Ken Burns: The Central Park Five

An Absolute gem of a documentary, Ken Burns has done it again, this time exposing the blatant racism inside NYC's Criminal Justice System. An Outstanding film though extremely sad.

Maybe one day, just maybe, we will be able to treat one another equally and not let the color of ones skin determine ones fate.

Ken Burns' film doesn't attempt to examine the nuances, minutiae, or even important details of the the case as it was understood in the late 80's or how it came to be understood in the 21st Century; that's been done already. This movie is about the personal narratives of 5 teens who were cajoled and prodded with the time honored 'Good Cop/Bad Cop', 'Snitch or be Snitched' interrogation techniques. TCP5's noble purpose is its appeal to NY City: Settle The Lawsuit brought by these 5 who were wronged by a prosecution based on denial of the implausibility of 0-transference of evidence between the victim and defendants. One Last Detail: Trisha Meili never made any accusations against the 5 young Men persecuted for the brutalization she suffered. Not at their trial and not even in her book. The Central Park Jogger has always focused on recovery, forgiveness, and moving forward.

I lived in NYC at the time of this crime and can attest to the fear and racism that permeated the city at this time. This documentary captures not only the tragedy of a fatally flawed justice system but also the incendiary nature of the race baiting of politicians, police and media. You can't come away from this documentary without a heart broken for the five young men and their families. The fact that the city has not changed its position towards these young men is criminal. They were exonerated and yet the city refuses to settle the wrongful imprisonment suit. Disgusting!

This event happened in 1989. Five colored children were falsely accused in New York. No physical evidence linked them to the crime. The media was horrified and focused racist columns on them from the beginning because the children had been held too long by police and confessed. No one cared about the children and their families. Not many willing to take responsibility after all when the real killer's DNA matched. Reminds people to disbelieve media and not watch and automatically believe.