鈥淲hen They See Us鈥� Is Triggering. That鈥檚 Why You Should Watch It
Why you can trust us
Asante Blackk as Kevin Richardson, one of the聽Central Park Five, in When They See Us.
Screenshot from the official trailer.
Ava DuVernay鈥檚 new four-part series聽When They See Us, which had its debut on Netflix last week, was hard to watch. I knew the story of the 鈥淐entral Park Five鈥� before watching the miniseries. I was a ninth-grader in April 1989 when the story of the brutal rape of a White woman jogger in New York鈥檚 Central Park went national. I was 15 years old when young boys around my age were sentenced: Yusef Salaam, 15, Antron McCray, 15, Kevin Richardson, 14, and Raymond Santana Jr., 14, to juvenile detention centers; and Korey Wise, 16, to an adult prison for the crime, which none of them committed. Because I knew the story and the outcome, my guard was down as I began watching DuVernay鈥檚 version (each of the five, now adult men in their 40s, contributed to the series). I didn鈥檛 make it to the end of part one before my chest hurt so badly from anxiety and rage that only an overwhelming wail from deep within brought me relief. For that moment I was content to be watching alone. The tears streamed constantly. Binge-watching, I was able to regroup by the middle of part three. I kept reminding myself that I know this story. I know the outcome. The boys, now men, have each managed to make a life for themselves and create families of their own. And win a lawsuit against the city of New York in the amount of $41聽million.
Still, their trauma and grief were transferable. I understand why there was a need for a grief counselor on set while filming. And I understand the reason some Black folks have opted out of or postponed watching it. It can be triggering. Many people of color, most of whom are Black, have said in some degree of variance:聽鈥淭his film is not for us, but for White people.鈥� I disagree with the former, but I do agree with the latter. It is for everyone, but for different reasons. In some Black spaces it may be about affirming our humanity鈥攐ur experiences, being seen, being heard, being believed, and making the world hear firsthand these stories of hellishness and heartbreak. I would equate the pain of watching the series to seeing the televised images of Black people鈥攊ncluding children鈥攂eing hosed, beaten, and jailed during the civil rights era.
For many of us, it鈥檚 about exposing a system that has since its existence exploited, coerced, and railroaded us into the most heinous situations and conditions in detention centers, jails, and prisons. Stealing our labor or our lives. When They See Us should be required viewing. It is an American story. An American classic. But not with a Gone With the Wind or To Kill a Mockingbird narrative that centers Whiteness as good and savior-like. It is a true American story that pulls back the layers of a rotten, corrupt, barbaric system that devalues lives鈥攑articularly Black and Brown lives. It should be mandatory viewing for all White people who have been blinded by the privilege and protection of Whiteness, who refuse to see the way in which the U.S. injustice system is partial to them鈥攖o the (e.g. probation with no jail time) for the most despicable deeds, including rape. Whose acts are dismissed as benign 鈥渂oys will be boys鈥� behavior. A privilege not afforded to Black and Brown boys and teens.
In the political climate we鈥檙e in today, we can鈥檛 afford to turn a blind eye to the facts.
It should be mandatory viewing for all those in the injustice system as a lesson of what not to do and, in this particular case, as evidence against all those involved in robbing these men of five to 12 years of their lives鈥攖he most-formative years, their childhoods. All the cases involving Linda Fairstein, Elizabeth Lederer, the detectives, and the judge聽prosecuting Black and Brown people should be reopened, at least reexamined. While these boys suffered the vitriol, hate, and abuse from others, those actors responsible for their wrongful convictions and incarceration were living their best lives. Fairstein, who in her capacity as prosecutor and head of the sex crimes investigation unit in Manhattan, led the witch hunt for 鈥渁nyone who fit the description鈥� and was applauded for her work on the case. She wrote five crime novels and sat on boards of directors. Her day of reckoning is rightfully upon us: People are now boycotting her books, asking stores to stop carrying them, and demanding her removal from the boards on which she sits, including Vassar College, where she is a trustee. Well, where she was a trustee. As I鈥檓 writing, news outlets are covering her resignations from both.
Assigned by Fairstein, Lederer, who was the lead district attorney on the case and responsible for the coerced video-taped confessions of those teens, is not only still an active prosecutor in the New York district attorney鈥檚 office, she also teaches law at Columbia University. People are calling for Columbia University to fire her. This isn鈥檛 the first time, though: After the 2012 documentary The聽Central Park Five by Ken Burns, calls and letters to the university demanded her removal. Following the release of When They See Us, the momentum against both women have picked up. And justice is being sought against others involved, including the detectives and the media who irresponsibly covered the case and, most egregiously, printed ads calling for the death penalty in the boys鈥� cases that were paid for by the man who is now president of the United States. Let that sink in. In the political climate we鈥檙e in today, we can鈥檛 afford to turn a blind eye to the facts, to the truth鈥攚hether empirical or anecdotal. The story of the exonerated Central Park Five is one to be researched, studied, and taught. Black and Brown boys continue to represent all things deviant, and it鈥檚 past time for the practice to end. Tens of thousands of innocent people continue to serve years, decades for crimes they did not commit. I didn鈥檛 need to see the film to believe their story, to understand how the system works against Black and Brown people. I wanted to see it because Yusef, Antron, Kevin, Raymond, and Korey wanted to tell it. They wanted to be heard. For years we鈥檇 been bombarded with stories about them through the White gaze鈥攎ainstream media. Even some Black and Brown people accepted the narrative. When They See Us is them telling their story for the world to know, and I think they should be heard. They deserve to be heard. We owe it to them. Editor鈥檚 note: Elizabeth Lederer resigned from Columbia University on June 12, 2019, due to backlash from the series.
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Zenobia Jeffries Warfield
is the former executive editor at YES!, where she directed editorial coverage for YES! Magazine, YES! 麻豆社事件鈥檚 editorial partnerships, and served as chair of the YES! Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. A Detroit native, Zenobia is an award-winning journalist who joined YES! in 2016 to build and grow YES!鈥檚 racial justice beat, and continues to write columns on racial justice. In addition to writing and editing, she has produced, directed, and edited a variety of short documentaries spotlighting community movements to international democracy. Zenobia earned a BA in Mass Communication from Rochester College in Rochester, Michigan, and an MA in Communication with an emphasis in media studies from Wayne State University in Detroit. Zenobia has also taught the college course 鈥淭he Effects of 麻豆社事件 on Social Justice,鈥� as an adjunct professor in Detroit. Zenobia is a member of NABJ, SABJ, SPJ, and the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting. She lives in Seattle, and speaks English and AAVE.
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