It was last Thursday that Dr. Brian H. Williams was on duty as a trauma surgeon at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas when wounded police officers began arriving in the emergency room.
Monday night [July 11, 2016], Dr. Williams spoke with CNN’s Don Lemon as he described the experience as “an endless loop” that affects him continuously.
“I don’t understand why people think its OK to kill police officers,” Williams told Lemon. “I don’t understand why Black men die in custody and they’re forgotten the next day. I don’t know why this has to be us against them. …It has to stop.”
“We are all in this together, we are all connected. All this violence, all this hatred, all these disagreements, it impacts us all, whether you realize it or not. This is not the kind of world we want to leave for our children. Something has to be done.”
Alluding to his own experiences as a Black man on a daily basis, Williams connected his emotions to the things he’s seen in regard to his appearance with and without his white coat.
“Clearly when I’m at work dressed in my white coat the reactions I get with individuals and the officers I deal with on a daily basis is much different to what I would get outside the hospital in regular clothes and my fear and mild inherent distrust in law enforcement.”
“That goes back to my own personal experiences that I’ve had in my own personal life as well as hearing the stories from friends and family that look like me, that have had similar experiences,” he said. “You put that all together, that will explain why I feel like I do.”
