It’s Not Enough that the Judicial System “Works”

Photo by Isis França on Unsplash

To deny that Black people receive a different brand of justice than white people is engaging in intellectual dishonesty and a feeble attempt at moral naiveté.

There are a few people out there who take issue with OHF Weekly’s recent article, “Not Just a Racist Judge, But a Racist Judicial System” by Michael Greiner. I’d like to take a moment to address a couple of those issues.

It is impossible for anyone to say with a straight face and disagree with Greiner’s statement that “white people, especially those with access to resources, receive different justice from Black people.” How can that be possible? It’s a well-documented fact that Black people receive stiffer sentences than white people. See: the Central Park Five. Those boys were railroaded by a corrupt system sentenced to, and served time in prison, for a crime they did not commit. They were even exonerated of the convictions, yes — after they spent years in prison. Do you think that was a fluke?

Those boys shed tears on the stand, but —

1. their Black tears fell on jury that already held prejudice against them based on the color of their skin, and
2. the prosecution and investigators rigged the system against them

To deny that Black people receive a different brand of justice than white people is engaging in intellectual dishonesty and a feeble attempt at moral naiveté. Those who feel this way haven’t had a serious talk with their Black friend about any of this. So, I’m honored to take this opportunity to share the realities of living while Black in America.

Rittenhouse received pre-trial coaching, thanks to friends with very deep pockets. The type that is wholly inaccessible to the average white person, and certainly not available to the average Black person because of income inequality. You know that’s a thing, right? A very real thing.

Moving on to “jury of your peers.” I’m neither a historian nor a lawyer, but common sense would dictate that at the time that phrase was codified it referred specifically to land- and slave-owning white men, as they were the established ruling class and writers of what would…