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This Week in Racism
The Stolen Bones of Black Children Bombed by the Philly Police
That and more this week in race and racism
There’s been plenty of racial/racism news on the front pages this week, with a conviction in one police killing at almost the exact same time as another was taking place. We learned that ex-officer Derek Chauvin was found guilty of murdering George Floyd in Minneapolis, and as we were all processing what that meant, we found out police in Columbus, Ohio, had fatally shot teenager Ma’Khia Bryant.
But here’s some other important news that you also need to know.
Not at rest: Why the hell are the bones of two children killed in the notorious Philadelphia MOVE bombing in 1985 sitting in cardboard boxes, first at the University of Pennsylvania’s Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and now — well, now no one is sure where they are. A total of six adults and five children were killed when Philadelphia police dropped explosives onto a house where radical Black liberation organization MOVE was based. The remains of 14-year-old Katricia “Tree” Africa and 12-year-old Delisha Africa were apparently given to a Penn professor after the bombing for analysis, and then those bones reportedly moved with him when he accepted a position at Princeton University. But Princeton…
