Racism Racial inequality and its relationship to social injustice in America is overwhelmingly interwoven into the premise of all three narratives of ‘Just Mercy,’ ‘Nobody,’ and ‘$2.00 a Day’. Just Mercy’s Bryan Stevenson exposes some of these disparities woven around his presentation of the Walter McMillian case, and the overrepresentation of African-American men in our criminal justice system. Stevenson’s (2014) accounts of actors within the criminal justice system such as Judge Robert E. Lee and the D.A. Tom Chapman, who refuse to reopen a significantly falsified case or offer support regardless of the overwhelming amount of inconsistencies found in the trials, demonstrate powerful, blatant racism. To invoke this argument further, ‘Just
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For ‘$2.00 a Day,’ most of those interviewed were willing and even excited about working because it not only gave them an income but gave them a sense of purpose in the world. Many of them were hard working, having a history of job experience. Yet the intersection of job instability and tumultuous family life left them without options, unable to take back control of their lives. Edin and Schaefer (2015) discusses how people like Madonna Harris, Rae McCormick, and Jennifer Hernandez turned to family for support only to find themselves in more unstable conditions that included emotional abuse, dependency, sexual violence, physical assault and manipulation. These adverse experiences and prolonged exposure these individuals and their families endure can lead to more toxic effects such as PTSD due to trauma, drug and alcohol addiction to numb the pain away, and long term malnourishment. Poverty instills this vulnerability as they are unable to escape financial, physical and emotional stressors, having no safe, stable place to escape to in these …show more content…
Stevenson’s ‘Just Mercy’ outlines how many of those who are imprisoned become even more vulnerable during their time in the facility and even after their release from prison. Much like ‘$2.00 a Day’ and to an extent ‘Nobody,’ some of the individuals in ‘Just Mercy’ came from abusive families and often developed one or more mental illnesses. Additionally, like those in poverty, the imprisoned are exposed to additional trauma in the form sexual assault, rape, and physical violence in the criminal justice system (Stevenson, 2014). This vulnerability continues even after their unlikely release from prions because they “receive no money, no assistance, no counseling- nothing from the state” (Stevenson, 2014 p.244). Financially, emotionally, and mentally vulnerable to the world upon their release, many like ‘Just Mercy’s’ Walter McMillian, or struggle to restart their lives. The formally incarcerated, much like welfare recipients and racial minorities are cast aside in our society, undeserving of additional
For ‘$2.00 a Day,’ most of those interviewed were willing and even excited about working because it not only gave them an income but gave them a sense of purpose in the world. Many of them were hard working, having a history of job experience. Yet the intersection of job instability and tumultuous family life left them without options, unable to take back control of their lives. Edin and Schaefer (2015) discusses how people like Madonna Harris, Rae McCormick, and Jennifer Hernandez turned to family for support only to find themselves in more unstable conditions that included emotional abuse, dependency, sexual violence, physical assault and manipulation. These adverse experiences and prolonged exposure these individuals and their families endure can lead to more toxic effects such as PTSD due to trauma, drug and alcohol addiction to numb the pain away, and long term malnourishment. Poverty instills this vulnerability as they are unable to escape financial, physical and emotional stressors, having no safe, stable place to escape to in these …show more content…
Stevenson’s ‘Just Mercy’ outlines how many of those who are imprisoned become even more vulnerable during their time in the facility and even after their release from prison. Much like ‘$2.00 a Day’ and to an extent ‘Nobody,’ some of the individuals in ‘Just Mercy’ came from abusive families and often developed one or more mental illnesses. Additionally, like those in poverty, the imprisoned are exposed to additional trauma in the form sexual assault, rape, and physical violence in the criminal justice system (Stevenson, 2014). This vulnerability continues even after their unlikely release from prions because they “receive no money, no assistance, no counseling- nothing from the state” (Stevenson, 2014 p.244). Financially, emotionally, and mentally vulnerable to the world upon their release, many like ‘Just Mercy’s’ Walter McMillian, or struggle to restart their lives. The formally incarcerated, much like welfare recipients and racial minorities are cast aside in our society, undeserving of additional