Wendy Lecker: Combatting Racism—on the Streets and in School
Wendy Lecker is a civil rights lawyer who writes frequently for the Stamford (CT) Advocate, where this article appeared.
The brutal police killing of yet another unarmed African-American man, Minneapolis’ George Floyd, preceded by the midnight police killing of EMT Breonna Taylor in her home in Louisville, and followed by the police killing of Louisville restaurant owner David McAtee, reinforce that Black Americans live a different reality than White Americans do.
It is not just the horrifying fact that African Americans are disproportionately the victims of police brutality. Medical research demonstrates that police killings of unarmed African Americans exacts a unique and lasting psychic toll on African Americans — beyond those directly affected by the killings. In a study published in the medical journal, The Lancet, researchers found that Black Americans exposed to police killings in their communities suffered adverse mental health effects, CONTINUE READING: Wendy Lecker: Combatting Racism—on the Streets and in School | Diane Ravitch's blog
