After Capitol Riot, A Teacher Asks Her Students: ‘How Do You Want Things To Change?’

WBEZ
Supporters of President Donald Trump are confronted by U.S. Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington. Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press
WBEZ
Supporters of President Donald Trump are confronted by U.S. Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021 in Washington. Manuel Balce Ceneta / Associated Press

After Capitol Riot, A Teacher Asks Her Students: ‘How Do You Want Things To Change?’

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One day after the nation watched a mob of Trump supporters violently force their way into the U.S Capitol, many high school students across the Chicago area tried to make sense of what happened.

In one remote classroom on Thursday, a group of students and their teacher from Loomis-Longwood High School, a Chicago International Charter school on the South Side, dissected the day’s events and the police response.

These Black juniors raised questions about who has the right to protest and compared the light police response on Wednesday to the often heavy-handed response during racial justice protests in recent months.

“I feel like if it was Black people, the outcome would have been way more different,” said student Robert Edmonson. “It would have been more harsh.”

Press play above to hear what the students had to say.