Before the Verdict: Why We Must Stop Rushing to Condemn Black Men
“Guilty Until Proven Innocent”—That’s the Reality for Black Men in America
In America, all it takes is an accusation. No evidence. No trial. No facts. Just the whisper of wrongdoing—and if you're a Black man, the court of public opinion explodes before a courtroom is ever entered.
Today, Tyler Perry—a man who has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into uplifting Black people, building infrastructure, creating jobs, and telling our stories with dignity—is being publicly questioned before any facts have been laid bare. No charges. No official confirmation. Just rumors. But already, many are ready to cancel him, discard him, or use his name as a punchline.
We’ve seen this before.
The History of Presumed Guilt
This moment is not new. It's part of a long, painful pattern:
Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy, was lynched in 1955 because of an accusation from a white woman. No trial. No chance to speak. Just death.
The Central Park Five, now known as the Exonerated Five, were teenagers in 1989 falsely accused of rape. The media convicted them before the courts did. Years of stolen life followed.
The Jena Six, six Black high school students in Louisiana, faced extreme criminal charges after a schoolyard fight in 2006, despite the provocation and racially charged environment they endured. Prosecutors wanted to treat them like hardened criminals, not children.
Each of these cases carried the same signature: Black male accused. Presumed guilty. Public outrage before the process.
Tyler Perry Deserves What We All Deserve: Due Process
Let’s be clear: No one is above accountability—not celebrities, politicians, or pastors. But accountability must be based on truth, not tweets.
Tyler Perry has built one of the largest Black-owned production companies in the world. He’s housed survivors of hurricanes, created opportunities for Black filmmakers, and stood tall for justice time and again. If there is ever credible evidence against anyone, let the process unfold fairly. But until then, let’s not be so quick to throw one of our own into the fire.
Why are we so ready to believe the worst about a man who has shown us his best?
A Caution to Our Community: Don’t Be Used as a Weapon
We must ask ourselves: Who benefits when Black men are torn down without due process? Who profits when one accusation becomes more powerful than decades of service?
We cannot let ourselves become pawns in a system designed to discredit, divide, and destroy us. The same media that ignored Black stories for decades now has the power to amplify scandal over substance. Let’s not do their work for them.
Let the Facts Speak, Not Our Biases
This is a call to pause. To think. To wait for the truth.
We can be sensitive to real victims while also refusing to let lynch-mob logic take root in our community. Justice requires balance. It requires discernment. And above all, it requires that we treat all people—including Black men—with the humanity we demand for ourselves.
Tyler Perry may be under scrutiny, but he's not under indictment. Let’s not make him guilty in our minds before there’s ever a chance to know the truth.
Black Vanguard Media stands for truth, accountability, and justice. That means standing against abuse—and also against assumption.