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Home , Campaign Zero, Murder of George Floyd

The Death of : Bending the Arc of History Toward Justice for Generations of Children Benard P. Dreyer, MD, FAAP,a Maria Trent, MD, MPH, FAAP,b Ashaunta T. Anderson, MD, FAAP,c George L. Askew, MD, FAAP,d Rhea Boyd, MD, MPH, FAAP,e Tumaini R. Coker, MD, MBA, FAAP,f Tamera Coyne-Beasley, MD, MPH, FAAP, FSAHM,g Elena Fuentes-Afflick, MD, MPH, FAAP,h Tiffani Johnson, MD, FAAP,i Fernando Mendoza, MD, FAAP,j Diana Montoya-Williams, MD, FAAP,i Suzette O. Oyeku, MD, MPH, FAAP,k Patricia Poitevien, MD, MSc, FAAP,l Adiaha A. I. Spinks-Franklin, MD, MPH, FAAP,m Olivia W. Thomas, MD, FAAP,n Leslie Walker-Harding, MD, FAAP,f Earnestine Willis, MD, FAAP,o Joseph L. Wright, MD, MPH, FAAP,p Stephen Berman, MD, FAAP,q Jay Berkelhamer, MD, FAAP,r,s Renee R. Jenkins, MD, FAAP,t Colleen Kraft, MD, MBA, FAAP,u Judith Palfrey, MD, FAAP,v James M. Perrin, MD, FAAP,w Fernando Stein, MD, FAAP, FCCMm

We have seen the horrifying cell phone and surveillance video footage of aDepartment of Pediatrics, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, the of George Floyd replay again and again in the last few weeks. New York, New York; bDivision of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, The aftermath begs the question why this particular murder of a Black Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland; cDepartment of Pediatrics, Keck man by a officer has sparked the international response so few have School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, received.1 Scores of other Black men, women, and children have been California; dChief Administrative Office, Health, Human Services, and e killed by police since the 2014 murder of Eric Garner in New York City, Education, Upper Marlboro, Maryland; Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Paolo Alto, California; fDepartment of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, in which he suffered an illegal chokehold and uttered the devastating University of Washington, Seattle, Washington; gDivision of Adolescent refrain “I can’t breathe,” and countless others have been murdered over Medicine, Departments of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, School of generations. These cases represent just the tip of the iceberg because Medicine, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama; hDepartment of Pediatrics, University of California, San these happened to be recorded on bystander cell phone video or Francisco, San Francisco, California; iDepartment of Emergency police webcam capture. Moreover, it is the tip of another iceberg because Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, California; j these cases represent modern-day lynchings. The lynching of Black people Department of Pediatrics, Stanford Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California; kDepartment of Pediatrics, Albert Einstein College in the United States was routine before the “civil rights era,” when there of Medicine, Bronx, New York; lDepartment of Pediatrics, Warren Alpert were major legal advances to change the treatment of Black Americans in Medical School, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island; m this country. However, it was not until February 2020 that federal Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, , Texas; nDepartment of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, Ohio State University, legislation, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act, was passed by the House of Columbus, Ohio; oDepartment of Pediatrics, Medical College of Representatives but is still awaiting Senate approval to make lynching Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; pDepartment of Pediatrics, Schools a federal hate crime. The case of George Floyd and other recent cases of Medicine and Public Health, University of Maryland, Baltimore, Maryland; qDepartments of Pediatrics and Public Health, University of reveal that we clearly have so much more work to do. Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, Colorado; rDepartment of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia; s t When we watched previous videos, including the video of Eric Garner’s Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia; Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, College of Medicine, Howard University, death, society let the mistreatment of Black Americans continue unabated Washington, District of Columbia; uChildren’s Hospital Los Angeles, Los and gave in to the excuses and the protections that make it nearly Angeles, California; and wDepartment of Pediatrics, MassGeneral v impossible to hold police accountable for their actions. Police unions Hospital for Children and Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, , Massachusetts defended the officers caught on video killing Black Americans, and society went along. Investigators, prosecutors, and juries were unwilling to second guess an officer’s often split-second decisions, even when they To cite: Dreyer BP, Trent M, Anderson AT, et al. The Death of were clearly not split second at all, and society went along. Defenders of George Floyd: Bending the Arc of History Toward Justice for Generations of Children. Pediatrics. 2020;146(3):e2020009639 these actions warned of demoralized police who would be afraid to act

Downloaded from www.aappublications.org/news by guest on September 28, 2021 PEDIATRICS Volume 146, number 3, September 2020:e2020009639 PEDIATRICS PERSPECTIVES tolerate murdering unarmed men and of immigrant families at the border quickly to protect the rest of us, and boys or brutalizing and terrorizing and the harassment of and denial of society went along. Local police Black citizens.” It did not include benefits to these families in our cities review boards were incredibly weak a specific path forward for effective and states.6 Although pediatricians and often made recommendations for change, and that was an error. Many must continue to work to address the terminations that were ignored or pediatricians embraced the ideas and issues outlined above, each of which overthrown, and society went along. offered to lend their support to is in need of its own set of policy The officer who killed George Floyd addressing racism and bias and we recommendations and actions, we faced .17 misconduct complaints started an action group called must also recognize that structural over the last 20 years, including Pediatricians Against Racism and racism creates the foundation on brutality, but he received only 2 Trauma (PART). This group of .60 which all these injustices are built. As letters of reprimand. The majority of pediatric leaders from across the such, these areas of structural racism society went along despite strong country convened 4 different action are closely related to police violence. minority voices calling attention to groups and planned to present at Moreover, at this time, we must move these crimes. Until now. plenaries and workshops and meet at Now, we all can see the video of out of our comfort zone and address this year’s Pediatric Academic a human being, George Floyd (a this long-standing injustice in Societies meeting. This year, we were 7 father, a man of faith, an athlete, a policing or remain complicit in the also armed with an American hip-hop artist in the 1990s, a man continued killing of Black Americans. Academy of Pediatrics policy beloved by people who knew him), These killings reverberate throughout statement that outlined the impact of begging for his life, calling for help, the Black communities, causing racism on child and adolescent health and a police officer digging his knee chronic fear and emotional trauma and carried the weight of the largest into his neck for 8 minutes and 46 with terrible implications for and one of the oldest pediatric seconds while 3 other police officers children, youth, and families. We organizations in the world,3 as well as were holding him or standing by, and must advocate for a suite of evidence- a similar position article from the fi finally, we saw his limp, dead body based policy changes speci cally Society for Adolescent Health and taken away. The nonviolent crime he related to police violence, most at the Medicine.4 Alas, COVID-19 cancelled was accused of was trying to pass local level. Although not typically those meetings; since then, we have a counterfeit $20 bill, alleged but viewed as a child health issue, we all been focusing elsewhere, on sick never substantiated, charged, or agree with the statement from the children and adults in the hospital, litigated. He, like so many other American Medical Association that as well as the needs of poor families 8 who lost their job is a health issue and families of color during the as a result of coronavirus disease and believe that it is indeed COVID-19 pandemic, a pandemic 2019 (COVID-19), had recently been a critical issue for the health and that has laid bare the socioeconomic laid off as a security guard and was well-being of all children and and racial-ethnic inequities in our struggling to survive. As we watched adolescents and their families, yet society. that video, many in white society of course most urgently for Black finally felt a combination of shame, families. Here are 6 such policies for We are pediatricians, and as such, 9 guilt, and anger and decided not to effective change : there are many important problems “go along” with the status quo “ ” related to racism that are in our 1. End broken windows policing of anymore. Diverse members of society bailiwick, our zone of expertise and minor infractions and harmless appear to have awakened from comfort: bias in the provision of care activities in communities of color. passivity and have been moved to act to Black children and families; This policing has led to mass together, not just in , but structural racism and bias in medical incarceration as well as to in cities around the United States and schools and health care5; the interactions, such as with George across the world. preschool to prison “pipeline”; the Floyd, that may end up being 10 A year ago, at the Pediatric Academic mass incarceration of youth of color deadly. Societies meeting in Baltimore, the as well as the parents of children of 2. Establish effective civilian George Armstrong Lecture focused on color; discrimination against Black, oversight of police and police racism and hatred; the title of the talk Native American, and Latinx families actions with real power. The police was “: Protecting in housing, education, and officer who killed George Floyd Children and Families from Racism, employment; the microaggressions may have been removed from duty Bias, Discrimination, and Hatred.”2 suffered by individuals of color in the because of previous complaints if The talk included the statements performance of daily life activities; this oversight had worked in “” and “we cannot and the criminalization and detention Minneapolis.

Downloaded from www.aappublications.org/news by guest on September 28, 2021 2 DREYER et al 3. Strengthen and monitor local sustained training of police families. All the authors of this article police “use of force” policies, officers in appropriate safe are members of PART, but many especially the use of potentially interactions with the communities other members have contributed deadly force, including choke they serve. Use voluntary ideas and suggested changes that holds. Each year, police kill community feedback to inform have greatly enhanced this article. hundreds of unarmed civilians like changes to police department As such, we feel this commentary George Floyd as well as people practices. reflects the whole PART community. stopped for alleged minor 6. Prioritize government spending on Members, in addition to the authors, fi 11 traf c infractions. End the community health, mental health, include the following (in alphabetical education, and housing rather than order): Rhonda Acholonu, Nusheen departments by cutting off the on funding the police department. Ameenuddin, Judy Aschner, Susan supply of federal military This may include reallocating Bostwick, Lisa Chamberlain, Latha weaponry that often leads to some police funding toward Chandran, Tina Cheng, Paul Chung, increased killing of civilians. investments in community well- Chanelle Coble-Sadaphal, Scott Denne, fi Require police of cers to de- being. Focus the work of police on Angela Ellison, Steven Federico, escalate situations and eliminate the activities they are trained to do Arthur Fierman, Arvin Garg, fi the use of any force when and expand funding for Katherine Greenberg, Marsha Grif n, 12 possible. professionals and programs to do Nia Heard-Garris, Ben Hoffman, 4. Demand swift investigation and the work that should not be under Monique Jindal, Jeffrey Kaczorowski, prosecution of cases such as the responsibility of police such as Nancy Kelly, Woodie Kessel, Arthur George Floyd’s that are responding to mental illness Lavin, Julie Linton, Camila Mateo, independent of local police crises. Alan Mendelsohn, Lee Pachter, Eliana departments and with no incentive Perrin, Ellen Perrin, Katie Plax, Jean In a recent interview, historian to protect the police officers Raphael, Joan Reede, Rebecca Dr Mary Frances Berry shared that involved. Empower police officers, Rosenberg, Christopher Russell, Steve “every generation has to make its many of whom serve and protect Selbst, Alan Shapiro, Judith Shaw, own dent in the wall of injustice.”13 So their communities with honor, to Lynn Smitherman, Barry Solomon, let us all, as pediatricians, follow her be able to report unsanctioned, Moira Szilagyi, Peter Szilagyi, example and use our power to stand systematic, and violent behavior Leonardo Trasande, Franklin Trimm, in solidarity with peaceful protesters among their fellow officers Teri Lee Turner, Traci Wolbrink, and around the world and to pursue without retaliation. Better yet, Katherine Zuckerman. justice for this generation of children require police officers to report and the next. such behavior and mandate active intervention to protect the victims ABBREVIATIONS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS of police violence in real time at COVID-19: coronavirus disease 12 the scene. We acknowledge and thank the 2019 5. Invest in the recruitment of members of PART. PART was formed PART: Pediatricians Against a diverse and community-oriented over a year ago to address racism and Racism and Trauma police force and vigorous and bias and their impact on children and

Dr Dreyer conceptualized the manuscript, drafted the article, and reviewed and revised the manuscript; Dr Trent helped draft the article, added to the conception of the manuscript, and reviewed and revised the manuscript for critically important content; Drs Anderson, Askew, Boyd, Coker, Coyne-Beasley, Fuentes-Afflick, Johnson, Mendoza, Montoya-Williams, Oyeku, Poitevien, Spinks-Franklin, Thomas, Walker-Harding, Willis, Wright, Berman, Berkelhamer, Jenkins, Kraft, Palfrey, Perrin, and Stein all added to the conception of the manuscript and critically reviewed and revised multiple drafts of the manuscript and the final manuscript; and all authors approved the final manuscript as submitted and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-009639 Accepted for publication Jun 19, 2020 Address correspondence to Benard P. Dreyer, MD, FAAP, Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, New York University Grossman School of Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, Bellevue Hospital Center, 550 First Ave, New York, NY 10016. E-mail: [email protected] PEDIATRICS (ISSN Numbers: Print, 0031-4005; Online, 1098-4275). Copyright © 2020 by the American Academy of Pediatrics FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.

Downloaded from www.aappublications.org/news by guest on September 28, 2021 PEDIATRICS Volume 146, number 3, September 2020 3 FUNDING: No external funding. POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

REFERENCES 1. Hill E, Tiefenthäler A, Triebert C, Jordan of poverty and race/ethnicity-seek and Journal on Poverty Law and Law Policy. D, Willis H, Stein R. 8 minutes and 46 ye shall find [published online ahead of 2007;14:419–439 seconds: how George Floyd was killed print May 18, 2020]. JAMA Pediatr. doi: 11. McKesson D, Sinyangwe S, Elzie J, in police custody. New York Times. May 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.1033 Packnett B; Planning 31, 2020. Available at: https://www. 6. Dreyer BP. Sustained animus toward Team. Police use of force policy nytimes.com/2020/05/31/us/george- Latino immigrants - deadly analysis. 2016. Available at: https://stati floyd-investigation.html. Accessed June consequences for children and families. c1.squarespace.com/static/ 11, 2020 N Engl J Med. 2019;381(13): 56996151cbced68b170389f4/t/57e 2. Dreyer BP. The Hate U Give: protecting 1196–1198 1b5cc2994ca4ac1d97700/ children and families from racism, bias, 1474409936835/Police1Use1of 7. Boyd RW, Ellison AM, Horn IB. Police, discrimination, and hatred. Acad 1Force1Report.pdf. Accessed June equity, and child health. [published Pediatr. 2020;20(2):145–151 11, 2020 correction appears in Pediatrics. 2018; 3. Trent M, Dooley DG, Dougé J; Section on 142(1):e20181137]. Pediatrics. 2016; 12. Campaign Zero. #8CANTWAIT: Adolescent Health; Council on 137(3):e20152711 a campaign to bring immediate Community Pediatrics;; Committee on change to police departments: duty to 8. Ehrenfeld JM, Harris PA. Police brutality Adolescence. The impact of racism on intervene. Available at: https:// must stop. Available at: https://www. child and adolescent health. Pediatrics. 8cantwait.org/. Accessed June 11, ama-assn.org/about/leadership/police- 2019;144(2):e20191765 2020 brutality-must-stop. Accessed June 11, 4. Society for Adolescent Health and 2020 13. Noah T; Comedy Partners. Mary Frances Medicine. Racism and its harmful Berry - “History teaches us to rest” and 9. Campaign Zero. Solutions. Available at: effects on nondominant racial-ethnic the power of protest - extended https://www.joincampaignzero.org/ youth and youth-serving providers: interview. Available at: www.cc.com/vi solutions#solutionsoverview. Accessed a call to action for organizational deo-clips/rsi3jw/the-daily-show-with-tre June 11, 2020 change. J Adolesc Health. 2018;63(2): vor-noah-mary-frances-berry—- – 257 261 10. Collins R. Strolling while poor: how history-teaches-us-to-resist–and-the-po 5. Dreyer BP. Racial/ethnic bias in broken-windows policing created a new wer-of-protest—extended-interview. pediatric care and the criminalization crime in Baltimore. Georgetown Accessed June 11, 2020

Downloaded from www.aappublications.org/news by guest on September 28, 2021 4 DREYER et al The Death of George Floyd: Bending the Arc of History Toward Justice for Generations of Children Benard P. Dreyer, Maria Trent, Ashaunta T. Anderson, George L. Askew, Rhea Boyd, Tumaini R. Coker, Tamera Coyne-Beasley, Elena Fuentes-Afflick, Tiffani Johnson, Fernando Mendoza, Diana Montoya-Williams, Suzette O. Oyeku, Patricia Poitevien, Adiaha A. I. Spinks-Franklin, Olivia W. Thomas, Leslie Walker-Harding, Earnestine Willis, Joseph L. Wright, Stephen Berman, Jay Berkelhamer, Renee R. Jenkins, Colleen Kraft, Judith Palfrey, James M. Perrin and Fernando Stein Pediatrics originally published online June 26, 2020; originally published online June 26, 2020;

Updated Information & including high resolution figures, can be found at: Services http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2020/08/16/peds.2 020-009639 References This article cites 6 articles, 2 of which you can access for free at: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2020/08/16/peds.2 020-009639#BIBL Permissions & Licensing Information about reproducing this article in parts (figures, tables) or in its entirety can be found online at: http://www.aappublications.org/site/misc/Permissions.xhtml Reprints Information about ordering reprints can be found online: http://www.aappublications.org/site/misc/reprints.xhtml

Downloaded from www.aappublications.org/news by guest on September 28, 2021 The Death of George Floyd: Bending the Arc of History Toward Justice for Generations of Children Benard P. Dreyer, Maria Trent, Ashaunta T. Anderson, George L. Askew, Rhea Boyd, Tumaini R. Coker, Tamera Coyne-Beasley, Elena Fuentes-Afflick, Tiffani Johnson, Fernando Mendoza, Diana Montoya-Williams, Suzette O. Oyeku, Patricia Poitevien, Adiaha A. I. Spinks-Franklin, Olivia W. Thomas, Leslie Walker-Harding, Earnestine Willis, Joseph L. Wright, Stephen Berman, Jay Berkelhamer, Renee R. Jenkins, Colleen Kraft, Judith Palfrey, James M. Perrin and Fernando Stein Pediatrics originally published online June 26, 2020; originally published online June 26, 2020;

The online version of this article, along with updated information and services, is located on the World Wide Web at: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2020/08/16/peds.2020-009639

Pediatrics is the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics. A monthly publication, it has been published continuously since 1948. Pediatrics is owned, published, and trademarked by the American Academy of Pediatrics, 345 Park Avenue, Itasca, Illinois, 60143. Copyright © 2020 by the American Academy of Pediatrics. All rights reserved. Print ISSN: 1073-0397.

Downloaded from www.aappublications.org/news by guest on September 28, 2021