Racism is traumatic, but when it takes the form of physical attacks, such violence can turn our lives upside down. These three historymakers’ lives were forever changed.
#1: Harriet Tubman: Harriet Tubman’s resistance started in her childhood when she refused to help an overseer catch a runaway enslaved person. The overseer hurled a lead weight at the fleeing person, striking Tubman’s head instead. The traumatic brain injury caused Tubman lifelong migraines and seizures.
#2: Sergeant Isaac Woodard: On February 12, 1946, Sergeant Isaac Woodard was on his way home to his family after serving in World War II. Instead of getting the hero’s welcome he deserved, he was arrested in South Carolina and beaten blind by police.
#3: Lou Byers: In 1976, at age 17, Lou Byers realized the Army didn't care about him. After his discharge, his frustration led to run-ins with the law. Facing prison time, he instead opted for admission to a psychiatric ward. However, doctors in the ward conducted an experimental brain procedure on Byers without his parents’ consent, leaving him nonverbal and with permanent memory loss.
Racism created the conditions that resulted in lifelong physical changes for these people. Although these impairments didn’t define them, they remind us that sometimes white terrorism goes beyond talk. What should we do then?