Introduction

After Tyre Nichols —a young Black man — was beaten to death by police in Memphis, the fact that the five officers charged are Black has prompted activists to grapple with the complex pervasiveness of institutional racism in policing.

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Tyre Nichols was a 29-year-old Black man who died after sustaining injuries from a police beating in early January. Five officers were fired and charged with second-degree murder. A sixth officer, who is White, has been suspended, the police department said Monday. Video footage of the attack was released Friday. Protests have been subdued— in part, Robert Klemko says, because the five officers charged are also Black men.

“The fact that these officers were Black took the wind out of a lot of folks' sails and created, specifically in communities of color, this feeling of sorrow as opposed to anger,” Klemko says.

Today, how another death of a Black man at the hands of police officers illustrates institutional racism in policing — regardless of the race of the officer.