Letters to the editor for June 10
Black Lives Matter
The senseless and brutal killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis reached a new height of police brutality in America, especially for black people. It was painful to watch the inhumane killing of an unarmed black man by police as it was unfolding on national TV. Sadly, it has become a norm in our society to treat black people as sub humans, while depriving them of equal protection under the law. It’s unacceptable and it has to stop.
Urgent and sweeping police reforms must take place nationally and locally to making police accountable for their misconduct and violent behaviors. The killing of George Floyd shows an outright disrespect and disregard for black lives and human lives.
Yes, black lives matter. They are part of us, and they ought to be treated with dignity and respect in pursuit of liberty and justice. If we still believe in democracy and its ideals, which says democracy is for the people, of the people and by the people, we must seize this moment to bring about a transformational change by overhauling our criminal justice system to guarantee social and racial justice.
Our nation is in pain, and we demand actions to eradicate systemic racism once and for all.
Mizanur Rahman, Lacey
The COVID-19 death count
I recently recorded the number of national deaths caused by COVID-19 over the course of a week, displayed daily on one of the primary television stations. The number of deaths during this small-time frame increased by more than 1,600 per day.
If you are of the mindset that “lock down is tyranny,” and you refuse to wear a mask and keep recommended social distancing, I feel sorry for you. Limiting social contact is the only tool as of now health science has to offer in keeping this ravaging killer under control. You have not personalized the numbers listed above into people. Their loss has caused much pain, grief and sorrow to their families.
If the words “I,” “me” and “mine” are the primary words in your social vocabulary, only with growing maturity can the needs and feelings of others begin to register as important. Paradoxically, the word “I” is also the center of a child’s social universe. His/her majesty the baby: I want what I want, when I want it.
A person with the physical body of an adult, acting out the actions, mannerisms and behaviors of an angry child needs to grow up and become a mature adult, as their behavior is at best misguided and at worst dangerous. Changing one’s attitude from it’s all about me to it’s all about us is critical in helping to defeat COVID-19, the equal opportunity life destroyer.
Robert Swanson, Olympia