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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 19, 2015)
August 19, 2015 Page 7 Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. O PINION Binge Eating is a Hidden Hand in Obesity The clock ran out for my brother J ILL R ICHARDSON If you looked at me, you might not be able to tell that I’m obese. According to the measure of my Body Mass Index (BMI), I am. Slightly. I don’t wear plus-sized cloth- ing, I’ve only got one chin, and you wouldn’t mind sitting next to me on an airplane. Most people who are con- sidered overweight or obese in United States are a lot like me. In fact, even though 69 percent RI DGXOWV ZHUH RI¿FLDOO\ RYHU- weight or obese in 2012, only about 15 percent are so obese BY that they’re expected to suffer increased mortality. My brother Adam was one of those people. He suffered from Binge Eating Disorder, a B d diagnosis psychologists d didn’t even recognize X XQWLO ² ¿YH \HDUV a after his death. During his life, my b brother was mired in shame about his body and his eating. He hid his binges from our family. He lied about it. He told us he never ate fast food, but a glance at his bank state- ments after his death showed he was a regular at every drive-th- ru in town. And he made large purchases. An estimated 3.5 percent of women and 2 percent of men share my brother’s problem. Two-thirds of them are obese. That includes a close friend of mine. Unlike my brother, she doesn’t keep her eating a secret. She hates it. She wants to stop. But she feels com- pelled to frequently eat beyond feeling full. And I don’t think she knows why. Others who binge eat have shared that they eat so much in order to block out their emotional pain. They want to ¿OO WKHLU EHOOLHV XQWLO LW KXUWV so that the physical pain fully consumes them and their emo- tions disappear. Some research suggests that binge eating might provide a high similar to smoking mari- juana. Often, public discussions of obesity focus on educating Americans to help them “make better choices.” If you’re suf- fering from Binge Eating Dis- order, someone telling you to eat an apple instead of a brownie isn’t going to help. Hounding people about their diets doesn’t address the root causes of eating disorders. It’s about as effective as telling an anorexic that she’s too skin- ny and telling her to eat a big steak. In fact, shaming someone with Binge Eating Disorder for his or her weight could even make the problem worse. Not all obese people suffer from Binge Eating Disorder, but it’s good to be aware that some do — especially since shame compels many suffer- ers to keep it a secret. And be compassionate. Because only through compassion and em- pathy can we help people fac- LQJWKLVSUREOHP¿QGWKHLUZD\ back to health. The clock ran out for my brother, but I wonder what would have happened if he’d found help. What if he knew he didn’t have to be ashamed of his binges? Or of his body? Now that Binge Eating 'LVRUGHU LV DQ RI¿FLDOO\ UHF- ognized diagnosis, we should change our national conversa- tion about diet-related health problems to address it. If you think your loved one or a friend might be suffering from this problem, offer real help — not diet advice. And for those of us who aren’t medical professionals, the best help we can give might be love, empa- thy, and listening without judg- ing. OtherWords columnist Jill Richardson is the author of Recipe for America: Why Our Food System Is Broken and What We Can Do to Fix It. +RZ&RXOGD7UDI¿F6WRS7XUQ,QWR$OORI7KLV" Sandra Bland’s life mattered M ARC H. M ORIAL For many of us, it was with a sickening sense of familiarity that we watched the video recording of the violation of the welfare and rights of yet another person of color at the hands of law enforcement. Unfolding right before our very eyes, we witnessed as another URXWLQHWUDI¿FVWRSZRXOGFRPH to a tragic and fatal end. Two days before authorities would discover Sandra Bland’s lifeless body in her Texas jail cell, the 28-year-old called a IULHQGDIWHUKHU¿UVWFRXUWDSSHDU- ance and left a 22-second voice- mail asking, “How did switching lanes with no signal turn into all of this? I don’t even know.” The details of her arrest and her untimely death have left her family, friends, and those con- cerned about the treatment of people of color in our nation’s criminal justice system, wonder- LQJWKHVDPH+RZFRXOGDWUDI¿F stop “turn into all of this?” On Friday, July 10, Bland was BY pulled over by state trooper Bri- DQ (QFLQLD IRU WKH PLQRU WUDI¿F YLRODWLRQ $V VHHQ RQ WKH RI¿- cer’s dashboard camera video, Encinia ordered Bland to step out of her car after she refused his order to put out her cigarette. The confrontation be- tween the two continued to escalate as Encinia at- tempted to pull Bland out of her car and then threatened to use his taser gun on her. The remainder of the confrontation, and her eventual arrest, is not caught on camera, but we can hear her screaming during the arrest that the trooper is about to break her wrist and that he has slammed her head into the ground. She was taken to the Waller County jail on a charge of assaulting a public servant GXULQJDWUDI¿FVWRS Three days later, on Monday, July 13, Bland was discovered dead in her jail cell after alleged- ly hanging herself with a gar- bage bag. A medical examiner has ruled the death suicide by hanging, but her family and pro- testors are disputing the autopsy results. Bland’s relatives have ordered a private autopsy and Waller County District Attorney Elton Mathis has opened up a probe into Bland’s death and has VDLGWKDWKLVRI¿FHZLOOWUHDWKHU case like a murder investigation. We don’t yet know how San- dra Bland died in her jail cell, but the video of her arrest is cause enough for grave concern. And for those committed to reform- ing our nation’s broken criminal justice system, it is an urgent call for action. As the litany of names of un- armed black and brown men and women brutalized and killed by law enforcement multiplies, so does the skepticism and distrust so many feel for a system that has proven time and again to be stacked against them and their communities at every level of justice. Encinia’s behavior at the traf- ¿FVWRSZDVLQFHQGLDU\XQMXVWL- ¿HGDQGEH\RQGXQSURIHVVLRQDO The Texas Department of Pub- lic Safety must not tolerate this disrespectful and provocative method of policing from Encin- LD²RU DQ\ RI¿FHU 2I¿FHUV DUH supposed to be trained to de-es- calate tense situations, not esca- late them. We cannot limit our concern and anger to motionless out- rage. While we mourn the loss of countless victims of police violence and injustice, we must be loud and engaged advo- cates for the sort of change that will save lives and rebuild that much-needed trust between law enforcement and all communi- ties entrusted to their care and protection. Attorney General Loretta Lynch has expressed her hope that the tragic loss of San- dra Bland will galvanize more law enforcement departments to institute de-escalation training. This is the kind of training that could have saved Bland’s life. We reiterate our call ¬ as we have in the wake of far too many incidents of police violence ¬ for the comprehensive retraining RIDOOSROLFHRI¿FHUVWKHUHYLHZ and strengthening of police hir- ing standards and the widespread use of body and dashboard cam- eras. We will continue to hold law enforcement accountable when it fails to treat all citizens fairly and with dignity. We will work to bridge the widespread and dangerous dis- trust between law enforcement and too many communities of color. And we will dedicate ourselves to this mission for our nation’s sake, for Bland and for the innumerable others taken by police violence that DUH QR ORQJHU KHUH WR ¿JKW IRU us or with us. Marc H. Morial is president DQG FKLHI H[HFXWLYH RI¿FHU RI the National Urban League. The Law Offices of Patrick John Sweeney, P.C. Patrick John Sweeney Attorney at Law 1549 SE Ladd, Portland, Oregon Portland: Hillsoboro: Facsimile: Email: (503) 244-2080 (503) 244-2081 (503) 244-2084 Sweeney@PDXLawyer.com