Injustice Ted Talk E.C

Above is a link to a TED talk done by Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, who discussed racism and injustice (such as the death sentence) in the judicial system. To be honest, this is not a topic which I have put much thought into. I didn't realize the magnitude of unfair treatment in our system until recent Justice Summit conversations. As brought up by Mr. Stevenson, when 1/3 adult African-americans are either in prison or on parol, something is wrong. This brought up a few ideas. Is this statistic due to the fact of poverty or racism? Well, the TED talker united both ideas together to form his opinions about the matter. He used the example of replacing his 13 year-old African-american client with a 75 year-old wealthy caucasian in a court case. In fact, he mentioned translating this into a motion which he submitted to the court. Of course the court thought this was insane, but is it really? In the judicial system of today, it seems as if appearance and social stature play a major role. Why not keep the defendant anonymous and continue with the rest of the process? This would hopefully prevent the issue of racism and social stature in courts. Another issue discussed was the death penalty, a topic which I neither talk nor have much knowledge about. However, I understand arguments from both side. One side says an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life, while the other side believes in compassion and restorative justice. I find it hard to believe that a serial killer or mass murderer can change via restorative justice and live a normal life. Achieving restorative justice would be optimal, but it just seems close to impossible right now. The world is a messed up place. Restorative justice won't be effective on everyone, especially those who don't budge from their principles. However, killing someone doesn't do anything to help what that person did in the past. It promotes revenge and questions who has the authority to kill. Finally, he mentions how we are disconnected and oblivious to these concerning issues. I definitely agree and I also advocate that the injustices of the judicial system be exposed and changed. There are so many issues, but not enough is being done to protect more lives. Over all, I thought Mr. Stevenson's presentation was very well said and contained interesting facts that I didn't previously know about, further proving the point that racism still exists in this country. It is unbelievable that there are still racists and homophobes in the 21st century! It is infuriating how ignorant and single-minded so many American are. Bryan Stevenson is truly a man for others doing his best to fix injustices.