First hour: How to take concrete steps to dismantle structural racism
Second hour: Why did AG James hire Dr. Gary Vilke?“Structural racism is why I’m leaving organized psychiatry.” That’s the title of an op-ed for Stat News written by Dr. Ruth Shim, a physician and professor of cultural psychiatry at UC Davis. Dr. Shim says she ended her membership with organized psychiatry, specifically with the American Psychiatric Association, due to racism, microaggressions, and because “organized psychiatry has repeatedly refused to examine its contributions to this system.” We talk to Dr. Shim about the issue. She will be the keynote speaker of an upcoming antiracism conference in Rochester called “From Theory to Practice: Moving individuals, organizations and the community.” It is being hosted by Coordinated Care Services, Inc. Organizers say the conference moves beyond theory and will offer concrete steps to create meaningful change. What are those steps? And how can they be taken by individuals and organizations? Our guests discuss these questions and more:
- Ruth Shim, M.D., M.P.H., associate dean of diverse and inclusive education, director of cultural psychiatry, and Luke and Grace Kim Professor in Cultural Psychiatry at the University of California, Davis
- Lenora Reid-Rose, senior director of strategic initiatives and racial equity at Coordinated Care Services, Inc.
Then in our second hour, New York State Attorney General Letitia James hired one of the country's leading police defenders to offer expert testimony in the Daniel Prude case. In dozens of cases, Dr. Gary Vilke has essentially argued the same thing: police did nothing wrong. That's exactly what he told a grand jury in Rochester, emphasizing that RPD officers might even have been giving Daniel Prude a better chance at survival. Now there are growing demands from the community for an explanation: why did AG James hire Dr. Vilke? What was her purpose for bringing on an expert whose testimony was easily predicted? Dr. Vilke has said that Minneapolis police did nothing wrong in their interaction with George Floyd. Our guests discuss it:
- Natalie Ann Knott, criminal defense attorney
- Don Thompson, attorney representing Daniel Prude's brother
- Chris Vanderveen, director of reporting at 9News in Denver, Colorado
