Captain America: Sam Wilson #19 Review – The Great Divide
Rage said he wanted his trial to go to the very end. He wanted the world to see how criminal cases go for those who can’t afford their own trial attorney. He wanted the entire world to see his injustice. While it wasn’t the spectacle that OJ Simpson’s case was, it’s a close second. Also unlike Simpson, Rage is completely innocent, he didn’t have a team of high-powered attorneys, and the prosecution did not mishandle their evidence.
In fact, the prosecution succeeded in preventing the one piece of evidence that would have acquitted Rage from entering court. They claimed Cap’s footage was inadmissible, and the judge agreed. As much as I hate to admit it, the footage could be either admissible or inadmissible. If Rage had a better attorney, he might have been able to sway the judge to admitting it. But he had a public defender who hadn’t looked at the case until two hours before trial.
Of course things wouldn’t go in Rage’s favor. He knew they wouldn’t. He’s actually fine with that, because now the world sees how the accused with public defenders are tried in court.
All of this is obviously a giant finger pointing at the string of black arrests-ending-in-death that have been shoved in our faces so abruptly thanks to social media. The community says this has been happening for decades, and it’s thanks to current technology that they can get their story heard.
That said, however, his story is also pointing toward calm reasoning in how to approach this gross injustice. Sam Wilson is afraid of the aftermath following Rage’s verdict, which will divide the rift even further. He’s afraid of Falcon running his mouth and making everything worse. He’s afraid of his community seeing him as a weakling or against them. He’s afraid of the state of the world, one that appears to be completely against non-caucasians and the poor. Like most things in this world, comic book and our own, don’t intend to be callous and evil. But isn’t the road to Hell paved with good intentions?
I’m witnessing the bricks being laid on both sides in Cap’s story. I want to put everyone in a timeout to think of what they’ve done. Much like the real world, though, I can’t. All I can do is watch and use these horrendous mistakes to learn from and teach my kids the same.
This story arc in Captain America: Sam Wilson is the perfect lesson plan.
Our Rating: YUS
Author: Nick Spencer
Artists: Angel Unzueta and Arif Prianto
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Publish Date: 02/15/2017
Acquired via Purchase
