Stereotyping Essay Prompt

Stereotyping Essay Prompt

            The story of a twenty-two-year-old man who is sent to jail to serve a life sentence and additional years is intriguing no matter how the story goes. However, when the story includes the fact that the man was wrongfully convicted of a crime, it is painful to imagine how one’s youth can be wasted in prison. This is what happened to twenty-two-year-old Ronald Cotton in 1984 when charged with assault and rape (The New York Times, para.5). The alleged victim, Jennifer Thompson, was also twenty-two years old and was a college student at the time. Jennifer Thompson was raped at knifepoint in her apartment one morning in 1984 (The New York Times, para.1). The assaulter then moved to another apartment and committed the same crime. When Jennifer Thompson went to the police, she was asked to sketch the person as much as she could remember. The sketch did not look like Cotton, but when asked to identify her assaulter, she identified Cotton. Cotton was charged with two rapes, which resulted in life imprisonment at Jennifer’s testimony.

Eleven years later, Cotton was found not guilty of the offense; rather, Booby Poole was. Poole had confided to an inmate at the same prison as Cotton years earlier that he was the one who had committed the crime, but Cotton was held in custody (Motlotkow, para.5). Only after DNA tests were done was Cotton set free at the overwhelming evidence that linked Poole to the act. The question is, how could it be that Cotton could suffer for a crime he did not commit for eleven years, yet the assailant had confessed to the crime?

The main reason as to why Cotton was convicted was because of stereotyping. The cops who were acting in this case were White. Because Jennifer and the other lady raped were White, they automatically assumed that they would be telling the truth (Thompson-Cannino et al.). This and the fact that Black people were viewed as robbers and people of bad behavior was a contributor to Cotton’s imprisonment. Cotton came from a big family and used to work as a busboy at a restaurant in Burlington (Molotkow, para.4). He had been held in prison earlier that year for breaking, and that history might have contributed to his sentence.

In an interview held by the Believer magazine, Cotton recalls the first time he saw Jennifer after she had identified him as the person who had raped her and even wanted to take the stand to deny that he ever did something like that. Still, he knew that the jury would not listen to him. In the interview, he said that many people in prison were there for crimes they did not commit, and even when they researched and found information that was worth the court’s attention, it was denied (Molotkow). The fact that he was Black in a society that was ruled predominantly by White people made it easy for Cotton to be charged for a crime he did not commit (Thompson-Cannino et al.). This is alluded by Martin Luther’s speech “I Have a Dream” when he said that they would never be satisfied with demonstrating and fighting for their rights as long as Black people suffer unspeakable horrors in the hands of the police (Stanford University, para.9).

Stereotyping, in this case, is so evident because the police did not bother to do tests that they should do in every case just because Cotton was black and had a criminal record. Besides, the fact that he was almost put in prison before for attempted rape years back, Jennifer’s case made Cotton’s criminal record more reliable. Jennifer Thompson told the New York Times in 2000 that it is not okay to convict someone based on the report of one eye witness as it leads to irreversible mistakes (The New York Times, para.15). The fact that at the same age as Jennifer, who was schooling and Cotton, was working as a busboy shows that Cotton was from a lower socio-economic background, and that may have influenced the jury’s decision.

Even today, stereotypes face every community person. As a white individual, my Black friends assume that I am inhuman and only favor white people like me. They believe that I enjoy making them inferior and like having privileges that they do not enjoy. It is also assumed that white people view people of color as criminals. However, these are just assumptions. Gone are the days when people of color were uneducated hence unable to make uninformed decisions. For instance, I have friends of color in my neighborhood that are very brilliant and well- mannered and with whom we do many activities together. I, for instance, do not treat people according to their socio-economic background and know many White people who are from a poor economic background. It would be wrong for me to assume that all Black people are criminals because I have seen White people who are convicted for the wrong things they do.

However, most people take me at face value and judge me as soon as they meet me. A few years ago, a black family moved into our neighborhood, and I was very excited to welcome the children. Unfortunately, when I approached them, they went away with somewhat frightened expressions on their faces. Despite that and many other similar incidents, I try to establish friendships with people who are not of my race, gender, or socio-economic background. This I do by being kind to them and founding genuine associations with them. I recently started a Sunday brunch fellowship at my house, where I invite all my neighbors from all walks of life and races so that we dine together and have meaningful discussions. Earlier last year, I met a father whose son was being bullied in high school because he could not afford to go to expensive parties. I encouraged the father to talk to the principal, but he was afraid because he thought that the arrogant, greedy principal would not listen to him, so I accompanied him. It is in the small things that we establish lasting partnerships that transcend all barriers and stereotypes.

My eight-year-old grandson feels that his friends at school do not like him because his color is different. He is biracial; his father is white and his mother black. He often asks me why his skin is different from mine. In our talks, he says that his friends at school make him feel as if he is evil. One time a friend at school told him that he looked like the devil, and he cried the whole day on end. He says that he does not fit in with the Whites and with Blacks too. I understand his struggle because, at such a young age, he is struggling to fit into the school society. “I just want to have friends and play,” he says. He says that on most occasions, he plays with children who look like him, but he is learning to make friends. One of his friends, Derrick, is White and does not make mean comments about him. Martin Luther King Jr. said in his “I Have a Dream” speech that he dreams that his four children will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character (Stanford University, para.16). I hope that my grandson will not be judged anymore by the color of his skin too.

Works Cited

Molotkow, Alexandra. “An Interview with Ronald Cotton.” Believer Magazine, 19 July 2018, believermag.com/an-interview-with-ronald-cotton/.

The New York Times. “Opinion | ‘I Was Certain, but I Was Wrong.'” The New York Times – Breaking News, World News & Multimedia, 18 June 2000, www.nytimes.com/2000/06/18/opinion/i-was-certain-but-i-was-wrong.html.

Stanford University. “I Have a Dream,” Address Delivered at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.” The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute, 25 Jan. 2019, kinginstitute.stanford.edu/king-papers/documents/i-have-dream-address-delivered-march-washington-jobs-and-freedom.

Thompson-Cannino, J., et al. Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption. St. Martin’s Press, 201