Advertisement
Opinion

July 7 ambush was the result of America's refusal to reckon with racism

The aftermath challenged my self-identity and my perceived duty to humanity. Social justice was my impetus for a career in medicine. Now, by fate, that mission includes speaking out about some of the darkest ills of our society.

"People find it very difficult to act on what they know. To act is to be committed and to be committed is to be in danger." — James Baldwin

Dr. Brian Williams, staff surgeon at the Rees-Jones Trauma Center spoke frankly about race...
Dr. Brian Williams, staff surgeon at the Rees-Jones Trauma Center spoke frankly about race during an emotional press conference on July 11, 2016, at Parkland Memorial Hospital.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

July 7, 2016, painfully reshaped my existence. That night we treated seven gunshot victims at Parkland Hospital. All were police officers; three were wounded fatally. Within minutes, lives were destroyed and families upended — the tragic, indirect result when we refuse to reckon with racism's endemic place in our society.

It happened the day after Philando Castile was shot dead in the driver's seat of his car in Minnesota, and two days after Alton Sterling was shot dead while restrained on the ground in Baton Rouge, La.. Their graphic deaths, captured on video, catalyzed a peaceful rally downtown that was violently disrupted by the shooting.

The aftermath challenged my self-identity and my perceived duty to humanity. Social justice was my impetus for a career in medicine. Now, by fate, that mission includes speaking out about some of the darkest ills of our society.

Advertisement

Perhaps you do not understand because racism is not part of your experience. I was first called "nigger" at age 8 when I attempted to join a pickup baseball game. My humiliating dismissal punctuated by one white boy who deployed this word, this weapon, with military precision. In my 20s a colleague casually said as an implied compliment, "There are niggers, and then there are people like you."

(Michael Hogue / DMN Staff)

Just a few years ago, I feared for my life after being racially profiled waiting outside my apartment. I — a former Air Force officer and a trauma surgeon — spent the entirety of that police encounter envisioning everything that could lead to my untimely death.

Imagine what it is like to do everything society asks and live knowing you are still viewed as inferior, suspicious, or a threat. In many cases, disposable.

Opinion

Get smart opinions on the topics North Texans care about.

Or with:

You must know the role history plays in this poor state of relations between black America and law enforcement: that slave patrols of the 1800s are the roots of policing in our country and the badges we now see with "police officer" once read "runaway slave patrol." Know that Jim Crow was more than segregation, beatings and lynchings, but also an era when law-abiding black men were re-enslaved and forced into labor camps serving U.S. industry. Know that even after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 we transitioned to a system of mass incarceration that now boasts a higher percentage of incarcerated black citizens than South Africa at the height of apartheid. This historic connection is no mystery, for it has evolved over generations.

Perhaps you may not care because you grow weary of endless talk about racism. It often seems futile to deconstruct institutional racism, microaggressions and police brutality. Regardless, these issues persist.

Advertisement

Nearing the one-year anniversary of the Dallas tragedy, we are besieged by video of Mr. Castile's last breath interspersed with present-day footage of his grieving family. His killer has been acquitted and protesters gather in Minnesota. I know where this road of pain and anger can lead because nearly one year ago I was delivering the news to family members of fallen officers who we will remember this week. These are not disparate events separated by time or geography. They are connected to all the deaths past and to all the deaths still to come.

We must speak out in the name of fairness, justice, and compassion as it is the first critical step in solving the problem. Our legal system, social circles, and workplaces are comprised of individuals. The type of societal change we need must begin in the minds of individuals in order to change the collective. Doing so does not condone retaliatory violence against police. It is merely a consideration of our humanity — a plea for the same empathy, tolerance, and acceptance anyone wants for their loved ones.

Advertisement

How many more black men and women must needlessly die before you care enough to speak?

Dr. Brian H. Williams is a surgeon at Parkland Memorial Hospital who treated Dallas police officers after the July 7, 2016 ambush. He wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News. Twitter: @BHWilliamsMD

What's your view?

Got an opinion about this issue? Send a letter to the editor, and you just might get published.