On November 1, 1986, eighteen-year old Rhonda Morrison was found dead on the floor of her parent’s shop. Little evidence is found at the scene, leaving the police with no leads or suspects to convict. Months march on, and pressure from the people of the town builds, with many losing their faith in the police department and outwardly speaking about it. At the same time, the police learn about Walter McMillian, an African-American man who was known to be dating a white woman. Despite no leads and multiple cases of contradicting evidence, the police department arrests McMillian and began the process of acquitting him for life without parole. This case dominates Bryan Stevenson’s nonfiction book, Just Mercy. One glaring aspect of the case was the
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While this was true in the case of Walter McMillian, this fact was also demonstrated multiple times throughout the book. One such instance was the one of George Stinney, a fourteen-year-old African-American boy sent to death row after the murder of two white girls. His conviction was based on being one of the last people to speak to the girls before their deaths and is a substantial example of stereotyping. As defined by the textbook, stereotyping is “a belief about the personal attributes of a group of people…sometimes overgeneralized, inaccurate, and resistant to new information” (Myers 248). This is shown largely through both the McMillian case and the Stinney case. Not only was George Stinney convicted in less than ten minutes, an all-white jury convicted him. The jury did not allow time to question if this boy was truly innocent or consider all the evidence that would mean he was (demonstrating many parallels with the case of Walter McKinney that would come years later). When he stepped up to the stand, the jury only viewed an African-American male. As such, a fourteen-year old-boy wrongly died simply because of his skin …show more content…
Despite this, Stevenson was “…confused at my sudden suddenly shimmering anger…I started thinking about how much pain and suffering had been inflicted on Walter and his family” (224). The system of institutionalized racism, discrimination, and prejudice kept the case open for many years. A case that was largely built based on a justice system that felt pressure from the public to convict someone, whether that person was the actual offender or not. McMillian was shut out by his family, having lost so many years with them and had so many of his flaws constantly displayed in the public. He also suffered from trauma-induced dementia as a result of being on death row for a crime he did not commit for so many years, until his death in 2013. The case of Walter McMillian was just one such example of the institutionalized practices that can seem so deeply inherent in America’s society. Prejudice, discrimination, and oppression may arise from misunderstanding and societal bias towards those of an unequal status, but it does not have to be intrinsic. Understanding of the concepts of discrimination and prejudice and how they develop and making a continuously conscious effort to view oneself and others in an unbiased light can only push our society in the right direction. As Stevenson notes, “The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the
While this was true in the case of Walter McMillian, this fact was also demonstrated multiple times throughout the book. One such instance was the one of George Stinney, a fourteen-year-old African-American boy sent to death row after the murder of two white girls. His conviction was based on being one of the last people to speak to the girls before their deaths and is a substantial example of stereotyping. As defined by the textbook, stereotyping is “a belief about the personal attributes of a group of people…sometimes overgeneralized, inaccurate, and resistant to new information” (Myers 248). This is shown largely through both the McMillian case and the Stinney case. Not only was George Stinney convicted in less than ten minutes, an all-white jury convicted him. The jury did not allow time to question if this boy was truly innocent or consider all the evidence that would mean he was (demonstrating many parallels with the case of Walter McKinney that would come years later). When he stepped up to the stand, the jury only viewed an African-American male. As such, a fourteen-year old-boy wrongly died simply because of his skin …show more content…
Despite this, Stevenson was “…confused at my sudden suddenly shimmering anger…I started thinking about how much pain and suffering had been inflicted on Walter and his family” (224). The system of institutionalized racism, discrimination, and prejudice kept the case open for many years. A case that was largely built based on a justice system that felt pressure from the public to convict someone, whether that person was the actual offender or not. McMillian was shut out by his family, having lost so many years with them and had so many of his flaws constantly displayed in the public. He also suffered from trauma-induced dementia as a result of being on death row for a crime he did not commit for so many years, until his death in 2013. The case of Walter McMillian was just one such example of the institutionalized practices that can seem so deeply inherent in America’s society. Prejudice, discrimination, and oppression may arise from misunderstanding and societal bias towards those of an unequal status, but it does not have to be intrinsic. Understanding of the concepts of discrimination and prejudice and how they develop and making a continuously conscious effort to view oneself and others in an unbiased light can only push our society in the right direction. As Stevenson notes, “The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the