Reconnecting new forms of inequality to their roots -- A jogger is raped in Central Park -- The position of the black man in the cult of (white) womanhood -- Salvaging the "savage": a racial frame that refuses to die -- A participant observes how content emerges -- The "facts" emerge to convict the innocent -- The case falls apart: media's brief mea culpa -- Selling savage portrayals: incorporating young black males in the carceral state -- They didn't do it!
Summary
In 1989, the rape and beating of a white female jogger in Central Park made international headlines. Many accounts reported the incident as an example of "wilding"--Episodes of poor, minority youths roaming the streets looking for trouble. Police intent on immediate justice for the victim coerced five African-American and Latino boys to plead guilty. The teenage boys were quickly convicted and imprisoned. Natalie Byfield, who covered the case for the New York Daily News, now revisits the story of the Central Park Five from her perspective as a black female reporter in Savage Port
