美国国家公共电台 NPR A Student Remembers Her School's 'Lunch Man,' Philando Castile

NOEL KING, HOST:

And it's time now for a StoryCorps. Today marks two years since the death of Philando Castile. He was a black man killed by a police officer after being pulled over in Minnesota. To students at J.J. Hill Montessori Magnet School, Castile was Mr. Phil, their lunch man. His death started a familiar conversation for black parents. For white parents like Chad Eisen-Ramgren, it was not familiar. He came to StoryCorps with his 10-year-old daughter Leila, who had known Mr. Phil since kindergarten.

LEILA RAMGREN: Mr. Phil - he used to talk a lot, and I used to talk a lot. So, one day, Mr. Phil was, like, how was your weekend? And I was, like, it was good. How about yours? And then we just had this long conversation. And people were getting so annoyed because we were holding up the lunch line.

CHAD EISEN-RAMGREN: (Laughter).

RAMGREN: He loved kids. He used to have secret handshakes with people. And if you didn't have enough on your tray, he would pull out, like, graham crackers 1 or something. And he did it with its own money. Today, do you ever think of him?

EISEN-RAMGREN: Yeah. I think of him a lot. And I think about the fact that, prior to Mr. Phil's death, there had been a lot of police shootings happening - specifically to young African-American men.

RAMGREN: Do you know why they pulled him over?

EISEN-RAMGREN: I believe because one of the lights on his car wasn't working.

RAMGREN: And then they shot him?

EISEN-RAMGREN: Well, Mr. Phil told the police, like you're supposed to, that he had a gun on him.

RAMGREN: Was he allowed to have a gun?

EISEN-RAMGREN: Yep. He had a permit.

KING: I'm glad that Mr. Phil said that, but I'm sad that Mr. Phil said that.

EISEN-RAMGREN: He was trying to do what the officer said. But the officer decided 2 to pull out his firearm and shoot Mr. Phil.

RAMGREN: The officer should have said, hand me your gun. I'll give it back to you once I know that you have a permit. Then he should have gave him a ticket, and then they should have been on their ways.

EISEN-RAMGREN: I think you're right.

RAMGREN: I remember, at one point, you brought up, if Mr. Phil had skin like me, then he wouldn't have been shot.

EISEN-RAMGREN: You know how everybody at school liked Mr. Phil, and he was a warm presence? Everybody felt good around him.

RAMGREN: Yeah.

EISEN-RAMGREN: Is it a weird 3 thought to you to think that, outside the school, there are people who would look at him and think that he was scary?

KING: It would just make me feel like - it would just make me feel really sad inside. Mr. Phil was not scary.

EISEN-RAMGREN: Yep.

KING: When you found out the police officer didn't go to jail, were you mad?

EISEN-RAMGREN: Yeah. I was really mad, and I'm still mad. But Mr. Phil paid the ultimate price, and that was really unfair. And, hopefully, the world will change.

RAMGREN: Yeah.

KING: That was Chad Eisen-Ramgren with his daughter Leila Ramgren at StoryCorps.