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Page 2 The Skanner November 11, 2015 ® Challenging People to Shape a Better Future Now Opinion Bernie Foster Founder/Publisher Truth of Fake ‘Hero’ Cop Proves White Lies Matter Bobbie Dore Foster Executive Editor W Jerry Foster Advertising Manager Christen McCurdy News Editor Patricia Irvin Graphic Designer Arashi Young Donovan M. Smith Reporters Monica J. Foster Seattle Office Coordinator Susan Fried Photographer 2015 MERIT AWARDS WINNER The Skanner has received 20 NNPA awards since 1998 The Skanner Newspaper, es- tablished in October 1975, is a weekly publication, published every Wednesday by IMM Publi- cations Inc. 415 N. Killingsworth St. P.O. Box 5455 Portland, OR 97228 Telephone (503) 285-5555 Fax: (503) 285-2900 riting under the headline, “Police lives matter too,” Chicago Tribune Columnist John Kass summed up the sentiment — and mass hysteria — surrounding the supposed Sept. 1 murder of a policeman in a bedroom com- munity 50 miles north of Chi- cago. He wrote that the killing “had nothing to do with our hashtag politics of which lives matter,” but that Kass was wrong. We have since learned that it was all a hoax or, as the chief investigator put it, “a careful- ly staged suicide” by the man known as G.I. Joe, who was about to be exposed as a thief. Even though the number of cops losing their lives in the line of duty by firearms is down this year, cops and conservatives have sought to project a different picture in the aftermath of the August 28 murder of Harris County, Texas Deputy Sheriff Darren H. Goforth, who was repeat- edly shot in the back of the head at a service station in Cypress, Texas, a Houston suburb. Just days later, more than 1,000 miles away, the death of Lt. Joseph Gliniewicz in Illi- nois brought about increased attacks on the Black Lives George E. Curry NNPA Columnist Matter Movement and Pres- ident Obama. Now we know that Gliniewicz was lying when he radioed in that he was in pursuit of three sus- pects — an African American and two Whites — after he was supposedly shot by them. The resulting manhunt cost more than $300,000. Though Obama had strong- “ out, the myth of the ‘Fergu- son Effect’ — the idea crime has increased because cops are more restrained because of increased scrutiny in the aftermath of episodes of po- lice brutality — has been thor- oughly discredited.” Even so, Fox co-host Kim- berly Guilfoyle said, cops “don’t want to be arrested or persecuted for just putting on the blue every morning.” But Radley Balko of the Washington Post destroyed such faulty reasoning. “On the first point, the impli- cation seems to be that people should just keep quiet in the face of what they perceive to Though Obama had strongly de- nounced attacks on police, his crit- ics pretended he had never said a word ly denounced attacks on po- lice, his critics pretended he had never said a word. Media Matters, the watch- dog group, noted in a head- line: “Fox Figures Demand Obama Make Remarks Con- demning Violence Against Police Days After He Did Just That.” As Media Matters pointed be brutality and injustice, lest it embolden violence against the police,” he wrote. “The second point is more alarm- ing. If police in Baltimore and St. Louis are letting protest- ers and critics make them too afraid or spiteful to do their jobs, essentially turning their backs to allow people to be robbed and killed, that isn’t a problem with protester or so- cial justice culture, it’s a prob- lem with police culture. “ The real problem is that the crew at Fox TV and oth- er conservatives, some run- ning for president, took the easy and popular way out by rallying around police, even when attacks on them are down, all the facts were not yet in and, in the case of Lt. Joe Gliniewicz in Illinois, he was plotting to have a hit put on a city official because he feared she was on to his trail. All of them owe President Obama and the Black Lives Matter Movement an apolo- gy. But, like Donald Trump, they are incapable of admit- ting they are wrong. George E. Curry is Presi- dent and CEO of George Curry Media, LLC. He is the former editor-in-chief of Emerge mag- azine and the National News- paper Publishers Association News Service (NNPA). He is a keynote speaker, moderator, and media coach. Curry can be reached through his Web site, georgecurry.com. You can also follow him at twitter.com/cur- rygeorge, George E. Curry Fan Page on Facebook, and Peri- scope. See previous columns at http://www.georgecurry.com/ columns. info@theskanner.com www.TheSkanner.com The Skanner is a member of the National Newspaper Pub lishers Association and West Coast Black Pub lishers Association. All photos submitted become the property of The Skanner. We are not re spon sible for lost or damaged photos either solicited or unsolicited. ©2015 The Skanner. All rights re served. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission prohibited. Local News Pacific NW News World News Opinions Jobs, Bids Entertainment Community Calendar RSS feeds VIEW THE SKANNER 40TH ANNIVERSARY TOAST EVENT SLIDE SHOW at TheSkanner.com Child Watch: Helping Children Cope with Crisis E xecutive Director of the Connecticut Commis- sion on Children Elaine Zimmerman helps meet many child needs in her state including sharing advice to help children cope with terri- ble events. Some of our nation’s largest tragedies have hit Connectitu- cut’s children close to home. Many lost family members who worked in New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. Then there was the un- imaginable heartbreak and horror of the mass shooting in Newtown, Conn., when 20 first-graders and six beloved teachers were murdered in a place where families believed their children would be safe. Constant stories about wars, desperate refugee par- ents and children, worries about attacks on places of worship, and the cumulative natural and unnatural dev- astation can make the world seem like a very scary, unpre- dictable place. So Elaine Zimmerman has shared suggestions she, as Executive Director of the Connecticut Commission on Children gives adults to help children cope with crisis and provide all children the secu- rity they desperately need. • Connect. Counter isolation and fear with comfort and understanding. • Marian Wright Edelman Children’s Defense Fund Listen carefully and an- swer children’s questions directly and honestly when- ever possible. Authentic response in tragedy is so important to children and youths. “ their safety. • Direct children to a school or community counselor who serves children and families if you perceive that the response they are show- ing might benefit from a professional conversation. Counseling, often short- term and focused, can be tremendously helpful when needed. • Show antipathy to violence and hatred. Bullying and ra- cial bias in school are local forms of the cruelty we see on the world stage. Authentic response in tragedy is so important to children and youths • Provide a message of warmth and security. Chil- dren need to know that home is safe, so show them you love them and will pro- tect them. • Highlight steps to keep school safe. As a teacher, note strong school safety measures and explain that school is one of the safest places in our communities. • Know what to do, as much as possible, in a disaster. Develop emergency plans that include roles for the children. Ensure they know adults are thinking about • Ask children who their he- roes are. Mention yours. Talk about heroes together. • Honor good works and deeds. • Help children become ev- eryday heroes. • Get back to normal. Do not let a tragedy leak into play, routine and normal activi- ty. • Bring hope back that change can happen. For many, current events have put hope in a back drawer. We owe it to our children to reclaim it. Children need hope if they’re to lead in constructive, creative ways. I am deeply grateful for re- sources like these. Children desperately need adults to help them process and cope within the violent and uncertain world we have created for them. They also need to see adults working with and for them to create a better, safer na- tion and world for tomorrow. Elaine Zimmerman reminds us that “[Children] want to repair the world. From the youngest to the oldest child, there is a stark awareness of the plight of others. “To them, our world is un- safe, violent, hateful – and yet good. This is a healthy sign in a complex time.” Adults should join our chil- dren with urgency in repair- ing and building a world safe for every child. Marian Wright Edelman is President of the Children’s Defense Fund whose Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communi- ties. For more information go to www.childrensdefense.org.
