Injustice In Percival Everett's The Trees

The noir genre has long been recognized as a vehicle for investigating and advocating for social justice issues, including Indigenous rights, human rights, and racial justice. The genre’s focus on crime, corruption, and moral ambiguity provides ample opportunities for authors to highlight and critique systemic injustices within society through their works of fiction. Percival Everett’s book The Trees is an excellent example of how the noir genre can be used to explore these issues. Everett is very specific in the way that he highlights this in his work. He’s also careful with how he utilizes the law especially when dealing with a topic where most Indigenous, Black, and racialized folks don't have a great relationship with it. Using Black investigators

Throughout the novel, Everett portrays the legal system as deeply flawed and corrupt, with crimes being covered up and perpetrators going unpunished. The Sheriff Jetty says, “Mr. Mayor, this here is the sovereign state of Mississippi. There ain't no law enforcement, there's just rednecks like me paid by rednecks like you" (Everett 32). It's a small town with no want or need for connection with the mainstream world. They feel they are within reason to “govern” themselves. Money full of racists who are the majority, the Black folks there have almost no power. When there is trash so deep in the pipes of the power of the town how could it be anything other than corrupt? It goes even further when you read some of Mama Z’s conversation with Damon. “Less than 1 percent of lynchers were ever convicted of a crime. Only a fraction of those ever served a sentence” (Everett 222). This is perhaps most strikingly demonstrated in the case of Emmett Till, a young Black boy who was brutally murdered by two white men, but whose killers were acquitted by an all-white jury. Everett uses this example to highlight the ongoing legacy of racial injustice in America, and to question the efficacy of the legal system in addressing such injustices. In this novel there will always be parallels to the real world,

One of the ways he does this is by depicting law enforcement officers who are themselves victims of racism and injustice, but who are also complicit in perpetuating it. For example, the three Black detectives who are pulled over by a white trooper in Chapter 45 are initially afraid for their lives, but they ultimately use their positions within the law to challenge the trooper’s authority and avoid being unjustly charged. “‘Mind if I put my badge away first?’ Ed asked” (Everett 144). It's really quite sad when you think about it. Four people all in varying levels of the same occupation but a long history of racism and hate stand in the way of their safety. Some wonder why Black folks would ever consider working in a career who’s one goal is to further systemic oppression against you and your people. Ed offers an explanation essentially saying that if there weren’t any Black people in the law to keep white folks in check the world would be a different place (Everett 143). This scene illustrates the tension between the law as an instrument of oppression and as a potential means of