A photo affirms Ralph Yarl’s humanity. Should it need to?

There’s a picture of Ralph Yarl that continues to make the rounds throughout various forms of media. It’s an image of Ralph, with his box haircut and stoic smile, posing with a bass clarinet almost as radiant as the youth’s brown skin. What stands out to me is that this picture serves as public relations, although the photo wasn’t taken with that in mind. Its purpose now is to affirm Ralph’s humanity.

The reality that such an affirmation is needed is the entirety of the problem.

The Kansas City, Missouri,...