We’ve spent much of the last few years dreading the possibility of coming into close physical contact with one another. And then, preparing ourselves for the moment when we might — with social distancing, masks, vaccines — in order to protect ourselves from harm.
But our concerns about those threats — real or imagined — have suddenly come with increasingly deadly consequences.
On April 13, 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, who is Black, was shot twice after he rang the doorbell at the wrong Missouri home to pick up his younger brothers. The owner of the home, Andrew Lester, 84, shot him in the head, then shot him again on the ground where he fell. Yarl miraculously survived. Amid growing outrage, Lester, 84, who is white, was charged with assault and armed criminal action.
