Jailine Zavala

Dr. Maura M. Tarnoff

English 1A

1 October 2018

Just Mercy: Critical Reading Log

In his book, Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson makes a call for action by shedding light on the

broken criminal justice system in our country. He does this through the stories of its victims. He

emphasizes the way in which the system is consistently biased against the underprivileged, most

commonly black men. Through the rhetorical technique of doxa, Stevenson highlights the way in

which the same system can differ so vastly from one group of people to the other. He uses the

example of the shared cultural value of religion or faith. Throughout his writing, Stevenson

occasionally mentions the church. One example of this can be seen when he states, “It was the

kind of wordless testimony of struggle and anguish I heard all the time growing up in a small

rural black church” (Stevenson 92). Although, his references to the church may appear of little

significance at first glance, they reveal information of valuable support to Stevenson’s point

upon further analysis. The reader is able to make the connection that similar to the criminal

justice system, religion serves an immensely different purpose in the lives of the privileged when

compared to the lives of the underprivileged. Often times, through a privileged perspective,

religion is viewed as tool to demonstrate gratefulness or a set of ideas to live by. On the other

hand, through an underprivileged perspective, religion can be utilized as a coping mechanism for

the injustices one is living through or a method with which to hold on to hope that life will get

better. One can go as far as to say that both religion and the criminal justice system can be used

to control or even manipulate the underprivileged population in America. While African

Americans are disproportionately incarcerated, it can almost be said that the sense of hope that

religion provides its members keeps the oppressed away from speaking and acting out against

injustices. This idea can explain why many churches are segregated. If religion served the same

purpose across all backgrounds and experiences, then there would be no reason for there to be

such a racial separation within a religion. In his statement, Stevenson labels his church as a black

church rather than a church of the specific religion to which it belongs. This demonstrates the

power that their black identity holds in the church; it might hold even more power than the

religion itself. It becomes clear that similar to the way in which the criminal justice system

favors and protects the privileged while it often violates the rights of the underprivileged,

religious practices can be very pleasant experiences for the privileged while they can be a cry for

mercy for the underprivileged. By illustrating the shared cultural value of religion, Stevenson is

able to highlight injustices within the criminal justice system and society at large.