Ralph Yarl, Andrew Lester, and America’s Unforgiving Legacy of Racial Terror

Andrew Lester is dead. And there are people—many people—who feel nothing resembling grief. They feel something closer to relief, jubilance even. Because, in a world where justice for Black folks is consistently denied, his death feels like cosmic retribution.Lester was not just another old white man. He was a man who looked into the eyes of a Black child, Ralph Yarl, and chose to end his life. Twice.On that fateful evening, Ralph Yarl did what countless teenagers do every day—he went to pick up his siblings. He rang a doorbell. But Ralph made a fatal error: He rang the doorbell of a white man whose mind was groomed by the American education system, whose fears were molded by the pro-white-terrorist ideology of right-wing media, and whose beliefs mirrored those of an increasingly large number of white Americans. And for that mistake, Ralph was shot in the face.But Lester made no error. He opened his door, looked Ralph in the eyes, and fired. The bullet tore through Ralph’s head. He fell to the ground, blood pooling beneath him. But that wasn’t enough for Lester. He stepped closer, aimed his gun again, and fired once more. He left Ralph bleeding on the...