Biography
Brendan O’Flaherty was a teenager in Newark, N.J. in the 1960s, when the city was engulfed by racially charged political battles and violence. In 1967, racial tensions and allegations of police brutality sparked five days of riots that left 26 dead and hundreds injured, leaving the once-vibrant core of New Jersey’s largest city with enduring scars.
By Georgette Jasen
July 08, 2015
Today, the Columbia professor of economics has a simple explanation for his interest in issues surrounding race. “I’m from Newark,” he says.