The Injustice of Black Minority Teenage Boys
The justice system in America fails to protect teenagers who are a part of a minority community. To be apart of a minority in America, your skin color does not have to be white and typically the language you speak is not english. The black minority is horribly represented in todays day and age, simply due to the justice system nationwide. Black minority teenage boys specifically, are not well represented to the public — they are seen as threats and dangerous because police officers make it appear that way when approaching them. Media outlets have torn down minority teens who are practicing free speech and their constitutional right to peaceful protest. These teenagers need help to earn a voice in the justice system when it comes to living their life freely.
In the documentary by Ava DeVurnay, When They See Us, a group teenage boys were accused of raping a White woman. These boys are black, in the eyes of the police officers and the detective, they were seen as criminals due to their skin color. The detective in the movie basically told the police officers to get them to confess to this crime. This documentary showed us what these boys went through, when it came to being physically and verbally abused. Throughout the first two episodes, police officers detain this group without supplying water and feeding them for 24 hours. During the questioning process, they are told that if they cooperate with the officers, they would be able to go home. However, they weren’t going to be able to go home. The officers in the station staged many written confessions to “prove” the five boys were a part of the crime committed. While the officers were writing these confessions, the boys were being slapped left and right, for no reason. These officers were doing what they wanted to these boys because they knew that no one would believe them due to their age and skin color. In the second episode of this show, the boys are being shown at court. Before their court date, the detective had no lead when it came to evidence, even after the final decision there was no true evidence that the boy had raped this woman. In the court room, the boys and their attorneys talked about being abused physically by the officers, however the judge did not truly believe the circumstances these kids were under. After the trial, four of the boys were sentenced to six to seven years in juvenile detention centers while the oldest was tried as an adult, ending up serving 13 years in an adult prison. The group had no idea what was happening to them, why they were being accused of rape even though they didn’t even know what sex was at the time. The police officers made all of those boys say they committed the crime they didn’t even know how to do.
For teenagers in general, we tend to suffer from more mental health issues than in older people. However, being included in the justice system could definitely worsen the state of mental health. In an article written by Elizabeth Bonham over the mental health status in adolescents that are in the juvenile justice system, she says that “Mental health disorders in the youth committed to the juvenile justice system are more frequent in the general adolescent population” (Bonham, Adolescent Mental Health and the Juvenile Justice System). Within the juvenile justice system, kids probably do not get the care they need for their mental stability, which could lead to more mental health issues down the road. The state of mental health after being abused can definitely alter the way a teen reacts. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is common in adolescents after being in the justice system for a number of months to a number of years. Depending on how bad the PTSD is, the adolescent could possibly never recover from that type of stress.
Searching for stories on mental health after being in the juvenile justice system was hard. The amount of papers or articles that are released to the public is close to zero. With what teenagers go through already mentally, then adding being in a detention center could truly worsen a teens health. It is understandable as to why it is hardly talked about to the public for legal reasons, however it would be nice to hear be talked about more.
In today’s world, we hear about the injustice of minorities constantly, but we never hear about the injustice for minority teens. A lot of the time, they are accused of something they did not do, then they are seen as criminals for the rest of their life. To help better represent minority teens in this situation, believe them when they say that they have been physically and verbally abused. Help them find a way to better their mental health after the justice system let them down by not giving them enough resources to talk to.
