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There’s a moment in this week’s episode of Reveal that I can’t stop thinking about. Reveal host Al Letson and reporter Jonathan Jones (JJ) are driving back from their interview with Curley Clark of the Mississippi NAACP. During that conversation, Clark had called the investigation into the death of Billey Joe Johnson Jr. an example of “Mississippi justice.”
If you haven’t been following the podcast, now is a good time to catch up. We’re on our sixth episode of Mississippi Goddam: The Ballad of Billey Joe, investigating the death of the teenage Black football star during a traffic stop with a White deputy.
Much of this week’s show focuses on how members of the local Black community accused police of racial profiling. Johnson had reportedly been pulled over dozens of times before he died. So from the beginning, Johnson’s family was concerned that there wouldn’t be a proper investigation.
Clark put that in perspective with his view of Mississippi justice.
“It means that they still feel like the South should have won the Civil War,” he said.
“And that White people are superior to Black people and the culture reflects that. And also the laws for the state of Mississippi are slanted in that direction.”
After the interview, Al and JJ start talking about it in the car.
JJ says he hopes our journalism will inspire people. But Al has a different take. This is the moment that made me stop what I was doing, hold my breath and just listen.
“I don't want to inspire people. I want to infuriate people,” he said. “I want to make work that makes people burn so hard that they feel like this injustice is wrong and they want to go out and they want to tear it all down.”
Throughout this series, Al has worked to make sure we present Johnson’s case through the lens of history in Mississippi and America. He wants people to reexamine the way they look at race and justice in this country. And he wants to make them angry.
“I don't have hope,” he said. “But what I do have is this rage, and it's burning in me. And, and that's what I hope that we do – I hope we piss people off so bad that they create change from that fire.”
Next week, we wrap up our series on Johnson. We may not have all the answers people are looking for. But I can guarantee one thing: People will be pissed off.
Thanks for listening,
Kevin Sullivan
Reveal Executive Producer
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