On November 21, 2016, William Pulliam, a 62-year-old white man, shot James Means, a 15-year-old African-American boy, after the two had an argument outside of a Dollar General Store in Charleston, WV. The shooting conjured memories of the death of Trayvon Martin after it was reported that in his confession, Pulliam told police, “The way I look at it, that’s another piece of trash off of the street.”

In this episode, Us & Them host Trey Kay works to understand who are Means and Pulliam, but moreover, what can this senseless killing tell us about race relations in small town America in 2017.

From West Virginia Public Broadcasting and PRX, this is "Us & Them," the podcast where we tell the stories about America's cultural divides.

Subscribe to “Us & Them” on Apple Podcasts, NPR One or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Share your opinions with us about these issues, and let us know what you'd like us to discuss in the future. Send a tweet to @usthempodcast or @wvpublic, or leave a comment on Facebook.com/usthempodcast.

This episode is part of a series made possible with financial assistance from the West Virginia Humanities Council, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

And if you enjoyed this episode, join our community and sustain "Us & Them" with a pledge of support.