The Central Park Five is a heartbreaking story that speaks to the realities within our judicial systems. Just recently, Netflix has released a four episode documentary reflecting the lives of Kevin Richardson, Antron Mccray, Raymond Santana Jr., Korey Wise, and Yusef Salaam. These five young men had been beaten, threatened, and scared to death in order to make false confessions to the case of the Central Park Jogger. Within the series, you are able to follow the storyline of each victim of this injustice, bringing light to the fact that people can be wrongly accused and incarcerated in order to make political statements. 

Imagine: You are fifteen years old. You are by yourself, with no legal adult by your side to aid you with your confessions. You are a male of color. A private investigator sits across the table from you, hate and bias in his eyes. With each question, you respond with, “No, I didn’t do that,” yet, they will not take no for an answer. Soon, the investigator will launch out of his chair, grabbing you by your throat, and screaming at you until you confess to the rape of Trisha Meili. After a kick to your gut and a punch to the face, you admit to the crime in which you didn’t perform. You did this out of fear, as the investigator told you if you admitted to the crime, you could go home. Soon, your case would be aired on every main news channel, exposing your false claims to the world. Everyone hates you. Donald Trump, a white, rich man with power and influence, releases ads stating: “You better believe that I hate the people who took this girl and raped her brutally… you better believe it.” You then spend the next 13 years in jail. This is the story of The Central Park Five, who endured years of torture, hate, and pain as the real serial rapist ran lose on the streets of New York. 

I encourage everyone to watch this documentary in order to gain the perspective of these young men and understand that this still happens within our judicial systems. One recent study estimated that roughly 10,000 people are wrongly incarcerated per year. I find this statistic to be frankly disturbing and I think everyone should make an effort to join the conversation to help these innocent people in gaining their freedom back.