4A |
WEDNESDAY EDITION
| JULY 1, 2020
Siuslaw News
P.O. Box 10
Florence, OR 97439
NED HICKSON , EDITOR
| 541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM
Opinion
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Rather than ‘Defund,’ why not ‘Re-imagine’ the police?
(Editor’s Note: Viewpoint sub-
missions on this and other topics are
always welcome as part of our goal to
encourage community discussion and
exchange of perspectives.)
W
hen my brother was accept-
ed into the Chicago Police
Academy in the late 1970s, our
family was proud of him. He had
wanted to join the army, but my
mother talked him out of it, which
seemed a reasonable alternative for
him to serve his community and
the nation.
In Chicago at the time, the mot-
to of the police force was, “We
Serve and Protect.” Over the next
32 years, I heard his occasional
tales from the beat but, essentially,
my brother retired from the force
without having fired a shot while
on duty — which was considered a
great accomplishment.
So I have always had respect for
the police, knowing how heart-
breaking and dangerous the work
can be.
I have also had a 30-year career
in human services, working with
people of various colors, genders,
nationalities, immigrant statuses,
literacy levels, experiences with
education and the work force …
and let’s not even get into the home
lives they came from or the ones
they created for themselves.
I learned that indeed, M. Scott
Peck was right when he observed,
“Life is difficult.” That is especially
so if you have not had the opportu-
nities I was afforded; I have a strong
sense of empathy and gratitude.
I remember when Sheriff Joe
Arpaio of Maricopa County,
where I lived at the time, used a
tank in 2011 to serve an arrest
warrant on a man suspected of
running a cockfighting ring in
Phoenix. (www.npr.org/sections/
thetwo-way/2011/03/23/134803230/
arizona-sheriff-uses-a-tank-to-
arrest-cockfighting-suspect)
Guest Viewpoint
By Ivy Medow
Florence
I also remember when the U.S.
military gifted various law en-
forcement agencies around the
nation with military (combat ap-
propriate) gear of various types.
Sheriff Joe came down Central
Avenue in one of the tanks.
Now I live in Florence, where I
could not find paid work in hu-
man services even though there
are many people who could use
help and support beyond what
community generosity can pro-
vide.
Human services can help com-
munity members develop good
decision-making and coping
skills. These are needed in order to
pursue educational, employment
and creative goals allowing indi-
viduals to keep a roof over their
heads, food on the table, tranquil-
ity in their homes and a safe space
in which to raise the children.
And there is now a call to “De-
fund the Police,” which I person-
ally do not think is a unifying call
to action but understand that it
comes from people who are crying
out in pain and outrage for mercy.
I have never experienced this
kind of suffering directly, though
it is what led my grandparents to
leave their homeland and arrive in
America as asylum seeking refu-
gees.
Wasn’t it Matthew who said,
“Judge not lest ye be judged?”
(Matthew, 7:1-3 KJV).
I hear the call for change, and I
can support it. However, I think a
more accurate and unifying call to
action would be “Redistribute the
Resources.”
The idea, as I understand it, is
to support police in their efforts
to serve and protect by letting
others — teachers, social work-
ers, churches, addiction treatment
centers, counselors, domestic vi-
olence resource centers, animal
control organizations, etc. — have
a bigger slice of the financial pie so
they can develop and implement
their own special services.
In this way, more people like me
would be able to work doing what
we are trained to do — and more
people needing help would be able
to get it before they do something
they will never recover from and
always regret.
And something that is likely to
involve the police.
The Florence Jewish commu-
nity is a disparate group: we
vary in age, come from all walks
of life, have a multitude of ex-
periences and even practice our
religion in different ways.
One thing we do have in com-
mon is the historical under-
standing that our people have
been marginalized, reviled and
discriminated against for thou-
sands of years. Many of us have
had direct experience with the
hatred and ignorance created by
antisemitism.
One of the basic tenets of Ju-
daism is to repair the world,
to speak for the weak and dis-
advantaged and those who are
treated as “other” because of
their skin color. Having our-
selves been slaves, our aware-
ness is heightened by the routine
violence and inequity directed
at non-whites.
We as a community work for
social justice and peace. For
this reason, we want to stand in
solidarity with the Black Lives
Matter movement and others
arising from it that fight the op-
pression of Blacks, the indige-
nous and persons of color.
We stand in spirit with those
who, each Saturday, appear at
the juncture of Highways 101
and 126, who walk the walk in
the struggle for equality.
We feel that it’s incumbent
on us to always make our voic-
es heard when hate, intolerance
and oppression are still present
in our society.
—Judy Schwartz
Florence
Living in Orwellian times
The incident that occurred
last Saturday afternoon (June
27) at the peaceful assembly
supporting Black Lives Matter
was marred by an individual
who verbally assaulted children
of color, followed by physical
attacks on demonstrators try-
ing to shield those children and
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WHERE TO WRITE
LETTERS
Standing in solidarity
for equality
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diffuse the situation. His actions
were outrageous, unacceptable
and potentially dangerous.
All the while, he continued
to invoke the name of Jesus, the
Prince of Peace, who is quot-
ed in the Bible as saying: “This
is my commandment, that ye
love one another, even as I have
loved you” (John 15:12).
The day before, Vice President
Pence said in a press conference,
“The freedom of speech, the
right to peaceably assemble, is
enshrined in the Constitution of
the United States. We still want
to give people the freedom to
participate in the political pro-
cess, and we respect that.”
That is quite the turnaround
from June 1, when law enforce-
ment officers outside the White
House launched tear gas at
hundreds of peaceful protesters
gathered in neighboring Lafay-
ette Square.
We truly are living in Orwel-
lian times.
—Edward Gunderson
Florence
Pres. Donald Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461
TTY/TDD Comments:
202-456-6213
www.whitehouse.gov
Oregon Gov.
Kate Brown
160 State Capitol
900 Court St.
Salem, Ore. 97301-4047
Governor’s Citizens’ Rep.
Message Line:
503-378-4582
www.oregon.gov/gov
U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden
221 Dirksen Senate Office
Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
541-431-0229
www.wyden.senate.gov
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley
313 Hart Senate Office Bldg
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-3753
FAX: 202-228-3997
541-465-6750
www.merkley.senate.gov
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio
(4th Dist.)
2134 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515
202-225-6416
541-269-2609
541-465-6732
www.defazio.house.gov
State Sen. Arnie Roblan
(Dist. 5)
900 Court St. NE - S-417
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1705
FAX: 503-986-1080
Email: Sen.ArnieRoblan@
oregonlegislature.gov
State Rep.
Caddy McKeown
(Dist. 9)
900 Court St. NE
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1409
Email: rep.caddymckeown
@oregonlegislature.gov
West Lane County
Commissioner
Jay Bozievich
125 E. Eighth St.
Eugene, OR 97401
541-682-4203
FAX: 541-682-4616
Email: Jay.Bozievich@
co.lane.or.us