Recently, I watched the second season of the show called The Sinner. If you like the show and have not watched the second season yet, please stop reading because there is a spoiler alert. The season 2 is about a 13-year-old, who killed a couple. When he got arrested, he confessed that he poisoned their tea and that is how they died. There was evidence to prove it was poison, and it was supposed to be a closed case.
Before watching this, I did not know that a kid as young as 8 years old can be prosecuted as an adult and end up in a prison, not in a Juvenile detention center.
In the show, there was a detective who showed interest in the case and wanted to find out the reason why the kid committed such a sin. He knew that there was always a background story. He worked hard to prove that the kid was a product of a cult that had psychologically messed up his mind. The 13-year-old was supposed to get 25 to life for each person he killed but due to the hard work of the detective and his team, he ended up getting 4 years in a rehabilitation center.
It was a happy ending for the kid who was in a messed-up situation due to the circumstances that he had no control over. Even after he confessed, the detectives were not looking at the kid as a sinner but someone with a story that needed to be told. Someone who needed to be protected from others. The season storyline was to figure out who the guilty parties were so that they could keep this young “innocent” kid safe from them.
In a perfect world, these detectives would treat every child and adult the same. They would use their resources to research the background story and figure out the best way to help “the sinner” and the community at the same time. But, we do not live in a perfect world. In the current world, when a brown or black child/adult is accused of a crime, they get sentenced first before they are proven guilty. Because of their skin color, they are already sinners. It is as if having black skin, there is an unwritten sign that says, if anything bad happens, he or she is responsible for that. There is no room for understanding. There is no one explaining why the kid stole bread. There is no one wanting to listen to why the kid may be innocent. Someone has to pay the price. Someone has to be the ticket for the district attorney to become a politician. It is worse if the black or brown wrongs the white person. It is as if the world is going to scream, “HOW DARE YOU!!!” The “justice” system will use whatever it can to make an example out of you and throw away the key.
I know that the media has a part to play in this. When a white teenager goes on a killing spree, the media is afraid to call him a terrorist. It is as if you will be dirtying the whiteness. The teenager will be transported nicely in a van, and they make sure that he has a bulletproof vest, God forbid if anything happens to him. He will ask for a special kind of food since he has an illness that does not allow him to eat regular food. He will be called by his name, and someone will tell a story about how good he is, and that they are surprised by his actions. They will blame it on the drugs, friends or the cult he joined online. He will go through a trial with his peers as a jury. He will be found not guilty. He will go back to his community, auction the gun he used to kill those innocent people, and write a book.
When a black kid is walking down the street wearing a hooded sweatshirt, he gets gunned down because he looks like a sinner and the end. Or, a black teenager goes on a killing spree…. I tried to me up with a scenario where a black teenager goes on a killing spree and survives.
I would like to believe in our justice system. I would like to know that if I ever got in trouble I can ask for help. I would hope to believe that when someone from the justice system receives a call that there is a sinner. They would do everything they can to prove that the person is guilty. They will also put it on the table to see the best way to punish or rehabilitate the person. They will also do everything in their power to protect the alleged sinner. They should have a jury of their own peers. Someone who looks like them.
I want to lose this feeling of not feeling safe and worthy to be treated like a human being. I hope that even when someone is a sinner, they will also be seen as a brother, father, son, teacher, blood donor, and all the other good stuff they have done in their lives. If the system decides to just see those who have committed crimes as just sinners, I think it will be fair to not make any exceptions.
Nyasha's Voice 