#CancelLindaFairstein: Social Media At Its Best
Linda Fairstein the prosecutor of the Central Park Five case is feeling the heat for her racist prosecution of five black and brown boys after the release of Ava DuVernays jaw-dropping Netflix series, “When They See Us.” Fairstein, who was head of the Manhattan Sex Crimes Unit in 1989, destroyed the lives of five teenagers by sending them to jail for a heinous crime the New York Police Department fabricated against them.
Following the release of DuVernay’s series, social media lit up protesting the prejudice and injustice these children faced at the time. Almost immediately Fairstein’s social media outlets were flooded with the hashtag #CancelLindaFairstein. Since then she has removed all of her accounts and people are still not letting up questioning why she herself has not been prosecuted for her actions.
In the years following the falsified case, Fairstein, portrayed by Felicity Huffman in the series, published multiple books while innocent children suffered in lock-up. Book publisher Simon & Schuster also received request to drop the controversy entrenched Fairstein under the hashtag #BoycottSimonSchuster.
Ironically to this day, Linda Fairstein amid all facts believes she was correct in the case and shows no remorse. Not only that, she attempted to control how she was portrayed on screen. In an interview with the Daily Beast, Ava DuVernay explained, “Linda Fairstein actually tried to negotiate. I don’t know if I’ve told anyone this, but she tried to negotiate conditions for her to speak with me, including approvals over the script.” Luckily the Oscar-nominated Ava DuVernay declined Fairstein’s request for white privilege.
Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise all deserved better and received the absolute worse at the hands of lairs sworn to protect the very people they incriminated! Listen Linda… (in my best Hispanic child voice)…take a seat!