seems to me, but i was struck by how passionate you both were in response to this story. why? >> i remember when i first started out in my career literally you got a brain injury, and that's what it is. it's a brain injury. a coach would say to you, hey, you good? and the only answer you could really say is yeah, i'm good. and you were back in the game. that's how it was. not that long ago. so we've worked so, so hard to change the culture, to help teammates whistle blow on their buddies and to have coaches educated like hey, we need to coach different techniques. >> manuel, how about you? >> you can get a new arm. you can get a new leg, to some degree, you can get a new heart. you only have one brain. i know what injuries like that can do. and this is not anything that we should play with. this is nothing that we should scoff at. we have to all be righteously frustrated in order to make change. >> and gentlemen, i'll get you out of here on this question. for me, this is a context

question. football was good to both of you. both of you are good for football. knowing what you know now, would you play football again if you were 20 years younger? >> i absolutely would. and i would just say this, because i have a son who is playing. he is a junior in high school, and he is playing football. and my wife and i have talked about it. the game is so much safer than it's ever been. >> would i play it again? yes. but i would play it the same way i played it now. play my four years professionally, get vested, get a pension and then get out of there. >> gentlemen, so grateful for the honest conversation. appreciate you. continued success to both you have, and we'll see you down the road. >> thank you. >> thank you. coming up, diversity controversy. why the minneapolis school system has turned into a political battlefield. detect this: living with hiv, i learned i can stay undetectable with fewer medicines. that's why i switched to dovato. dovato is for some adults who are starting hiv-1 treatment

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minneapolis, a city that's been beleaguered by racial unrest over the last few years, finding itself in the spotlight yet again, this time for a controversial school district policy. the teachers union voted to prioritize teachers from underrepresented groups to help address historical wrong. but not everyone is pleased with the policy. here is abc. >> the tennessee board under fire for removing a holocaust novel from its curriculum. >> a north crolina beefing up security. >> teachers in seattle with important decision to make. return to the classroom or head to the picket lines. >> reporter: coast-to-coast, teachers are facing unprecedented challenges. from debates about critical race theory and banned books to

budget cuts and increased worries about school safety. >> all of the drama that has been surrounding education lately made a lot of teachers feel like they're walking on eggshells. >> reporter: here in minneapolis, teacher tiffany dowdy is also feeling the stress. >> one thing that's changed my school is that they cut math. so i am now the only full-time eighth grade math teacher. >> reporter: but there is also an added layer of scrutin for the school district where tiffany works, a new policy that has drawn the ire of conservative camps and media outlets putting her and her fellow educators a the center of a political battle. >> in the event of layoffs, white teachers have to be fired first regardless of seniority or performance. >> it's kind of like racism, right? >> the union movement and too much of the left that used to support laws that prohibited racial discrimination are now embracing the exact opposite.

>> reporter: as part of a new contract, the minneapolis public school district, or mps plans to prioritize educators from underrepresented groups in an attempt to remedy the continuing effects of past discrimination. >> if you go back to brown versus board, who were the first teachers to be let go when we integrated schools? black teachers. and so this is like a long history that goes way beyond just our district. >> reporter: tiffany, or miss dowdy as her students call her fought for that new policy. she has invested more than ten years of her career teaching for minneapolis public schools, of which she is a graduate. >> i told my students a few years ago being a teacher in minneapolis is living my dream. >> reporter: she gets to live her dream height here at anwatin middle school. what do you love most about being an educator? >> kids. kids. that moment you reach them in math. >> reporter: tiffany made her

mark but is still considered a rarity. why do you call yourself a unicorn? >> because i'm a woman, i teach math, and i speak spanish. >> jimmy: tiffany has a diverse background, just like the student body at mps where roughly 2/3 of the students are children of color, but the majority of teachers in district are white, similar to the population of minneapolis. >> i believe i'm the only black person, or person of color on our team. >> reporter: what are some other unique challenges that you face as being one of the only black teachers in your school? >> i end up representing everyone. sometimes you feel like people are leaning on you as the resource for students of color. >> reporter: the strain of the pandemic led mps teachers to stage a strike this year. for three weeks in march, the teachers union fought for a number of reforms. greta callahan, a former kindergarten teacher, is the president of the union that represents mps teachers.pshe sa

color was just one item on a laundry list of demands. >> we don't have full-time nurses in all of our buildings. we don't have the social workers and counselors that our students deserve. we have way too many kids in our classrooms. and the turnover of staff is so high. >> reporter: to end the strike, the school district and the teachers union agreed to gnew contract that addressed several needs such as a living wage for support professionals, a cap on class size in each grade and more mental help for students. a one-time $4,000 bonus, most notably, the district agreed to boost efforts to retain and recruit minority teachers. >> in the last two years, we've had a couple hundred teachers of color leave our district by choice. >> reporter: one of the aspect of that contract that is getting a lot of attention right now are the layoffs. can you describe that policy? >> if there are layoffs, the

least senior person, if that person is from an underrepresented group, that person maintain their position and we would essentially go to the next person in that seniority list to lay off. >> reporter: underrepresented. that is a particularly broad term. can you give us some examples of individuals who would be considered in that category? >> yes. it could be someone who is on the autism spectrum and teaches autistic students, someone from the lgbtqia + community. >> so the term "underrepresented" can also be applied to white people based on the categorizations that you just laid out, correct? >> technically, yes. >> reporter: a majority of teachers and staff, who are mostly white, approved the policy, which is notable, because historically, predominantly white unions have often resisted attempts to correcting racial imbalance.

already, the policy is being challenged in court by a conservative-leaning government watchdog group. >> it was an in your face attack on the rule of law here, especially in the area of racial discrimination. >> reporter: judicial watch filed a lawsuit on behalf of a minnesota taxpayer claiming the contract requires administrators to make hiring and firing decisions based on race. >> when it comes to laughs or potential layoffs in this teachers union contract, if you're black, your name is skipped, and the next nonminority gets laid off. and while on the back end, if you get rehired, and you're a nonminority, your name is skipped and the next black senior person gets hired. i don't understand why this is even a debate. >> reporter: one of the key words used in the contract is the word "underrepresented." the union president did say, though, that white educators could fall under this category, under certain circumstances. does that make a difference? >> the section of the contract

references teachers of color. so if they want to litigate what they mean by that, you know, that's what the courts are for. >> reporter: while the policy does not specifically mention the words "race" or "ethnicity", he argues the title of the edding, protections for educators of color makes it plain. >> i want you to do the mirror image of that. the contract says protecting white teachers, and then they have language that is seemingly neutral in how they're going to effect that. do you think a court is going to say that's not race discrimination? i don't buy it. >> i think it is very likely that a court will look both at the heading that specifically references teachers of color and the body of the document, which references members of underrepresented groups. they'll often look to public comments made in the course of considering or adopting policy. it's quite routine for courts to cast a pretty wide net in trying to get their arms around what a policy really means and how it is intended to operate. >> this lawsuit has no teeth.

hundreds of teachers are leaving this profession, and we can't fill the positions we have. that's the real fight. >> i think the policy is clearly drafted to respond to one of the exceptions that the case law identifies, which is where a policy is race conscious but is race conscious because of a history of discrimination perpetrated by the very institution creating the policy in question. >> reporter: arguably, the most important stakeholders in the conversation, though, are the students. many of them are very aware of the challenges their teachers face and the impact it has on their education. in fact, some were so passionate, they joined the march with their teachers. >> teachers are fed up at this point. they're really getting strict and harsh. but a lot of them are tired. >> reporter: these are tiffany's former middle school students, now high school seniors. they stayed close with tiffany lng after leaving her classroom because of the impact they say she had on them. >> she gave me a good real world perspective. her being a black teacher, it's nice being able to relate to her as a minority.

>> reporter: research suggests that having diverse educators in schools is beneficial for all students. the center for education data and research found that having a teach other telephone same race or ethnicity may increase test scores and reduce the likelihood of disciplinary issues. >> i think teachers like miss doherty, they're that much more important. it makes a place you want to be, i think that helps a lot. >> i was automatically excited to have her, because she is just -- she was a black teacher. coy relate to her. other teachers, it's more of they go home, you know, and we never speak again after that year. but with miss doherty, it's longer than a school year. it's forever with her. >> reporter: so about those students. what is it about them that inspires you to stick with this profession? >> i look out at them, and i literally see the future. i feel the weight of the responsibility of my job. >> hi, guys! >> i know that if i don't do my very best, then i'm failing all

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announcer: now from abc7. live breaking news. >> that breaking news. stockton police with a major update into a series of linked

homicide. one is now tied to the bay area. investigators have added two new cases they believe are connected as they still search for this person of interest. one of those cases is the shooting death of a 40-year-old man in stockton. police sate happened in april last year. police now believe seven killings may be linked. now our other top story. >> from oakland. oakland is in bad turmoil with a lot of killing and crime going on now. it is really hurting my heart. reporter: they are the voices of a community that has seen enough violence. tonight a neighborhood in neefd healing reflects on two more lives cut short. two more homicide oakland has seen this year. ama: this wave of violence is ling frerg one family to toot

oates. tonight questions were asked what more can possibly be done. >> oakland had a homicide on kirkham and 12th streets. today oakland city leaders discussed what they are doing from a city level including adding gun tracing equipment. >> so the illegal guns can trace back to their point of origin and the people selling death can be put out of business. rrp. >> a vigil for two teenage brothered killed in a house party shooting saturday night. j.r. stone is hearing how the two. >> remembered. reporter: hundreds packed into a high school in oakland.

>> according to police, 17-year-old jayz garcia and his brother angel were at a house party. some have brothers who knew them. others have kids who knew them. >> i think it is whole sinking in. he had a little more to say about it today. said it was a sad day in school. i think the he is still processing it. reporter: stofs crowded that the longfellow school reached capacity and many had to listen from outside the building. many are struggling with not only what happened to the teenagers but the loss their mother deals with as she raises

their four siblings. >> we have known each other since high school. >> to see they were killed in my neighborhood, my community, it is really sad. reporter: i spoke to a teacher who said this one hits close to home. she taught both jayz and angel in grade school. she is still in a bit of disbelief over what happened. j.r. stone. abc7 news. >> after the vigil tonight, the uncle of the two boys, ruben garcia spoke only the abc7 news sharing a message saying he wanted to thank everyone who came out to support his family today. through a translator, he shared a message for politicians. >> [speaking spanish] >> he is saying he wants all senators, congressmen, city council to listen, to please do something about gun control.

it is cheaper to buy a weapon than to buy food for a family. a dollar is worth more than a life. and it is time to stop. he wants them to do something about it. reporter: tomorrow in oakland a statewide conference is being held on gun violence prevention. the state attorney general is delivering the keynote address. >> now developments in last week's campus shooting at the king estates in oakland. video shows who suspects rung up to the school building's front door. you can see critical moments of the shooting on wednesday that injured six people. you can see two of the suspects run into the building with firearms if their hands and then the two suspects come running out. police are hoping it will lead to more information for arrests and tonight all six of the victims are expected to be ok. whether you have a lost a loved one or have been a victim of gun

violence yourself or are feeling the emotional toll of these incidents, we are finding ways to help. vicinity abc7.com. the vallejo police department has fired one of its its offics for issues relatessed to the use of deadly force. an investigation found officer violated selve department policies including deadly force that was not reasonable. failure to de-escalate the incident and failure to activate a body camera. the department did not spees specify when the incident occurred. we have reached out the vallejo police and have not received a response. >> also new at 11:00 tonight a battle is underway how the best keep uber riersd safe specifically when reporting allegations of sexual assault. >> their policy is to let