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THE ASTORIAN • SATuRdAy, JuNE 5, 2021
OPINION
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
DERRICK DePLEDGE
Editor
Founded in 1873
SHANNON ARLINT
Circulation Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
BEHIND THE NEWS
‘I want more people to speak out’
T
he murder of George Floyd by
Minneapolis police ignited pro-
tests against racism and police
brutality around the world.
On the North Coast, one memora-
ble image was Alejandra Lopez, a War-
renton teenager who organized several
Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
A year later, Lopez is still speaking
out.
“I want more people
to speak out and con-
tinue to speak out about
all of the injustices that
they see happening,
because if you’re silent,
you’ve chosen the side
DERRICK
of the oppressor,” she
DePLEDGE
said. “So just make sure
to speak up and really
fight for what you believe in.”
Lopez, who is completing her junior
year at Warrenton High School, is
interning remotely for state Rep. Paul
Holvey, D-Eugene.
In an interview via Zoom, Lopez
reflected on the protests, the grow-
ing awareness of racial justice among
young people, the murder verdict
in Minneapolis and how to keep the
movement alive.
Q: Why was it important for you
to speak out in that moment?
A: When I first thought about doing
the protests, I was still at a pretty
young age — I was 15 turning 16 —
and I didn’t really know what I was
doing. All I knew is that I needed to do
something.
That was just the driving force. I
needed to do something, because I
needed to speak out about the injustices
happening in Minneapolis.
And then, from there, I kind of was
thinking, I need to do these protests
because I want to bring awareness to
Clatsop County, because it’s a really
predominantly white area. As a person
of color, being on the coast, it’s pretty
hard just existing some of the times,
because you’re faced with a lot of dif-
ferent racial injustices. You’re faced
with racism. You’re faced with preju-
dice. And there is so many things.
Last year, when I saw the video that
came out about George Floyd, that was
just the driving moment. I was like,
OK, I need to do something in my com-
Hailey Hoffman/The Astorian
Alejandra Lopez is a student at Warrenton High School.
munity, because this community needs
to speak out against the injustices
happening.
We also have to focus, and kind of
reflect, on our own communities. See-
ing what can we call out. Can we call
out our own family members for rac-
ism? Can we have conversations in
workplaces and in schools about racism
and how we can provide a really good
and safe place for people of color?
Q: What did you hope the protests
would accomplish?
A: I hoped the protests would not
only bring awareness to the people of
Clatsop County and on the coast, but
I also wanted the people that were in
charge of making policy. For exam-
ple, the county commissioners, state
representatives, the mayor — hav-
ing and seeing, why are people doing
this? What else can we fix in our com-
munities? Where are there injustices
happening?
Kind of things like that. And also
focus on working on policy that would
help fight that.
Q: Over the past year, do you
think awareness about racial justice
has increased among the young peo-
ple you know?
A: Yes. I think that definitely there
has been a lot of awareness around
racial justice ...
It’s amazing to see how many young
people are so focused and driven to
bring that justice and to fight for that
justice. No matter what. Their age isn’t
a barrier. Our age isn’t a barrier in all
of these things, because we have access
to technology and we have access to
resources.
When we’re able to educate our-
selves. When we’re able to reach out
to our elected officials, have meetings
with elected officials, and lobby for
different bills that work to fight racial
injustice.
Young people aren’t really scared
anymore, because we are the future of
America, basically.
I think it’s also kind of having to do
with social media, because there’s a lot
of things surrounding it, there’s a lot of
young people that are on social media,
and them kind of seeing the reposts
and the social media posts about racial
injustice and seeing how different peo-
ple speak out about it and their thoughts
on it.
It builds a community. And there’s
definitely a drive there for young
people.
Q: Derek Chauvin — the former
Minneapolis police officer who had
kneeled on George Floyd’s neck —
was found guilty of murder and other
charges in April. Three other former
officers face trial next year. What are
your thoughts on the verdict?
A: When I heard about the verdict
— it was a good moment, because you
see that there is finally accountability
for George Floyd.
But there is also something else that
you do notice when you see. This is
only one case out of many other cases.
And this is because there were protests,
outrage. There were so many calls,
messages, emails. There were people
saying that this was not OK and that
there needed to be accountability.
It’s still such a big path. This ver-
dict — it’s one verdict. It’s not going
to bring justice for all. So there has to
be people continuing to push and to
fight those systems of oppression and
injustices.
This is justice for George Floyd. But
there is still a lot more that needs to be
done.
Q: Polls show that support for
Black Lives Matter has declined since
last summer. What do you think it
will take to keep the movement alive?
A: I think there definitely has to
be people that are willing to continue
pushing for it and continuing to have
that drive to fight for racial equity and
equality.
People want change, and we want it
now. But the thing is that policy takes
time. And that’s something that’s very
difficult.
Currently, I’m an intern for Rep.
Paul Holvey and, with that, I have actu-
ally gained a lot of different experience,
knowledge in policy and how the way it
works. It’s a different look from protest-
ing. But I’m starting to learn a lot more
about how policy is crafted, how policy
is drafted, how it’s voted on.
There’s also a lot of other young
people that are working in different
offices. There’s a lot of different groups
that speak out on these injustices, kind
of seeing how we can make a change,
especially at a policy level — state
level and federal level.
It’s going to be a struggle to continue
doing this, but I know there are many
people that are driven to do it.
derrick dePledge is editor of The
Astorian.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Tunnel?
A
storia has a deep-water port. Very few
other places have such a great advan-
tage, and it’s several days closer to Asian
ports, making it even more valuable.
The problem is we have no railroad ser-
vicing the port. Reconstructing the rail-
line would be an environmental nightmare.
There is a way that it could be done and
not affect the river.
With President Joe Biden pushing his
“Build Back Better Plan,” I suggest Clat-
sop County should put in for some of this
federal money, and use it to use a tun-
nel boring machine and construct a tunnel
from just west of Wauna Mill, where there
is serviceable track, and start by tunneling
under U.S. Highway 30 at this location.
Then, in a long arch, bore under Nicolai
and Wickiup mountains, coming out near
the Burnside area north of Highway 30,
only a short distance from the deep-wa-
ter port at Tongue Point. A shorter version
could be built coming out near the Knappa
docks.
With my first design, less railroad track
would need to be exposed to the river and
the constant need of maintenance and spill
hazards. There would be little need for
dredging the Columbia River, saving many
millions over the years.
Lots of jobs would be created build-
ing the tunnel, and lots of permanent jobs
would be created at the new deep-water
port.
I also suggest a second tunnel between
Highway 30 and Oregon Highway 202 as
the best way of getting truck traffic away
from Astoria’s streets.
Please give these ideas a serious
thought.
JESSE DAY
Astoria
A treasure
R
egarding the letter by Bill Nix in the
In One Ear section on May 6 about
the USS Kitty Hawk’s destiny: What a
treasure and history to be saved.
The supercarrier has a 4.5-acre flight
deck and can house 5,624 people, over
half the size of Astoria’s population. This
offers limitless potential for usage: restau-
rants, stores, festivals, museum, garden,
park, lodging, conference rooms, theater,
sports, etc.
I once attended a public meeting in the
converted old ship Queen Mary in Califor-
nia. What a cool idea.
I am so glad Nix brought it to our
attention. I do hope this gem will be saved.
NGUYEN TRUNG
Seaside
Do better
M
emorial Day weekend isn’t about
sales. When business owners use the
word “Memorial” in their marketing, with-
out any mention of the meaning, it looks
like a cold way to capitalize on pain.
This pain is political, but also deep
and personal. The ignorance of those
who don’t consider it a painful day is tes-
tament to the spoiled nature of average
Americans.
I’d like to challenge the business com-
munity to think deeper, and do better,
when marketing for weekends like Memo-
rial, Veterans and Independence days.
Do not be careless with your words.
Make donations from a portion of sales to
support a good veteran-related cause, like
the Wounded Warrior Project or a human-
itarian aid organization like Doctors With-
out Borders.
As humans sharing this planet, co-cre-
ating our democracy and culture, we owe
it to ourselves to operate in a way that val-
ues life, and also respects death.
According to the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs, there have been over
650,000 deaths in battle since 1776. This
does not include the more than 3,400 civil-
ian employees working for the U.S. also
killed in war zones since 9/11. Nor are
there holidays to remember the countless
civilian casualties that war causes on all
sides.
The suicide rate of our soldiers is 50%
higher than civilians. Of the 19.2 million
veterans alive today, nearly 15 million of
them served during wartime.
Something is wrong with us. We can all
think deeper and do better.
ANGELA FAIRLESS
Rainier