Letters to the editor for July 10

The balancing act of policing

The atrocity that precipitated the protests across the country has been revealing, shocking and heart-breaking. After viewing the tragedy that has awakened and in part united the country, I couldn’t help but reflect on the tough and challenging position our law officers must face.

While trying to enforce the law and protect the individual and society as a whole, they must maintain objectivity and still project strength and confidence. This balance is constantly being challenged by critical thinkers, frustrated citizens and frightened victims. Fear of a deadly virus, unemployment and stress at home has clouded the view of many American citizens. We seem to take out our frustration in a wide variety of constructive or destructive manners.

So often, the police officer is responsible for creating security, hope and confidence. They must do this in the face of verbal abuse, criticism, hostility and pent up anger resulting in physical assault and indignation. In short, we want our police officers to demonstrate poise beyond any level most of us could operate on. Then we lash out at them for not being perfect. We need to be careful to not return prejudice with prejudice. Obviously we need to weed out abusive police officers, but respectfully honor those that are fighting to balance enforcement with human understanding.

As exemplified by the protester and officer shaking hands and embracing, I deeply appreciate those citizens who demonstrate respect for the law and its officers, while fighting for equality and justice.

James MacDicken, Olympia

What Black Lives Matter actually means

As a white ally participating in several of the Black Lives Matter protests, I need to respond to my fellow white persons who shout “All lives matter.” This response severely misses the point.

The phrase “Black Lives Matter” should be understood more like “Black lives matter as much as yours does,” not that they matter more than yours. Throughout American history, black lives have always mattered less than white lives. The very way that Africans came to this continent was through extraordinary dehumanization, violence, and trauma; that kind of treatment extended through the early Republic, the Civil War, and the Jim Crow eras.

More recently, in the so-called War on Drugs and “get tough on crime” movements, communities of color, especially African American communities, have born a disproportionate amount of the “fury” of these movements. African Americans are still told through law keeping and the legal system that they are of lesser value. Additionally, schools with high numbers of African-American students, by and large, receive less funding. African Americans generally have less access to good healthcare and hospitals.

For those who want to say “All lives matter,” if you really believe that, then please start acting like it. Vote for better infrastructure over gentrification initiatives, advocate for more open policing and fairer court processes. Otherwise those words simply signal that you support the idea that Black lives matter less than yours. They do not.

Kael Moffat, Olympia