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Assignment: Portland, prisons and white supremacy - part two

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Portland, Prisons & White Supremacy (Part 1/2)

08/10/2020 GMT

Portland, prisons and white supremacy - part two

BBC World Service - Assignment, Portland, prisons and white supremacy - part two

How the death of a black teenager highlighted America’s struggle white gang violence

The story of a white man’s trial for the murder of a black teenager, and how the case revealed a culture of white gang violence in one of America’s most liberal cities.

The second part of this two-part documentary continues the story of Portland,  Oregon and its struggle with white supremacists.

Portland has a reputation as one of the United States’ most liberal and tolerant cities. Since the death of George Floyd, it has been at the forefront of protests and violence as anti-racist demonstrators and far right groups have battled with each other and with the police. Yet, in 2016, the killing of a young black man sparked a national debate about race hatred. Nineteen year old Larnell Bruce died after a white man called Russell Courtier drove his car at him. A trial for murder and a hate crime followed, and exposed a culture of white supremacy in Oregon, rooted in the state’s history and which endures  today despite its easy-going image. In this two-part documentary for Assignment, Mobeen Azhar follows the trial of Russell Courtier and investigates the issues it exposed.    

Part Two follows Mobeen as he leaves the courtroom to meet Portland’s white supremacists and find out how they operate. He discovers that violent gangs are thriving because of the very institution meant to prevent crime – the prison system. Then, it is  time for the verdict.  

(This programme was adapted for radio from the feature-length TV documentary, “A Black & White Killing: The Case That Shook America”, made by Expectation Entertainment.)

(Photo: Prisoner being escorted by guards. Credit: BBC)

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