Why Ralph Yarl Was Shot
Notes from America with Kai Wright
WNYC Studios
4.4 • 1.5K Ratings
🗓️ 24 April 2023
⏱️ 50 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A history of anti-Black fear has left everyone unsafe in a nation full of anxious gun owners.
There are more guns than there are people in the U.S., and a lot of people seem to be afraid. According to historian and Emory University African American studies professor Carol Anderson, our nation’s history with guns is directly related to its legacy of anti-Black racism. She explains this history in her 2021 book, “The Second: Race and Guns in a Fatally Unequal America.”
Anderson joins host Kai Wright to discuss the state of gun violence today and the role that race and fear have played. They hear from both pro and anti-gun listeners about fear and choice as they respond to gun violence in this country.
Then, producer Rahima Nasa returns to reflect on her Ramadan celebration. She joins Kai to open our listener mailbag and hear voicemails responding to our recent episodes.
Companion listening for this episode:
Grieving Loss From Gun Violence (4/6/2023)
Two mothers lost their daughters to gun violence but received disparate levels of attention. Now, they’re using their stories – and their grief – to inspire others.
“Notes from America” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on notesfromamerica.org or on WNYC’s YouTube channel.
We want to hear from you! Connect with us on Instagram and Twitter @noteswithkai or email us at notes@wnyc.org.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's a reality that's hard to swallow, day after day, headlines about victims of gun |
| 0:07.0 | violence across the country in Missouri. |
| 0:09.8 | Breaking news from Kansas City, Missouri tonight, an 85-year-old white man has just been |
| 0:15.0 | charged in the shooting of a black teenager who rang his doorbell my mistake. |
| 0:19.8 | New York, a 20-year-old woman was fatally shot after turning up the wrong driveway in |
| 0:24.7 | upstate New York. |
| 0:25.7 | Police say Kaelin Gillet was in the car with three friends looking for a friend's house |
| 0:30.5 | in the rural area of have run in Texas. |
| 0:33.0 | In Texas, 18-year-old Peyton Washington remains in the ICU after being shot early Tuesday. |
| 0:39.3 | Her teammates say she was with a group of cheerleaders when one of them mistakenly tried |
| 0:43.8 | to get into the wrong car in a grocery store parking lot. |
| 0:47.0 | The common denominator across all these tragedies guns. |
| 1:09.8 | It's notes from America I'm Kai Wright, welcome to the show. |
| 1:15.3 | And a special welcome to our newest listeners at WFAE in Charlotte, Good to Have You in |
| 1:20.7 | the Conversation, guns are an obviously emotional topic for many on all sides of the debate |
| 1:28.3 | over their regulation. |
| 1:30.8 | Conversations about racism are equally potent and when the two come together, watch out. |
| 1:36.1 | We were reminded of this over the past week as the world has followed the shooting and |
| 1:40.3 | recovery of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl in Kansas City. |
| 1:44.6 | The unarmed black teenager went looking for his siblings at the wrong house and the owner |
| 1:49.0 | and older white man with a gun opened fire. |
| 1:52.5 | Ralph survived, thankfully. |
... |
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