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It’s not often that a Netflix production is able to crystalize a common parallel that relates to the 1921 Tulsa race massacre.

“When They See Us,” directed by Ava DuVernay, displays the tale of the so-called Central Park 5, five young minority men — four of whom were black — convicted of the brutal 1989 rape of a white woman.

The poignant, gut-wrenching story chronicles how they all — through a frenzied public, unrelenting media and maltreatment by New York authorities — were wrongly convicted of the crime despite little physical evidence tying them to the act.

It was not until 13 years later, in 2002, that the convictions were overturned. DNA evidence from the actual perpetrator cleared them.

The five-part miniseries gives an intimate and raw look at the unique challenges people of color face trying to navigate the criminal justice system. It also presents the familiar refrain of black men being accused of targeting white women, which historically led to vigilante killings and widespread violence against black communities.

That was case for Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. It was so for black residents in Rosewood, Florida, and Duluth, Minnesota, respectively during the previous century.