CBH Talk | Aisha Beliso-De Jesús and Elizabeth Hinton

“Excited delirium syndrome” is a controversial medical diagnosis often used in cases of police encounters that end in sudden death, especially those involving Black and Brown people. It was famously used by Derek Chauvin’s legal defense team to justify his killing of George Floyd.
In her new book, Excited Delirium: Race, Police Violence, and the Invention of a Disease, anthropologist Aisha Beliso-De Jesús delves into the fabrication of this largely discredited syndrome and draws direct connections between its use and the systemic racism ingrained in law enforcement and medical examiner practices. Beliso-De Jesús stumbled upon the topic while researching the criminalization of Afro-Latiné religions, and ties these two subjects together in a book that sits at the intersection of anthropology, Afro-Caribbean religions, and memoir.
People diagnosed with excited delirium are said to have demonstrated “superhuman strength,” considered impervious to pain, and are said to become aggressive, excited, sweaty, and agitated. It is fatal heart failure that kills them, examiners say, not forceful police restraints. Join Beliso-De Jesús as she brings her scholarly and personal perspectives to the topic, uncovering the links between excited delirium syndrome and the criminalization of Afro-Latiné religions.
The conversation is led by Yale professor Elizabeth Hinton, author of America on Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion Since the 1960s.