Baining Liang

The 57 Bus

Challenges faced by adolescences create tensions in many kinds of ways, and the

consequences of these tensions can result in mistreatment base on how society is run today. The

nonfiction book The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater is a real account of an incident that happened on

the 57 bus, a bus that connects the two very distinct parts of Oakland. Sasha, a nonbinary

teenager from a wealthier side of Oakland, was burnt by the fire set by Richard, a sixteen-year-

old African American whose childhood was surrounded by drugs and violence. Slater was a

reporter when she encountered the event which inspired her to write a book on the incident. The

57 Bus is structured like a report with facts and deeper insights on Sasha and Richard’s lives to

develop a better picture of the incident without prejudices from the media. The book was

separated into four parts with the first two parts talking about Sasha's life and Richard's life

respectively. The third part was dedicated to the very moment of the incident and the ripple

effects after which reached into the fourth as Slater discussed the consequences of the incident.

Each part went into detail on Sasha and Richard's life and equally as important- the story of

people around them. It is left to the reader to interpret the story and develop their viewpoint on

the incident and hopefully, find resonance in similar values that the book is trying to carry out.

The 57 Bus not only restores the story with broken pieces of both parties' backgrounds but also

touches upon topics on the awareness and complexity of the LGBTQ community, adolescent

crimes, and to further explore restorative justice as bigger issues we face in society today.

The struggles of the LGBTQ community even persisted into today. This situation appears

when adolescents began to question their gender, sex, and sexuality, due to curiosity and/or

influenced by other people they came across. The discovery of these categories and groups that

fit them prompted them to find their identity, but also at the same time created a clash between
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themselves and societal values. Sasha, original named Luke, who now adapted to the pronoun

they/their/them, had discovered that they are genderqueer. Sasha was able to find answers to the

questions that confuses them such as who they are attracted too? Others were not as lucky as

Sasha, for example, Sasha's friend Samantha failed to come out as a transgender (which she

identified herself with) both to her parent and the therapist. Samantha's thought was shut down

and did not talk about it until a year later. (Slater, page 25) This shows people still have

misconceptions about certain topics regarding gender, even when it comes to one’s parents.

Fortunately, Sasha and Samantha were able to find their community both at home and at school.

The fact that many of Sasha's friends faced similar struggles fueled the realization and

acceptance of Sasha's identity. In the panel discussion with Lucas Poynter, Lucas shared the

struggles of fitting into certain communities, from being a minority in his college to the first

transgender in his family. Although Lucas faced many criticisms, he was able to find a

community that embraced him and a passion for what he loved. We see that Lucas is not

different than us in anyways, we all go through life and run into problems. However, acceptance

shown on a small scale is certainly not enough, some parts of society still hold prominent beliefs

that only two categories exist- men and women. These beliefs then built a society that shows

little to no accommodations for individuals like Sasha who does not identify as either one. For

example, when Sasha was on a trip with their family, there was no restroom that Sasha felt fit in

because the options were only Men and Women. (Slater, page 40) As a result, Sasha had to hold

their pee for the rest of the trip. Let's imagine if Sasha just picked one to go to which may not

seem to be a big problem but inside Sasha’s head, it would be against their identity. On the other

hand, if Sasha followed their beliefs, this problem would proceed into becoming health

concerning. The struggle against the everyday norm of individuals like Sasha hinted at the bigger
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problem society faced- the accommodations of the LGBTQ community. Despite all the

misconceptions of the LGBTQ community, discrimination against the LGBTQ community

would be prosecuted under hate crime. These so call clauses are being extensively used by the

Justice System to prosecute individuals. As we can see in Richard’s case which brings us to the

issue revolving around crimes by adolescents with the question of credibility of the charges filed.

Severed crimes committed by adolescences are often being trialed as adults depending on

the state and/or the attorney. After the incident, the attorney decided to trial Richard as an adult

base on the severity of the crime with hate crime clauses enable by Proposition 21. Does a

sixteen-year-old even know what hate crime means? Some people might argue that the attempt

of setting someone on fire cannot be justified by the influence adolescences, (Slater, page 172)

that by the age of sixteen someone should be able to distinguish which actions are appropriate or

not. This is true considering teenagers' ability to reason. (Slater, page 172) However, other

factors also play a part in the decision making of a teenager, for example- peer pressure. The

processing of information in the brain of a teenager is different than those of an adult, which

hinders the judgment in certain situations even when they can make mature decisions. (Slater,

page 173) There is no doubt that Richard was responsible for the incident but charging him as an

adult would ignore these crucial factors completely. The court also skipped over the fact that

Sasha's parents want to trial Richard as a juvenile too since the purpose was to educate, not to

punish individuals. Other ideas that were also outlined in the book was that when juveniles are

arrested, they often do not know the rights they hold. In Richard's case, his innocence resulted in

the police officer framing his words and turned it against him. (Slater, page 143) It is sad to see

how vulnerable youths are under the justice system. Adolescences needed to be informed on the

rights granted by the Constitution and possible resources that are available to aid them.
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Restorative Justice has grown to be a more mature concept and can be implemented as programs

for adolescences to fill the absence of forgiveness and as a possibility to refine the intention of

their crime.

Restorative Justice is the process of reconciliation of the victim and offender to achieve

understanding and forgiveness. The court system tends to prosecute people in ways they wanted

but rarely consider what the victim wants from the offender. Restorative Justice arose as an

option in many other cases but in Sasha's case, based on the severity of the injury, it was

objected by the attorney and Richard's lawyer. In the show "The Redemption Project" and a clip

of Restorative Justice presented by Sujatha Baliga, Restorative Justice is seen as a process of

healing between both parties and the main purpose is to educate instead of pushing offenders

further into the wrong path. In the story of Donald Lacy where his daughter was killed by Chris,

Donald Lacy was able to forgive Chris through Restorative Justice and Chris went on

contributing positive aspects to the community. Furthermore, the story told by Sujatha Baliga

was a teenager who stole a car and went through the Restorative Justice process. The victim and

offender reached a deal and the offender was not being put inside a jail but instead found his

passion for what he loves. The benefit of Restorative Justice displayed through its positive effect

on both the victim and offender but also in a broader view, it could save thousands of tax dollars.

Although Sasha's parents do not want to meet up with Richard, the process of Restorative Justice

was somewhat achieved by the letters Richard sent to Sasha asking for forgiveness and thus in

return, Sasha’s parents spoke in favor and sympathetic to Richard on court. (Slater, page 285)

The juvenile reform gave many teenagers a second chance in their life. The number of teens in

prison is significantly decreasing and the operation of juvenile halls created a positive

environment for teens to continue their lives. Justice reform and Restorative Justice are important
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tools in the justice system to keep teenagers on tracks since many who prosecuted as an adult

tends to continue with the wrong path.

In conclusion, the book The 57 Bus recounted an incident that acted as a medium to carry

out broader topics in our society. The struggle for teenagers to recognize and speak about their

identity because of the presence of these social values that point against them which advocates

for more attention of the LGBTQ community. Lucas Poynter’s experience provided an

opportunity for us to gaze in the complexity of Lucas’ experience which helps amplify the

comprehension of the LGBTQ community. Adolescent crimes and trials being prosecuted as

adults should be reconsidered with the possibilities of the influences from other important factors.

And lastly, Restorative Justice should be integrated into all aspects of minor crimes because of

the benefits it possessed. Richard and Sasha grew up in a different environment which also

brings attention to the living conditions of American citizens and the effect it had on the

development of one's personality. The incident of the 57 bus changed Sasha and Richard's lives

and the ones around them and let us realize the loophole that exists in our society. Slater

presented statistics in a way that showed the positive effects of prison reforms which drives us to

believe that techniques like Restorative Justice do help society. The fight for equality never ends

as we can see many forms of discrimination still happen from day to day basis. The 57

Bus serves as a novel and petition to modern society in the ways it is run and how it should

change.