Summary of “Just Mercy” by Bryan Stevenson

Reading Just Mercy made me ponder over a few things. Bryan Stevenson’s book is about granting mercy on everyone. We all make mistakes, and we all want to be forgiven. I liked how Stevenson saw federal punishment as even more violence; it wasn’t doing any good or making any progress with society. There is not one human being that is perfect all around. We all mess up and we fail to meet society’s standards. Most mistakes come from brokenness and damage in our past, but if we tap into their minds and realize that we all mess up, we can grant mercy and forgive each other.

There have been plenty of times that I have been treated differently because of my skin color. I know it’s the 21st century and racial tension was way worst back then than it is now, but it is heartbreaking to know that this is still going on and hasn’t really made a huge difference in progress. I look on the news and I see black men getting beat and shot by white police men, and it hurts my heart. I understand that being a police officer can be a very difficult job, but I just wonder what goes through their mind to brutally beat someone. I wish they grant mercy on those men. They may have been called out, or arrested for a reason, but brutally beating or taking their life may not have been the only answer. Then I think back and realize that society has been worked up about all the police beatings, yet it has been going on for years. We also must realize that we must show mercy on those police men. They are humans just as much as I am. My cousins and I would walk down the street sometimes, and white men would yell and threaten us to get off their yard or curse us to get out the road when we weren’t in the road in the first place. No, I wasn’t brutally beaten or killed, but it is still the same concept of merciless and unforgiveness.

I understand that it isn’t just black people that deal with tension in our society. During the Civil Rights movement, if a white family was sociable with a black family, the white family was shunned and treated just as badly as the blacks. We are all humans, just because we look different doesn’t mean we are enemies. Just Mercy wanted this to be known that we are all humans and that we should have mercy on everyone and forgive others. Bryan Stevenson served as an attorney for accused blacks because he had insight of their lives; whether if they truly committed the crime or not. Stevenson saw that everyone should be granted mercy and another chance. If we don’t forgive and show mercy, we will not make any progress of becoming a united country. We’ll be torn into many sides and it will be a huge war between race and social classes. We must accept each other as who we have become and show each other mercy and forgiveness. If it is not these things, it is hatred.