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when they see us

Series: When They See Us

Posted on September 14, 2020January 24, 2023

As someone who is white, I find it hard to say something about racism. I don’t experience it, so who am I to speak up about it? However, shutting up is too easy for me. I have a part in it, everyone has. I hope my part is to educate, like I do on other subjects on this blog too. And so, I want to share all the knowledge I have about the subject on this blog. So that people who don’t experience or see racism, will eventually. Today I want to share a Netflix series with you: When They See Us.

It’s about the system

When you watch this, I hope you get really mad. And sad too. But mostly mad. Mad so you see the urgency of the problem. I have spoken to way too many (most of them white) persons who don’t see the urgency. They aren’t mad, as we should be. But make sure, that when you get mad, you get mad at the system. It’s really easy to identify the bad cops and persons in this story here. Of course, we should be mad at them too, furious. Yet, it’s not all about them. It’s about the system. The racist system in which we live.

So, don’t think that when the bad people get their punishment after all, there is no more racism. People don’t call theirselves racists, they genuinely don’t think they are. Well, except for some outspoken crazy people. Most people don’t see themselves as racists, even though they act racist. We need system change in order to change that. And also recognition, recognition of the problem and recognition of privilege. Only then things can change. I hope the series I am about to share with you can help with that recognition, it was one of my first step to seeing racism.

When They See Us

When They See Us is a series on Netflix. It contains four episodes of each about an hour or an hour and a half. It appeared on Netflix in 2019 (and so yes, I am a little late here). When They See Us is based upon a true story. A story in 1989 with 5 men called The Central Park Five. One night, a woman is attacked and raped in Central Park. A horrendous attack. The woman lives, but she can’t remember anything from the event. The police starts an ‘investigation’ to find out who did this to her and that’s where the story gets really messed up.

I don’t want to spoil much of the story, but this is where racism comes in. Lives are destroyed. It is such a sick story. I cried my eyes out every episode and will never forget this. It’s so heartbreaking, so brutal, so destructive and so unfair. You should really watch this and so how multiple systems are broken. The justice system, the power system, the believe system. The story shows racism is the most obvious form, where people say and think as racists. But is also shows the underlying mechanisms of racism which destroy and complicate lives. I can never understand what these people have gone through.

when they see us

I am no expert

With that being said, I also want to say I am not expert on this subject. I try to share what I know about racism. Yet, I can never understand it the way people who experience it do. I don’t want to claim I am all woke, because I share these posts. It’s a never ending process of me learning. And I hope you can learn along side with me. I share, and I hope we all learn. If there’s anything I can learn from you, please let me know too! For now, I hope you’ll watch the series When They See Us on Netflix and we will all do better.

Yours sincerely,
Romee

2 thoughts on “Series: When They See Us”

  1. Denise says:
    September 23, 2020 at 4:21 pm

    You are right I believe unity and strength will help us to have a great world and we all should do our part and fix what needs fixing so we can have great lives.

    Reply
  2. Pingback: Documentary: 13th | When A Teen Goes Green

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ABOUT ME

 

when a teen goes green

Hi! My name is Romee Hoeksma and I am on a journey to an eco-positive life. An eco-positive lifestyle is a lifestyle in which I have a more positive than negative impact on the beautiful planet earth. On this blog you can follow my journey to a life with only positive impact. At this blog you can find all sorts of things, from tips to recipes to personal experiences, but most of all fun (I hope!). I write about how I want to change the world, but don’t look at it as if I’m judging you. If anything, I like responses from my dear readers the most, so don’t hesitate to contact me or respond to any of my posts!

Yours sincerely,
Romee

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Dit is de route van de interrail die ik maakte de afgelopen maand! Over die interrail staat vandaag het eerste artikel (in een reeks van meerdere) online op mijn blog. Ik deel daarin namelijk mijn ervaring én wat tips en tricks. Je kan het nu vinden via de link in mijn bio 🚞.#duurzaamleven #duurzaamreizen #interrail Dit is hoe ik met de trein van Krásná Lípa (🇨🇿) naar Bratislava (🇸🇰) reisde. Dit was reisdag 3/6 van onze duurzame interrail reis. Ik ben vandaag 25 jaar geworden 🥳. Ik hoop heel hard dat dat betekent dat ik ongeveer op een kwart van mijn leven ben. En wat een verjaardag is dit! Ik mag het vieren in Kopenhagen met mijn favoriete persoon @casperchristiaanse , terwijl ik met de trein door Europa reis 🚃. Ik ben een gelukkig mens. Op naar de 50! Dit is hoe ik van Dresden (🇩🇪) naar Krásná Lípa (🇨🇿) reisde. Niet een bijster lange, maar wel een prachtige treinreis, omdat je door het nationaal park Boheems Zwitserland gaat. Dit was de tweede reisdag van onze interrail (2/6). We zijn op de helft van de interrail. Terwijl ik dit typ zijn we onderweg naar Warschau (8,5 uur vanaf Bratislava). Nog twee bestemmingen te ontdekken, maar wat hebben we nu al veel genoten. Elke dag goed en lang slapen, nieuw vegan eten proberen, bijzonder lang wandelen, spelletjes spelen, weinig schermtijd, genieten van de mooie uitzichten en zon: deze reis is genieten 💜. Dit is hoe ik met de trein van Amsterdam naar Dresden reisde 🚃. De interrail is officieel begonnen! (1/6) Vandaag verschijnt er geen artikel op mijn blog. En de komende twee weken hierna ook niet. Dat is voor het eerst, in de 7 jaar dat ik schrijf. Een heel leuk onderdeel van duurzaam leven is tweedehands kleding. Hier zijn 4 tweedehands outfits die ik droeg in augustus 2023 🌞. Je zag het al in de reel van vorige week: ik ben op vakantie geweest naar Gent, in België. Het was een ontzettende aanrader, en daarom verscheen er vandaag een artikel op mijn blog over de leukste en duurzaamste hotspots in Gent 🌆. Check it out via de link in mijn bio

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