If you've been keeping up with the news,
you've probably seen this story coming out of, uh, Texas
that's-that's blown up.
Um, and it's been taking place for a while.
It's been the-the trial of the police officer, Amber Guyger.
Have you saw that? Right?
The police officer who, um, said
she-she accidentally walked into a man's apartment
in her building and then she thought
that he was the intruder
and she shot him dead.
And I remember when this story happened.
It was a wild story off the bat.
It was-- You know what I mean? 'Cause it was already crazy.
It's like you walk into a wrong apartment
and you shot the person. What were you doing?
What-- You know?
And so the trial has been going on.
And the first thing that was-- that was a little weird for me
was the judge allowed the defense to use
what they call the castle doctrine in America.
So they said they would allow the defense
that she was protecting herself
because she thought it was her house,
which already was, like, weird for me.
'Cause I-- Like, the castle doctrine
is-is, like, a very strict law in America,
but-but, I-I mean, I get it, fundamentally.
If you're in your house, you can do
whatever you need to protect yourself.
But this was interesting, where the judge was like,
"No, you can... We allowed the defense
"that you thought you were in your house,
so you shot somebody in their house."
In their house? I was just like, "But that's...
But it's not your house."
'Cause then you can just think you're in your house anywhere.
-(laughter) -Like, it's just... It's...
So really, that was weird. And, you know, I was worried.
I honestly was worried, this was gonna be another one
of those cases in America where justice didn't get served.
Because it seemed like a fairly, you know, black and white--
excuse the pun-- case.
Um, and-and then, the verdict was handed down,
and the jury did find her guilty.
But what has followed since has been a really interesting story.
And we actually... we actually have a clip.
It's-it's... it's a really complicated story,
but this is... this is basically what went down.
The white former Dallas police officer convicted
of murdering her black neighbor has learned her fate.
Yesterday, Amber Guyger was sentenced
to ten years in prison
for the murder of Botham Jean.
But it was what Jean's brother did after the sentencing
that brought the court to a standstill.
Can I give her a hug, please?
WOMAN: 18-year-old Brandt Jean
forgave Amber Guyger
who'd just been sentenced to ten years in prison
for killing his older brother Botham.
At the end of the hearing,
Judge Tammy Kemp gave a bible to Guyger
and embraced her, as well.
Amber Guyger will be eligible for parole
in five years.
No justice, no peace!
WOMAN: Some outside the courtroom
thought the sentence was too lenient.
So that's basically...
the-the story as it stands.
And it's interesting, 'cause I...
Like, I sat with this... with this story,
and I talked to my friends about it.
And it's so funny how many...
you know, like, how many complicated feelings
there are in and around it.
First and foremost, a thousand kudos and just, like...
Honestly, I-I admire the compassion
of the Jean family.
At the same time, though,
I understood why so many people were angered
by that moment, 'cause this thing has really,
you know, blown up online.
People saying, like, they were angry
that she was getting hugs from the judge,
and they were angry that she was getting hugs from the family.
And some people... Like, a lot of people are fighting
about this right now, 'cause they're like,
"Why were they hugging her? She murdered a man.
Why is she getting hugs?"
And the other side is like, "Yes, but they're forgiving her.
She still goes to jail, but it's about forgiveness."
And I just... I sat with it, and I have...
I have conflicting feelings, but I... but I...
I think I understand what is happening, you know,
in so many different ways
with-with how people are looking at the story.
On the one... one hand, you can't deny
that people feel like ten years--
five, actually-- is not a lot of time to be given
for taking another human being's life,
especially if you're found guilty of murder.
Do you know what I mean?
Like, there's people in jail in America
-for doing far lesser crimes, you know? -WOMAN: Exactly.
Whether they've been, you know, charged with, like,
drug trafficking where they just had a certain amount of drugs,
and they were assumed to be drug traffickers,
or, you know, people where they said it was violent crimes,
and it was assault.
But they're spending more time in jail.
And then, this seems like another case
of the system preferring a certain type of person
who looks a certain type of way,
who fits a certain type of narrative.
Ten years, five years. I get why people are angry.
I get why people are also like, "This is another case of, like,
white women tears doing their magic." You know?
'Cause, like, that's... I mean, you know the myth.
It's, like, white women tears, just, like, anything.
Like, traffic stops. Anything.
White woman cries, and people are like,
-"All right, yeah, yeah, yeah." -(laughter)
Yeah. And-and it's... it's true.
Like, it's a joke, but it's also true at the same time.
It's, like, white women throughout history
have been very good at, like, stepping away
from, like, the thing just with their tears, you know?
Where it'll be, like, you'll be...
Everyone looks at the Klan.
Everyone forgets that there's, like, wives of the Klan.
Do you know what I mean? People are like, "Those Klan!"
And then, like, the wives can sometimes be like,
"I-I didn't know my husband was..."
(laughter)
It's like, "But you helped him put the sleet on every night."
(crying): "I thought he just liked Halloween. I'm sorry!"
(laughter)
And that's what a lot of people feel like in these instances.
They feel like-like those white tears are really felt,
whereas the tears of many other people,
people of different races,
people of, you know, other genders aren't felt as-as much.
And... and I think, you know, that, like,
all of it stems from the conversations
in and around race in America.
You can't... you can't avoid it.
People are looking at a story of a white woman
who shot a black man in his house,
who did nothing, who was just in his house.
And people were angry,
and I understand why so many people are angry,
because they're like, "She doesn't deserve hugs.
She deserves to lose her life the way she took a life."
And I'm not speaking for everybody.
I know maybe I'm speaking for myself and some of my friends.
But I-I feel like the anger actually comes
from people feeling like that is the level of empathy
everybody should receive in a court, you know?
Everybody should have a judge look at them like a human being.
Everybody in society should be treated
with a level of compassion.
They should still be punished if they've committed a crime,
but we should still look at them as human beings.
And yet, this narrative doesn't seem to be afforded
to black people in America, especially by the news.
'Cause if you look at all the news stories
about this, they do paint it...
Like, they go, "It's a beautiful moment
where she's hugged by everyone, and so...
But it's, like, they don't use that same editorial
when a young black child is going to jail, you know?
They don't go, "This young black man,
"who was recruited into a gang and had no other choices,
look at this poor..." They just go, like,
"He was sentenced and he was found guilty,"
and that's the story.
As if that is what's expected.
You know what I mean?
It almost feels like if you're a black person
who commits a crime and goes to jail,
well, that-that's what black people do.
But if you're a white person who commits a crime
and goes to jail, it's like, "Aw, man,
what a disaster story."
They tell you about the human being behind the act.
This story showed you the exact opposite example.
This young black man
who was doing his own thing, he got shot.
They told you that he had a history with weed.
The news told you that. Why?
They always tell you that.
"This man was shot in a traffic stop.
Now, he did have an assault case ten years..."
What does that have to do with this traffic stop?
You know what I mean. What, was the cop traveling
through time to punishing him? What is that...?
And I think that's... that's what people need to understand,
is that, like, some of the narratives
that we tell and share about what's happening in the world
are so much more powerful than we actually think they are.
You think it's just on the surface, but...
what a lot of people are seeing here is...
is a reinforcing of an idea.
But I think the mistake we shouldn't make as people
is that we shouldn't necessarily jump to...
we want people like Amber Guyger
to spend more time in jail and the most time in jail.
I think what we should be asking
is for the same level of compassion and saying,
"Hey, I don't want anyone to spend
excessive amounts of time in jail."
And so the same way
a white shooter is disarmed peacefully,
the same way a white murderer
can get a hug in a courtroom and sympathy,
the same way a young shooter is spoken about as a human being
because he is white,
you would hope that same level of compassion and empathy
would be applied to black people.
That's all it is.