Episode 9 - The Murder of James Byrd Jr.

On June 7, 1998, a 49 year-old African-American man was brutally killed in one of the most horrific hate crimes the country has ever seen. His death brought to the surface racial and cultural tensions that had been simmering just under the nation’s collective consciousness. What makes people intolerant of people from different, ethnic, racial, or cultural backgrounds? Why do we tend to focus on what makes of different instead of what binds us together? This week Drs. Micono and Morelos use the murder of James Byrd Jr. as starting point to look at racism, white supremacy and why we as Americans often find ourselves fall into the trap of “us versus them” absolutist-type thinking.