In an episode of For the People —a TV show—a man came to court, at the request of the prosecution to testify in case. As he was leaving, his son sitting in the hallway, he was arrested by ICE. His son, found by the Clerk of the District Court of the Southern District of New York, is protected by her as ICE returns to take him. No one knows where. Dad can’t be found. Turmoil ensues, people are tested. It’s TV. In the end, the black woman who is the Clerk of Court, refuses to let ICE take the boy irrespective of the consequences. The black judge who runs the court is bound, the District Attorney (white) is bound. They are all bound by the rules. The Public Defender is an immigrant. He seeks a resolution, but none seems possible. The system is oppressive. The career-killing choices to stand in the way of the rules, is awful. Eventually, an Assistant District Attorney—the one that asked Dad to testify—figures out a systemic resolution that at least unites father and son and delays deportation. After all, he was there to be a witness for the state.
At one point in the story, when people were being brave, ready to tank their careers to protect the little boy while dad was still “lost”, I turned to my retired Air Force pilot husband and said, “Do you recognize the country?” “No.”
At another point when the career-risking brave dialogue was recited, I turned to him and said, “You think that happen very often?”
“Probably not.”
The interesting thing about this…it was the black and brown people in the story (mostly) who fought and thought and worked through the system. Of course, there were supportive white lawyers and others, but still.
It’s just a TV show. But good art reflects and challenges us. Some are funny, some are not. This was not, but it was too timely. Too close to home.
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