I was doing a lot of things when I was 10-years-old, but I definitely wasn’t making lucid observations of how the criminal justice system gobbles up poor people and spits them out.
Naomi Yitna, who mentors children and coaches them in the nuances of debate, captured a 10-year-old student (who so far remains unnamed) on video talking about how the criminal justice system is “unfair,” using his favorite show The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story as an example.
A lot of other people found the boy just as fascinating as Yitna, because the video has since gone viral, being shared almost 64,000 times on Twitter alone.
“The justice system is really not fair because the average person that’s wealthy can easily pay their way out of prison,” the boy said before explaining how money place a part in justice. “It’s really about money, because the people who have the money can always pay their way out. They hire the best lawyers — people that know they did the crime. But still, people that are put on death row are people who hardly have anything, people who hardly have family.”
From Yitna’s Twitter:
I am a part of the debate program at my school and with this program we decided to go to a nearby elementary to teach the kids about debate. Once I got there I realized that one kid stood out and mesmerized me. I was so astonished and amazed by his knowledge over topics most 10 year olds wouldn’t be educated over. He caught me off guard with his intellect.
He argued that it should be banned and simply used OJ Simpson vs. The People as a reference. He’s very brilliant minded and far beyond his age, and I look up to him for it. It was an honor to be able to mentor him, along with my debate team.
Watch the videos (in two parts) below:
He’s 10 years old pic.twitter.com/BRqwcPwalN
— Naomi (@NaomiYitna) April 8, 2016
@Yikes215 pic.twitter.com/aaz898CQM1
— Naomi (@NaomiYitna) April 8, 2016
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