http://www.komonews.com/news/national/26830644.html
This article “Race sometimes a problem in eyewitness IDs” by the Associated Press (which I found on komonews.com), is extremely intense. The basic summary is that a woman had been raped,and identified a suspect in a line up. But it turned out the woman, Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, had fingered the wrong suspect. The man who had been convicted was Ronald Cotton, and had been sentenced to life in prison. Jennifer is white. Ronald is black. Ten years later, DNA evidence finally proved his innocence. But that’s not where the story ends. Studies have shown that similar situations have happened. People have pointed out the wrong suspect, just because they are of a different race, and they have a harder time distinguishing identities of people that are not their race. It’s like that saying that certainly sounds prejudiced and even racist about “they all look alike” — but in fact there may be some truth to that for some people. To address this, Thompson-Cannino and Cotton are writing a book. Together.
I think this is a great idea, as it will help people learn of the damage that can be done by such mistakes. According to Barry Scheck, co-founder of The Innocence Project, “The majority race is not as good at identifying minorities as it is its own race. This is hard-wired in some way that we don’t completely understand. But the phenomenon should be presented to the jury” (AP). People’s prejudices and preconceived notions can be very dangerous in certain situations. Innocent people can be sent to jail. Suspects of much more serious crimes, like murder, can be sentenced to death, all based on false identification.
Awareness needs to be made of these prejudices, and this apparent lack of the ability to “discriminate” in a different sense of the word — to be able to clearly identify someone of a different race and move beyond the “they all look the same” perspective. I know that in my own life, at least in the beginning, I was fed prejudices by the media, by my parents, by my peers that could have influenced how I look at people of other races. This is just not right. Had I been assaulted, would I finger the correct person? Would I remember exactly who it was that attacked me, if I saw them in a line up? Would my remembering be hampered in any way if they are a different race? It is compelling to think about.
(Word Count Four Hundred Eleven)
13 August, 2008 at 8:07 am
I think that it is so cool that the two are writing a book together. However, I don’t see how it would work because of the past between them. I don’t think I could sit with someone whom I thought was my former rapist and write a book, even if DNA had proved his innocence. I also agree that we cant as easily distinguish races and features on others outside of our own race. If I had been put in Jennifer Thompson-Cannino’s shoes, I can not a hundred percent sure say I would make an accurate identification.
(Word Count: 97)
13 August, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Wow, that is a very interesting article. It is amazing what stereotypes can do. You can ruin someone’s life with one false decision. It is interesting because I am sure that there are many cases like that. And it is not the woman’s fault, but I see how race and ethnicity can play a huge role when it comes to crime suspects. That is very cool that these two people are writing a book together to race awareness. I see how that can cause a huge problem. And I think that it is very important that people need to be able to distinguish others not only based on their race and ethnicity. It is surprising how big of a role race and ethnicity plays in real life situations, and how one false move can end a life of an innocent person. (word count 141)
13 August, 2008 at 2:16 pm
I saw a news report on this a while back and they did a few staged purse snatchings in the middle of a busy street. Most of the people who came forward were white and 90% of those people always chose the wrong man in the line up. Once the thief was white and 90% of the white people picked a black man out of the line up. Most of the people who were not white surprisingly chose the correct criminal. It was really interesting watching and made me think twice about ever being a witness. I would not want to convict the wrong person.
(WC: 105)
13 August, 2008 at 10:55 pm
@Tara Collings:
I think that the biggest reason that they are writing the book is because Jennifer was very remorseful, and wanted to make people more aware of their prejudices. Luckily, Ronald forgave her, even after having spent 10 years in jail. This really shows the power of forgiveness, and the power of the human spirit.