There were 12 prospective Black jurors in the Ahmaud Arbery case, but the jury ended up having one Black person and 11 white – largely because defense attorneys fought for more representation of “Bubbas,” or middle-aged Southern lower-class white men. Huh?
Judge Timothy Walmsley actually admitted the jury result was “intentional discrimination.” But lawyers got away with it via “peremptory challenges,” or making up reasons to chop Black jurors that aren’t race related. And that’s NOT uncommon.
From not being on voter registration lists because of incarceration, to simply banning Black jurors, Black people have historically been less likely to end up in jury selection as it is. Then, when we finally get to court, we get crossed out. But what if we didn’t have to rely on white people to hold everyone accountable?
Realistically, that would mean changing the entire system. Because white supremacy’s desire to brutalize Black people – whether through bloodthirsty policing, non-rehabilitative prisons, or millions of legal loopholes – is in every stage of the criminal legal system. What if we, the community, were actually in charge of accountability and justice?
Even if Arbery’s killers are found “guilty,” we deserve better than playing the system’s game of sacrificing one of their own to kill hundreds more of us. We deserve a world where this system is abolished.