A REVIEW OF THE INNOCENCE FILES ON NETFLIX

A REVIEW OF THE INNOCENCE FILES ON NETFLIX


So a dear friend suggested that I check out the innocence files. After binging, the best I can say is that there is some pertinent info here and there

but the narrative makes it an extremely whitewashed version of THIS IS US and with 9 episodes at approx over an hour each, I do not recommend.

Episode 6, however, did catch my eye and if you have an hour to kill... but better to read my synopsis, as it has a lot of feel-good tropes that white people luv which makes it hard

for me to stomach. The innocent Black man (a kid when he entered the system) begging to be heard. The white folk from The Innocence Project swooping in to save him

with the newfound DNA testing. The one accidental hero of the true story was a white clerk who was known for ‘hoarding’ evidence, allowing DNA from the 80’s to be recently tested.

There’s talk of ID being spotty across interracial lines. And wrong place/wrong time scenarios not casting blame on anyone.

They have a quaint message about reconciliation between the white woman who wrongly ID’d the Black man (kid at the time).

But the hidden narrative of

FIRE ALL OF THE WHITE COPS FROM ELSEWHERES PATROLLING AND BRUTALIZING BLACK SPACES!

remains buried, unless you look for it. You see there was a Black detective who patrolled this mostly Black area in 80’s

who when he found out which kid was suspected of the serial rapes of white women, said that this kid would not do this!

But they assigned white cops from elsewheres who said that they found one eyewitness so case closed. And just like that, another innocent kid was jailed for YEARS!

But before being railroaded, the Black detective spoke to the kid who not only said that he didn’t do it, but his neighbor who had a limp that matched the account of one of the victims should be checked out.

Of course they never did at the time. The neighbor was later found guilty of multiple rapes of other women and DNA confirmed that he raped at least one of the victims the kid was convicted of...the only victim with the 100% positive ID.

In spite of EVERYTHING we know, the idea of us policing ourselves is still an anathema. Go figure!