"Central Park Five (Ken Burns Film)" Topic

Just saw this a few minutes ago, all I can say is that it was dumbfounding.

I remember when it happened and due to all the media hype, even living in MIA, I pretty much thought how all the injured and incensed New Yorkers felt at the time.

I have two brain cells that sometimes bump into each other and I've been known to read a book or two in my life, but it's really damning to society when you see yourself dragged along with the rest of the crowd.

And people ask how crap in the past happens.

One of the best, and most disheartening, documentaries I've ever seen.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

"THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE, a new film from award-winning filmmaker Ken Burns, tells the story of the five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem who were wrongly convicted of raping a white woman in New York City's Central Park in 1989."

From

link

Yeah, sorry, I thought it was widely advertised on PBS, plus with the Ken Burns tag…ah well.

Thanks Witg4aW!

BTW, Mr. Burns is getting a bit older, though certainly far from old. It seems that this effort was actually more of a project of his daughter, for which he contributed his time and name to get aired.

Thanks for the info. I do remember that incident along with the Tawana Brawley & Al Sharpton fraudulent rape story from a year or so earlier. There were all sorts of unsavory characters and some not so good law enforcement work involved. Stir that up in a pot and the media can have a field day. As usually happens, a "good story" gets out and makes the rounds before the justice system gets the facts sorted out. Unfortuantely for the Central Park Five, it took a while for the facts to rise to the surface and clear them of those particular crimes.

I do remember that incident along with the Tawana Brawley & Al Sharpton fraudulent rape story from a year or so earlier.

That was not really brought up in the show, though they showed Al S. at one of the protest rallies. That may very well have colored (no pun intended) the legitimate viewpoint of others, especially women living in NYC, who thought they were victims waiting to happen at the time.

However, for some odd reason, last night, it was kinda pushed around that NYC was a war zone at the time. I could have sworn that it was much worse in the very late 70's and early 80's and fairly dramatic steps had already been taken to clean the city up by the time of this incident.

Or was the War to clean up the city a much longer (lasting) campaign?

I do recall the "colored", "white" and "jewish" communities as being uneasy neighbors in the city. Other groups may well have bumped elbows but to an outsider like me (100 miles away in south central PA) that did not reach us in the news.

As far as a "war to clean up", I do recall Rudy Giuliani working first on organized crime and unions as a procecutor (1980s)and then on crime in general as NYC mayor (1990s). He did a lot in his tenure but there is a long history that proceeded him and big city, big government is a breeding ground for decay all around.

Please keep in mind that a horrific crime was committed. A young woman was not only raped but nearly murdered in a most brutal manner – no doubt she carries the scars today. Unfortunately, NYC law enforcement responded to the very justified public outcry by railroading innocent men.

zippy-
How true. I believe she became a councelor, author, speaker or some such thing as a means to tell her story and help motivate others. She did receive some noteriety for her "comeback" from the horrendous attack, both physical and psychological. She was nearly killed in the attack and was thought not to be able to survive her injuries. Once she did stabilize, there was doubt as to how much she would recover.

As a side note, I do remember a story of what I recall as a Hispanic Pride Celebration that fell victim to the "wilding" craze. During the festival/parade, in broad daylight, a group of males ran through the crowd stripping and beating women. This was in the earlier days of CNN and I remember coverage of the event catching some of the goings on.