Ryan Hill of KIPP New Jersey on Ferguson and Eric Garner

Here's part of his statement:

Over the past couple weeks, in classrooms across Newark and Camden, KIPP New Jersey teachers, families, social workers, and staff have been helping our kids grapple with the fact that two unarmed African American men have been killed at the hands of police without provoking a trial to offer a full examination of the facts of the cases.  These extraordinarily difficult conversations are no doubt happening in schools across New Jersey and across our country. 

At KIPP New Jersey, this affects all of our kids.  But of our 2841 students, these events have even more meaning for the 2657 who are African American, and to a still greater extent the 1293 African American males.  And for those 1293 young men and boys who attend our schools, this past two weeks has sent a very loud, very ugly message to every single one of them: they can be killed with impunity for the most miniscule of transgressions, no matter how impressive they are, no matter how hard they’ve worked, no matter much they’ve accomplished. 

We are teachers, not legal experts, and will leave the legal analysis to others. And indeed the facts of these particular cases are almost beside the point in light of the big-picture reality the cases highlight: the treatment people get at the hands of all of our American institutions depends to a shameful degree on both their race and their socio-economic status.