In Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, he writes about growing up around racial and economic inequality and how it shaped him in his career as a lawyer. Stevenson argues that by creating a more just society that encourages the ethic of mercy, it can push people to become more empathetic towards each other. He meets many people on death row who have been falsely convicted and/or harshly sentenced. Racial discrimination and injustice increase when individuals are portrayed as not belonging to society, in this case convicts, thereby creating a divide between criminals and others. To connect these two elements, Stevenson emphasizes the importance of paying attention to and understanding the personal stories of inmates. He believes that by deeply understanding people's lives and experiences, it can spark empathy towards each other, inspiring them to show mercy in the face of punishment, as he depicts each inmate in the hallway of death. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Since Stevenson was young, his grandmother had influenced his outlook on life because of the important role she played growing up. When he was younger, his grandmother was very protective of him in the sense that she did not want any emotional or physical harm to affect him. Stevenson's grandmother always told him, "You can't understand most important things from a distance, Bryan." You have to get closer,” meaning that to understand certain issues, he should go deeper into each situation to understand the complete concept. She could have meant it either politically, or even just in their everyday lives, because there was a lot of racial discrimination at that time. This became part of his later life when he became a lawyer. Becoming a lawyer for those on death row and then creating a project known as the Equal Justice Initiative, Bryan incorporated his grandmother's thoughts to fully understand the full history of these cases. For Stevenson, empathy came naturally because of his grandmother. He wanted to see a world where everyone had an equal opportunity to be fairly represented in the legal system rather than having racial bias in every case; this later pushes him to deepen his learning. Before representing death row inmates, Stevenson was unsure about his career in law; However; this changes when he starts to get more involved. Upon meeting his first death row inmates, he began to recognize his passion to fight for justice against the death penalty. His grandmother's teachings come into play and he realizes that not all those on death row are "criminals" as society portrays them, but that each individual has their own story to tell but that they are all simply poorly represented. He said: "Finally, I have come to believe that the true measure of our commitment to justice, to the character of our society, to our commitment to the rule of law, to fairness and to equality cannot be measured by how we treat the rich. the powerful, the privileged and the respected among us. The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disadvantaged, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned. Stevenson mentions that our “true measure of character” is reflected in how one treats those who have the most difficulties. He repeats “commitment” to emphasize the passion he has for his career in law. The catchThe awareness he gained from getting to know those on death row changed his entire outlook on his career and his grandmother's teachings became more important. This made him want to learn more about what he could do to change these racial disadvantages in his society and prepare himself for the life-changing stories he would soon learn about in the future. Stevenson creates friendships with the inmates in order to advance his knowledge in their cases. During Stevenson's first small meeting with Henry, one of the first inmates he met, they instantly became close. By sharing their stories, they were able to have a normal, non-judgmental conversation, deeper than what a typical lawyer of the time would have had with a death row inmate. He said: “I was surprised he was so happy. I relaxed too and we started talking. It turned out that we were exactly the same age… Within an hour we were both lost in conversation… We talked about everything… we talked about what is important in life and what is not. 'isn't...we sometimes laughed'. Stevenson arrives at his first appointment as an intern nervous and didn't know what to expect, but through their conversation he discovers that they are the same age, which makes them understand each other. He couldn't imagine that someone the same age as him would end up on death row. He mentions how "relaxed" he and Henry are, implying that they both felt comfortable around each other, leading to less tension. He then continues to say "we" in order to show that they are similar people. In order to empathize with Henry, he avoids creating a barrier by using words like "we". This also ensures that even though they come from different pasts, they can still carry on a full conversation while remaining connected with each other. Stevenson demonstrated empathy by taking into consideration the emotions of others. Herbert Richardson, a death row inmate, contacted Stevenson when he discovered his execution was scheduled. Stevenson begins to worry and says: "I was still working on the best way to talk to the condemned about how to react to the announcement of an execution date. I wanted to say something reassuring like, “Don’t worry,” but of course that would be a remarkable request to make of anyone – the news of the scheduled execution was simply unimaginably disturbing. 'Sorry' didn't seem quite right to me either, but it was usually the best I could think of” (72). Even planning what to say next or worrying about whether it's the right thing to say to someone going through this situation shows how sympathetic they are. When he says "incredibly disturbing", he acknowledges that everything Richardson has experienced may be completely different from his past, but Stevenson is still able to show sympathy towards him. The fact that he wanted them to feel reassured was something other lawyers had not seen at that time. This allows Stevenson to distinguish himself as a lawyer. After meeting Walter McMillian, Stevenson was able to be more than just a lawyer, but he was also a friend to him. McMillian was a successful black businessman from a poor community who lost his reputation after being convicted of murder. When reviewing his case with Stevenson, Walter's emotions were all over the place. Sometimes he was very depressed and desperate to never see his family again, but with Stevenson it was different. He said: “Walter's sense of humor had not failed him despite his six years on death row... We were talking.