From WBEZ Chicago, it's this American Life.
I'm Emmanuel Berry in for Hour Glass.
So today's show starts with an email that was sent in the summer of 2020 from a man named Dr.
James Whitfield.
And if you remember that summer, everyone was sending out emails and tweets about race and racism in America.
Statements of unity from corporations.
One shoe ran tweeted, we are not asking you to buy our shoes.
We are asking you to walk in someone else's.
Remember when everyone on Instagram posted black squares for a day to show solidarity with the black community?
I'd started to roll my eyes at all the MLK and Baldwin quotes.
The murder of George Floyd had forced the country into another racial awakening.
In a school district outside Dallas, Texas, Dr.
James Whitfield had just been promoted to high school principal, the school's first black principal.
And he was watching everyone send out these emails.
Not just corporate brands, but also his peers, other educators and administrators.
I had been up pretty much all night, could not sleep, and I Woke up at 4:30 in the morning and I said, I have to craft something.
His email started by talking about the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor and how these events have brought forth the familiar enemy of racism in America.
For so long these atrocities have occurred and we've simply moved on with our daily lives.
Now it appears as though we are collectively using our voice to denounce systemic racism and the inequities that people of color face on a daily basis in our country.
He goes on to write from a personal perspective of a black man who grew up in Texas.