MovieChat Forums > Just Mercy (2020) Discussion > Anyone who questions white privilege sho...

Anyone who questions white privilege should see this movie

posted 5 years ago by Jehosaphet (1063)
19 replies | jump to latest

Because maybe they understand that the justice system isn't always fair, that mistakes happen and hey, it could happen to anyone etc.

But I think you'd be hard pressed to come up with a more egregious miscarriage of justice than this one in modern day America. It just doesn't get much more ridiculous. There weren't any "mistakes" made here, this was a bunch of people with power who actively made a decision to pin a murder on a guy who could do jack all to defend himself from it. They actively railroaded this guy.

He was at home, having a fish-fry with neighbors, he had some two dozen witnesses, had exactly nothing at all to do with the murder and yet stood no absolutely no chance against being convicted of it.

Hell, even after the only witness confessed to having lied and after the allegations of prosecutorial misconduct were brought to life, their failure to release evidence to the defense etc...dude couldn't even get a retrial! Wasn't even granted the CHANCE to look at the evidence again. It took a dedicated team of people, a number of motions and finally a nationally televised 60-Minute piece before...the prosecutor dug his heels in further and tried to make a new case.

That this could ever happen to even a single person shows there being a real issue with our justice system, yet it apparently happens with regularity. And sure its Alabama, but for some suburb-raised white guy to declare that there's no such thing as white privilege, or even be angry about the very notion of it? That's some true ignorance right there.

To those people? Of course you're ignorant...just by virtue of being born white and therefore never being privy to what life looks like from the black perspective, that's a no-brainer. But you take that ignorance, combine it with some cognitive dissonance, a touch of idiocy and these same people will explain how the white man is actually the real victim in all this. The underdog, the apparent source of the world's problems, "Look at how we're portrayed in the media, why are the bad guys always white??" etc

Yet aside from having to get angry on an internet forum somewhere, their life is completely unaffected by this victimhood, it has no tangible impact anywhere. They'll gripe passionately about their disdain for SJW bullshit, not because it has any real bearing on their life, but because they don't agree with the perspective. Its annoying...even condescending and goddamnit, they're not having any of it. Fight the power!

And then a movie about someone who spent years on death row, completely powerless, hopeless, struggling against insurmountable oppression...an actual victim. And those same battle-hardened fingers will fly up to point out that this is just more SJW nonsense and man its been played out, when will Hollywood learn that we just don't care??

A movie that spent two hours showing the direct, tangible impact of true victimhood is quickly reduced to just another reason to avoid whatever further examples of actual oppression and injustice that might come their way. Unless maybe it was about white victimhood, I'd imagine. Except you can't make a movie out of something that has no tangible impact on anyone's life...there's literally no story to tell there.

[–] kuku (3510) 5 years ago

The sentence gap between whites and blacks was about a 5-10% or something like that. Having a 10% less chances of being wrongfully convicted is better, of course, but it's not something like a big "privilege". Enough with excuses.

Not to say, the sentence gap was higher between males and females (favoring females). That means that a white male was more likely to be wrongfully convicted than a black female.

And that was decades ago. Modern day, it's likely the opposite, since judges are scared of being labelled as 'racist' and favor special groups. You can notice in the UK, where hundreds of rapes of minors were dismissed because the rapist were Pakistanis.

[–] Jehosaphet (1063) 5 years ago

I disagree with this entire post, absolutely...there's been numerous studies done that show how much more blacks are punished for crimes than whites, starting in the school system, where black kids are something like near twice as likely to be suspended/expelled than their white counterparts for similar disciplinary issues. Yeah that whole...there's nothing to argue with this, its beyond dispute.

But my point is that a white person absolutely cannot claim in good faith that there's no such thing as white privilege. You may not like to think that there is, it might be convenient for your personal politics or your worldview to say that there's not, but there is. And I think I could argue that point just based off the fact that you whittled down an entire socio-economic debacle into people "making excuses". The ability to overlook so much data, to be so devoid of perspective as to leave no room for any nuance whatsoever...to make it about "excuses" is a pretty good indication to me that you've long ago figured out your position on the issue, and that the likelihood of your having pursued any further knowledge on the subject is at about zero.

That must be nice...making up your mind on something at some point and then only having to think on it again when the opportunity arises to relay that opinion in an intelligent manner.

I'm no activist...far from it, but I'd bet you that in between the time you made your judgment and now...most black people have had a lot more opportunity to think on it...just due to being black and all.

[–] kuku (3510) 5 years ago

• starting in the school system, where black kids are something like near twice as likely to be suspended/expelled than their white counterparts for similar disciplinary issues

That can have an easy explanation: in school the ones that are often suspended or expelled are the repeat offenders. Providing only data about whether the disciplinary issues were similar, and not whether the historical of offenses were similar, that's insufficient data. Probably interested insufficient data.

• The ability to overlook so much data

Yeap, so much, as the one before. You had "lots" to choose from, and still you couldn't find something that couldn't be explained easily.

• But my point is that a white person absolutely cannot claim in good faith that there's no such thing as white privilege

I call that bullshit. What you call 'privilege' is 99.9% of times white people working hard, collaborating, and being civilized... and of course, harvesting it. Black community treat their streets as a dumpster, and then say that living in a nice place is "white privilege". It's not some magical 'privilege'. It's just that white people dont shit in their neighborhoods.

[–] nufsaid16 (685) 3 years ago

FYI, as a black person who grew up in a black community---no, all of us do not treat out communities as "dumpsters" and a lot of us work hard, go to school and work and pay taxes just like everybody else. You're doing a lot of blatant ignorant-a** racist stereotyping here----for one thing, every black person dosen't live in a ghetto, not all of us are criminals simply because we're black, and guess what? We don't like living in crime-ridden places any more than anyone else does, and have been doing something about it. Tired of ignorant white people like you who don't know s*** about black people except some bull**** you saw on TV. And yes, you do have white privilege---it dosen't always have to do with being rich. So I call what you said about white privilege bull****. You just don't want to admit it exists.

The only reason an ignorant old dumba** like trump got into office is because a lot of racist white people who hated the fact that we had a black president wanted a white man back in office, and they didn't give a damn how ignorant, stupid, or completely unqualified for the job he was. trump even getting into office is the biggest example of white privilege ever----because he damn sure wasn't qualified to be president, had virtually no experience in politics, had literally nothing to bring to the table, never seemed to understand how the government worked even through he oversaw it, and was a complete fckg idiot who had to be babysitted all the time like an overgrown child---that's what the actual people who worked with him have said it was like.

And black kids get suspended more then white kids because black kids are automatically thought to be troublemakers simply because they're black. That bias against them is already in the system, and always has been. Black kids have gotten suspended because of their hair----how the fck does having your hair raided cause trouble for anybody? And it's not always repeat offenders who get suspended.

[–] nufsaid16 (685) 3 years ago

The thing is, America is not the U.K., and racism here is completely different from over there. I've read about and heard black people in Britain talk about the racism there, which they say might not be as bad as American racism, but it's still there beneath the surface, and just as ingrained in the system. So Britain's never been a completely enlightened and racism-free place, either.

[–] bohemianroxie (2478) 5 years ago

Privilege is no longer about race or gender or ethnicity but status.
Justice depends on what kind of defense someone can afford.

[–] Jehosaphet (1063) 5 years ago

Well I was ready for a reply about it being mostly about status, but not one about it only being about status. Because you're right but also wrong. I mean, you can't say that people haven't gone to jail just because of the color of their skin since we're on the forum of a movie where this guy did...along with the guy in the cell next to him. Its pretty reasonable to say that were they not black, they'd not have been targeted.
But you're still right...if this guy had anyone other than the shit public defender he had (along with his neighbor), he'd have been set free.

But I believe my 'white guys can't claim white privilege' point is a salient one. And of course privilege is about a whole lot more than just staying out of jail.

[–] Redsfan001 (6144) 5 years ago

There is no doubt that the capitalist system and race has unbalanced the criminal justice system in the past and continues to a extent to do so in the present day. How does one remove $$$ from the trials both civil and criminal? Which probably has a bigger impact than race.

I do object to the term 'white privilege'. It is a extremely divisive term, that does nothing to unite the races.

The word 'privilege' is to close 'unearned'. Most white people are not born with a silver spoon in their mouth. The term degrades a hard work ethic/thrift of people who try to improve or HAVE improved their station.

The term had been used beond the CJ system incorporating most aspects of life in America.

I fear that the continuing use of this term is just giving fuel to extremist white power groups.

[–] nufsaid16 (685) 3 years ago

The term "white privilege" which was invented by a white woman who studied and wrote about it----Peggy McIntosh--look her up. Having white privilege is not about a white person being rich. It's about how white people get more benefit of the doubt in ways that black people usually don't; being white also means you rarely get profiled by the police for driving a nice car, and being stopped because the police assume you stole it, even though they have no proof of that; being white means the police won't stop you just to ask if you live in a certain area. Being white also means you're less likely to get shot by the police at a traffic stop, just because a police officer thinks you have a gun, even though they never actually saw you with one, and will claim that they shot you in "self-defense" anyway. Being white also means you can travel through the U.S. without worrying about being hassled or stopped by the police just because you're driving through an unfamiliar place with no black people. Being white means none of that s*** ever happens to you. That's what having "white privilege" really means. Get it now?

[–] Redsfan001 (6144) 3 years ago

Thank you. As I said, the term "white privilege" is being expanded beond it's original meaning, economic inequalities are being introduced by some...

[–] TimMC (9143) 5 years ago

Screech all you want. There is NO such thing as white privilege.

[–] TheArgentinian (7062) 4 years ago

You sweet, summer child.

[–] nufsaid16 (685) 3 years ago

You wish. Yes it is.

[–] danny2135 (59) 5 years ago

I'm black puertorrican and yes there is "white privilege"

HOWEVER

who freaking cares? Because I don't!

also I will make a rebuttal to the OP about the so called "injustice for blacks" myth with 3 words

O. J. Simpson!

nuff said.

[–] TheArgentinian (7062) 4 years ago

"who freaking cares? Because I don't!"

People with some empathy care! aka, not conservatives like you. Let's see when the system fucks you or one of your relatives and see if you care then.

OJ Simpson's fame and fortune got him away.

[–] Jehosaphet (1063) 3 years ago

Seems like its the conservative mantra...all sorts of talk and showboating various principles...right the fuck up until its something that affects them personally.

[–] Jehosaphet (1063) 3 years ago

Remember how the blacks celebrated OJ getting off? I'm not sure how old you are, but there was a HUGE discrepancy between how white and black people took the verdict.
And the reason for that is because to the blacks, it wasn't just one of their own, but it highlighted the flaws in the American justice system. How having money and status can hold sway over even the most regarded institutions.
Blacks celebrated the shit out of that, or at least many of them did. And for you to use that as "proof" that the justice system treats people equally, black or white, is pretty far past absurd.

[–] nufsaid16 (685) 3 years ago

Jehosephat:

Good post. Haven't seen the film, but I did read some of the book about the true story it's based on, and it was kind of depressing. I would recommend it though.

[–] Jehosaphet (1063) 3 years ago

I was blown away by this...didn't seem like something that could happen in this country, the land of the free, justice for all, etc. Like, the older I get, the more I realize that this isn't the country I was raised to believe it was.
Good points btw, was nice to hear your perspective. Even if it falls on deaf ears otherwise =P