The Nickel Boys & When They See Us
I just started watching When They See Us on Netflix (long overdue, The Nickel Boys reminded me to watch it), in fact, I'm only half an hour through one episode. Both the Nickel Boys and WTSU are based on true events in America, both of them involving unjust punishments for black youth in America, both of them putting the American reality blatantly. In The Nickel Boys, the main protagonist Elwood gets sent to the reformatory Nickel academy for "carjacking" a car driven by a stranger who was giving him a ride to his first day of college classes. This "reformatory" school is based on what was really the Dozier school which was a segregated, racist, abusive detainment center. WTSU is based on the 1989 central park jogger case where 5 black kids are falsely prosecuted for the rape and assault of a jogger.
Despite watching so little so far, the similarities in these stories are very apparent. The leading police officer in WTSU, on the surface, wants justice for the woman that was raped, but she and the other police officer's dialogue, as the investigation continues, clearly makes animalistic criminals out of local black kids. "And to think we were gonna release these animals to family court and put them back on the streets". The only evidence they had at this point was that this group of black youth were at the park the same night. Her wording sets a tone for how integrated the racism is in investigating the case. It is obvious that many thought these boys were collectively guilty when there were 15+ of them in custody or on their way. In another scene, the mother of a 14-year-old boy was sick and had to leave him during questioning, to this an officer says "is it snowing? It suddenly feels like Christmas" and goes to question the boy in a disgustingly eager way.
The director of Nickel Academy was described: "every crease in his clothes looked sharp enough to cut, as if he were a living blade" (pg 48). From the get-go, it can be understood what will insue at Nickel. Kids are taken to an illegal beating grounds when they misbehave according to supervisors, or even when they don't. The overall justice system as exemplified in these stories is such an oxymoron. Even to this day, the deeply rooted racist tendencies have trickled down as police brutality is not only plausible but a consistent happening in America. Many horrifying things happen to Black kids at Nickel as well as to the kids in WTSU. Both stories from the '60s to the late '80s are clear cut examples for America's tightly fixed policy of institutional racism.
Despite watching so little so far, the similarities in these stories are very apparent. The leading police officer in WTSU, on the surface, wants justice for the woman that was raped, but she and the other police officer's dialogue, as the investigation continues, clearly makes animalistic criminals out of local black kids. "And to think we were gonna release these animals to family court and put them back on the streets". The only evidence they had at this point was that this group of black youth were at the park the same night. Her wording sets a tone for how integrated the racism is in investigating the case. It is obvious that many thought these boys were collectively guilty when there were 15+ of them in custody or on their way. In another scene, the mother of a 14-year-old boy was sick and had to leave him during questioning, to this an officer says "is it snowing? It suddenly feels like Christmas" and goes to question the boy in a disgustingly eager way.
The director of Nickel Academy was described: "every crease in his clothes looked sharp enough to cut, as if he were a living blade" (pg 48). From the get-go, it can be understood what will insue at Nickel. Kids are taken to an illegal beating grounds when they misbehave according to supervisors, or even when they don't. The overall justice system as exemplified in these stories is such an oxymoron. Even to this day, the deeply rooted racist tendencies have trickled down as police brutality is not only plausible but a consistent happening in America. Many horrifying things happen to Black kids at Nickel as well as to the kids in WTSU. Both stories from the '60s to the late '80s are clear cut examples for America's tightly fixed policy of institutional racism.
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