Injustication In TED Talk, By Bryan Stevenson And Adam Foss

Bryan Stevenson and Adam Voss are both highly respected defenders and prosecutors with a passion for helping those experiencing injustice based off of the color of their skin and their wealth in the criminal justice system. First, Bryan Stevenson, who helps those who are wrongly convicted states “There is a clear injustice when it comes to those of color and those experiencing poverty.” While this is his main argument, he later adds that “wealth, not culpability shapes outcomes”. When Stevenson says this, he’s speaking to the fact that those who are rich and guilty are treated far better than those who are poor and innocent. As for Adam Foss, he is a county prosecutor in New York. Throughout his TED Talk, Foss argues that those who are being …show more content…
Stevenson begins his talk by giving some statistics such as one out of every three black men, ages 18-30 are in jail, prison or are on probation or parole. These statistics show that he’s a very credible speaker and he truly cares about the topic. In addition, Stevenson utters that he spends a lot of his time in jail and prisons with inmates that are on death row in order to show that he knows first-hand that this is a huge problem within United States and make sure that his audience knows it as well. Stevenson then moves on to try to appeal to the audience by using logical statements. To really get his point across that there is injustice, Stevenson states “These injustices towards those of color and those in poverty are because many people have the mindset that if they aren’t in that situation, it’s not their problem to fix and it’s not their burden.” By saying this, Stevenson makes the audience think about how they feel about the situation and change their mindset towards this issue. Furthermore, to play both to the logic and emotions of the audience Stevenson asks the questions “The issue is not, do people deserve to die for crimes they committed, but do we deserve to kill?”. This allows the audience to question the criminal justice system as well as themselves. Finally, Stevenson appeals to the emotional side of the audience by speaking about how his own family, specifically his Grandmother, whose parents were enslaved. Stevenson tries to channel the personal side of the audience shows the injustices that continue in this country. Stevenson ends his talk with the quote “It is a much more challenging identity to pay attention to suffering and injustice thank to ignore it.” He utilizes this quote in order to create the thought in the minds of his audience that this is a topic that the audience needs to be more observant of. Stevenson