Small Great Things

The morning before going to meet Kennedy at her office to discuss the case, Ruth wakes up and relishes the sight of her sleeping son. Then she carefully selects the clothes she will wear and goes to the meeting. Once she gets there, Ruth’s nerves begin to get worse, and she thinks, “On TV the people who have private attorneys get acquitted, and the ones with public defenders pretend that there isn’t a difference” (200). As they go to Panera and Kennedy continues to talk about the case, saying she doesn’t see color, Ruth thinks about how “[i]t’s easy to believe we’re all in this together when you’re not the one who was dragged out of your home by the police” (201), and reflects on a conversation she had with Adisa about the hashtag #AllLivesMatter.

As the conversation continues, Ruth becomes skeptical about the whole process when Kennedy says it isn’t about race: “I had assumed that justice was truly just, that jurors would assume I was innocent until proven guilty. But prejudice is exactly the opposite: judging before the evidence exists. I don’t stand a chance” (203). Finally, as Kennedy continues to discuss the options they have, Ruth thinks, “Suddenly I realize that Kennedy’s refusal to mention race in court may not be ignorant.