Central Park 5

Although I wasn't in class today I happened to research about The Central Park Five

Picking Cotton and The Central Park Five were similar in a way in which both had people convicted for doing a crime they didn't do. I think that in Picking Cotton it wasn't just Jennifer's fault for falsely  choosing Ronald, it was the authorities fault for pressuring her into thinking it was him. Police can be scary to some people because of their power. Like Jennifer, one may feel threatened if they're behind you whispering who to choose guilty, even if you knew it was wrong. Although Jennifer wasn't too sure who her attacked was, and falsely choosing someone just because "you want the situation to end," to me is considered a crime. Putting someone's life at risk when they've done no harm to you. With Ronald because he was black and already had a bad past, he was a suspect. People can make mistakes and learn and grow from them, doesn't mean he would do any harm again. He was chosen mainly because he was black and because during that time black people were always a suspect. I think this ties in with The Central Park Five story because five black/Latino teenagers were charged and falsely accused for the malicious rape of Trisha Mellis. The teenagers were sent to prison for 6 to 13 years, until a serial rapist had finally confessed. The teenagers stated they were charged because of their race. In somewhat I believe that is true. I don't feel that fully, but because of their race it made it easier for the police to justify them as the rapists. We live in a very racist world and even today we still do, I believe. Back then there was even a lot more racial discrimination going on. I also feel there was misleading information to those boys, besides their race. I feel sorry for these poor guys who had their lives turned upside down in an instant, feeling discouraged because they were chosen due to their race. Falsely accusing and falsely imprisoning someone can really ruin a persons life. I don't think people realize that, like Jennifer didn't.