Ava DuVernay's critically acclaimed 2019 four-part miniseries When They See Us tells the powerful and heart wrenching story of a group of five Black and Latino teenagers – Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, and Korey Wise – and their real-life experiences before, during and after a wrongful conviction that leads to years of their imprisonment. The crime? In 1989, Trisha Meili falls victim to a brutal assault and rape in New York City’s Central Park. The other crime? The boys, who are falsely accused, tried, and convicted without any solid evidence to link them to the crime, also fall victim to the predatory and discriminatory nature of the American criminal legal system.
The first episode, titled “Part 1”, takes place in 1989 Harlem, where we see the five boys going about their normal lives. They will soon be referred to in the media as the Central Park Five (recognized today as the Exonerated Five) but for now they are regular, every day teenagers. The episode captures issues of race, age, and police coercion, showcasing how each of these elements intersect in a powerful and deeply troubling way.
Race plays a central role in how the boys – four African American and one Latino – are treated by police. The boys are immediately presumed guilty and aggressively interrogated in a way that contrasts with how police deal with white boys. In one scene, lead detective, Linda Fairstein, repeatedly describes the boys as “animals” and “thugs” that need to be brought in by an “army of blue”. On a macro level, this scene reinforces a deeply racist notion within the criminal legal system, that links "criminality" to an individual’s race. As a result, black males are identified as “threats” that must be “neutralized” on a scale equivalent to martial law.
In the interrogation room, race amplifies the boys' vulnerability. In an environment where a certain race is seen as disposable, aggressive treatment is seen as justified. The race of the boys makes them easier targets for manipulation, as the police have preconceived notions about their potential involvement in violent crimes.
The boys are all under the age of 16, yet they are treated like adults in the interrogation room. Their age is a key factor in their susceptibility to coercion. The adultification and criminalization of these boys is explicitly depicted in the scene leading up to the first round of interrogations. In this scene, we see lead detective, Linda Fairstein, stating to the other officers that there are “no kid gloves here. These are not kids. They raped this woman.” Following suit, the officers are seen using psychological tactics designed to exploit their youth and inexperience. For example, they isolate the boys, lie to them about the evidence against them, and offer false promises of leniency if they confess. The boys were also subjected to physical violence. In a 2016 interview with the Guardian, Salaam recounts hearing the officers “beating up Korey Wise in the next room” and telling him that he was “next”.
The police's tactics make no attempt to recognize their status as minors, instead focusing on extracting confessions to fit a narrative. However, this briefly comes to a halt when Sharonne Salaam, Yusef Salaam’s mother, is shown defying Fairstein when she threatens to report to the New York Times that the police department is “knowingly interrogating [her son] an unaccompanied minor”.
The physical and psychological tactics used by the police in the interrogation room further reveal how a child’s race and age are weaponized against them – often leaving them with very little resources or advocates in that moment. This point is further crystalized in the ‘Holding Cell Scene” where the boys come to the realize that they were all coerced into lying on each other and articulated by Salaam’s character who states “They made us lie”.
Overall, “Part 1” of the miniseries highlights how young people, particularly those from minority backgrounds, are often denied the protection and care they need, both legally and emotionally, in high-pressure situations like interrogations and highlights the need for closer oversight of police interrogations of youth.
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