Issues of race, equity and inequity were, once again, defining features of the past year. The murder of Ahmaud Arbery and police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd sparked fury nationwide. In spite of the pandemic, protesters turned out in historic numbers, spurring debates about policing, profiling and systemic racism. Race took center-stage in the 2020 election in many ways as well, culminating in the first-ever Black person and South Asian person being elected to the office of Vice President. And the pandemic not only gave rise to an increase in Anti-Asian sentiment, but it shined a bright light on longstanding health and economic disparities across the country.
Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins; the director of the Racial Justice Program at ACLU of Massachusetts, Rahsaan Hall; and Lee Pelton, president of Emerson College and incoming president and CEO of The Boston Foundation, joined Jim Braude to discuss.
