We must distinguish between vandals and protesters, and focus on the change needed

The death of George Floyd thrust a majority of Americans onto the same page of a book many of us have neglected to think enough about. It is an unprecedented time for Black and white people to embark on the very necessary road of understanding each other’s perspectives in a really difficult but meaningful way. The chance that was lost after the Civil War now presents itself to us once more.

But will it be lost again because of some bad actors bent on destruction in the name of social justice? How does the destruction of a downtown promote social justice? It certainly isn’t a negotiating tool. Neither are inchoate demands “blasted” by various groups with their own side agendas.

Describing a vandal as a demonstrator and a firebombing rioter as a protester is ludicrous and makes many of us angry. Our culture is free enough to condone marching in the streets for peaceful expression of thoughts. But is destruction now part of the process? Mayors cowered in the face of fists, allowing anarchists to hijack the movement toward justice. How sad.

Things have gotten so chaotic that a forward path now looks unclear. What is really important gets shoved aside.

Order is essential for the important things: helping the population stay sane in the midst of chaos, keeping people healthy, helping the economy regain its feet (workers, employers, retailers). Those who can’t cope even in the best of circumstances need special attention, which means we need government, social service agencies and, yes, law enforcement to operate as best they can.

A silver lining has emerged. We simply must seize this time of intense realizations to make the structural changes to our culture that will result in a more level playing field for all our people. But we must first eliminate the noise of destruction and anarchy.

Cities need to restore order. “Defund the Police” slogans are the words of anarchists. As we saw very quickly in Seattle’s CHOP, getting rid of law enforcement is counterproductive. Police don’t pass laws. They act according to them and with the tools they are furnished. When police are vilified, the better cops will find other employment, and it will be more difficult to attract good men and women to law enforcement.

In point of fact, it is police officers who have called for “embedding” trained social workers to take on the lower level cases of lawbreaking. Their roles are different, and both police and social workers are needed. Police officers are equipped to take control of an unsafe situation. People trained in psychology use their training to coax someone who has lost touch with reality back from the edge. It is expensive to have both involved on every call. Dispatchers at 911 can be taught to distinguish when the situation calls for law enforcement and when it calls for a social worker. One hopes there is funding for training, because it is a very reasonable approach to harm reduction. We need to get the bad apples to jail and the others to help.

One thing that has become clear is that we want a justice system that takes into account the tenuous position of people who have known nothing but rejection, fear and trauma all their lives. Their encounters with the justice system probably don’t begin at the moment of arrest or even a 911 call.

In the case of Black people, there is a long personal history — structurally, culturally and psychologically — of deep inequities that persist, long after the attitudes that created them have changed. For the sake of us all, we need to recognize this and try to make improvements. This recognition should enable the opportunity for foundational, structural change in attitude first, and then joined, hopefully, by a willingness of all to make progress together.

Priscilla Terry is a member of The Olympian’s 2020 Board of Contributors. She is a retired commercial real estate broker and former owner of Prime Locations, Inc. She serves on several committees in Thurston County, including Innovative Justice and Opioid Response. Reach her at pristerry44@gmail.com.