours, for something they didn’t even know happened; they just were in the park at the wrong time. Some illegal stuff went down that night, and I’m not talking about the raping and beating of a white woman. In the Netflix tv show When They See Us, we are told the story of what happened  that night. While each boy tired running, they were eventually caught.Kevin Richardson, is beaten by a cop leaving a scratch and black eye, which the cops end up twisting into a story of what the woman did when she tried to get away. The boys were taken back into interrogation rooms, they were screamed at for hours on end. The police put words into the boys' mouths. They were also questioned without a parent or guardian present. The police started saying if you just tell us what happened then you can go home, so the boys did what I think any of us in their situation would do. The boys told the police what they wanted to hear. All the boys did this except Antron McCray. He would not sway from the truth, so the police told his father, an ex-convict, if he did not admit to this they would essentially get him fired and make sure he never worked again. Income for all of these families was tight, add on trials and lawyers. It adds up fast. Eventually, all the boys told the police what they wanted to hear, but instead of going home, they were put in holding cells. Sadly this isn’t even half of it. Yusef Salaam was walking with his friend Korey Wise when the cops said Yusef had to go with them. They said if Korey wanted he could come with them but it wasn’t necessary, but he did to be a good friend and make sure his friend was going to be okay.  The DNA underneath the fingertips, shoe prints none of it matched, they had no hard evidence on the boys. All they had was the false evidence that the cops created. All these people saw were boys of color that harmed an innocent white woman. The boys, including Kory, went to jail and got out at different times, ranging from from 7 to 13 year sentence. The case was reopened, 13 years later, and the boys were excused from all charges.  Unfortunately, so much damage was already done. The case was far from the truth, but sadly what happened is a reality. We all have implicit biases. I bet you do not even realize that you do too. Maybe it is about time we slow down and pay attention to what makes us watch people closer, clutch our bag tighter; it is based on actions or skin color.

The Netflix original 100 Humans taught us the consequences of our judging actions. The movie based on Angie Thomas’ novel The Hate U Give  and the Central Park Five Netflix original When They See Us showed us that because of the color of our skin we are given better or different chances. Colors can be a great thing but not when 63 people shoot a friend due to it. There is saying life is a marathon, not a sprint. But is the race fair if some start farther away?  Recognizing my privileges and helping others recognize thiers, may be the first step in the evening out the starting line.