Surviving Hell Summer: Baton Rouge, Louisiana, racial polarization, and implications for community healing. Issue 3 (26th May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Grover, Leslie T.
• Is Part Of: Community development. Volume 51:Issue 3(2020)
• Page Start: 283
• Page End: 296
• Publication Date: 2020-05-26
• Subjects: Historical trauma -- race -- economic disparity; Community development -- Periodicals; 307.1405
• DOI: 10.1080/15575330.2020.1798483
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1557-5330

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Race matters in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For centuries racial inequality has divided the city into two separate cities. In the summer of 2016, Baton Rouge experienced a series of events that heightened racial division. First was the killing of an unarmed black man, Alton Sterling, by two white police officers as he sold CDs outside of a local convenience store. Second was the shooting of three law enforcement officers and wounding of a fourth officer by a black ex-military shooter. By the time a massive flood took 13 lives and wiped out billions of dollars of property almost a month later, racial tensions were at an all-time high. Using Baton Rouge as a case study, this paper provides context for peeling back the layers of racial discord that have plagued the city for centuries.