OPINION READER’S FORUM
Founded in 1906
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2020
A4
EDITOR’S DESK
A nation’s turmoil comes to Hermiston
I
’m not usually someone who is
at a loss for words, but it took
me more time to decide what the
fi rst sentence of this column should
be than it takes me to
write an entire column
some weeks.
What do you say in
the face of so much
anguish on such pub-
lic display? What can I
Jade
add to the all-consum-
McDowell
ing discourse that has
NEWS EDITOR
gripped our nation in
the past week? As a white person, I
feel unqualifi ed to speak on the topic
of racism, and yet as I was trying to
decide what to write about this week
it felt wrong to squander the opportu-
nity to use the privilege I have been
afforded by both my race and my
profession.
I covered three public demonstra-
tions in three days — the Hermiston
Freedom Rally against COVID-19
restrictions, the Essential not Sacrifi -
cial protest in support of restrictions
protecting essential workers, and the
unoffi cial Black Lives Matter protest
held Monday, June 1, at the corner of
Highway 395 and Elm Avenue.
Each of Hermiston’s gatherings
was different, but during each one
I saw unexpected displays of civil-
ity. At the Hermiston Freedom Rally,
a counterprotester bearing an anti-
Trump sign showed up and rallygoers
bearing fl ags stood in front of him to
block the sign from view, but I didn’t
see any pushing or shoving, just peo-
ple with very different points of view
each standing resolutely for what
they believed was right.
At the protest on June 1 against
racism and police brutality, two
Staff photo by Ben Lonergan
Members of the Hermiston Police Department hand out water bottles to protesters on the
corner of Highway 395 and Elm Avenue in Hermiston on Monday, June 1, 2020. Protesters
carried signs in protest of racism and police violence.
Hermiston Police Department offi -
cers showed up, not with tear gas but
with water bottles for the protesters,
a few of whom were bearing explic-
itly anti-police slogans on their signs.
As I watched them make the rounds
to the groups spread across the four
corners of the intersection, protest-
ers appeared to be treating them with
respect.
There were also some ugly
moments on Monday, however,
including one I witnessed shortly
after the protest began.
I was waiting to cross the street
after interviewing a cluster of young
protesters of various races holding
“Black Lives Matter” signs when
a man drove by and screamed an
unprintable three-word phrase at
them that began with the F word and
ended with the N word.
That shameful, ignorant moment
of hate was a disgrace to Hermiston.
It doesn’t represent the vast majority
of people I have come to know and
love during my seven years here. In
fact, I’m pretty sure it’s the fi rst time
I’ve heard that particular racial slur
hurled at a person of color here.
But that in itself is part of the
problem — most racism isn’t
fl aunted in such a public, in-your-
face style, and that makes it easier to
for people in our community to deny
it exists, or to comfort themselves
that it’s a problem for big cities or the
South.
Here, it manifests itself in epithets
whispered out of earshot of white
people who would be shocked by
it. It appears when people email the
newspaper to ask why we didn’t state
in an article whether a person with
COLUMN
a Hispanic-sounding name is a citi-
zen, or call to complain that all of the
community’s problems are caused by
the “illegals,” by which they seem
to mean all of Hermiston’s Latino
population.
Sometimes it comes through igno-
rant, thoughtless comments and ques-
tions from strangers who ask, “What
are you?” or state with an air of sur-
prise that a person of color is so
“articulate.”
Often it manifests itself silently,
through a job offer never extended
or a playdate never scheduled for no
apparent reason.
For white people, we can catch
glimpses of that seedy underbelly of
bigotry and feel righteously indignant
before turning our attention to other
things. But for some members of our
community, the microaggressions
and slurs and unequal treatment are
their cross to bear every single day
for their entire lives.
If you’re white, I hope you’ll take
some time to really stop and listen to
the experiences and opinions of your
friends who are not white, whose
views on racism come from a far
more experienced place than yours. If
you don’t have many friends of color
— it can be diffi cult to make black
friends if you’ve spent your whole
life living in a community where less
than 1% of the population is black —
seek out articles and other nonfi ction
by writers of diverse backgrounds.
And if you are a person of color
in our community, I hope you will
be patient with those of us who are
trying, but probably still have some
more learning to do.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Dams are essential to communities
Bring picnic tables back
T
To the editor:
I really feel that it is about time that the city of Hermiston
starts to put the picnic tables back in the city parks. I see people
taking their own chairs or just sitting on the grass just to enjoy
a lunch meal. People will take their own cleaning cloths, etc. to
clean and sanitize the tables before using them.
Dan Kalal
Hermiston
he federal agencies that oper-
ate 14 dams in the Columbia
River Basin just spent more
than three years and a lot of money
to look at dam breaching as a pos-
sible solution to salmon recovery.
Their fi ndings after all this work? It
might help salmon a little but would
hurt the rest of us a lot.
While a vocal
minority continues
pushing for removal
of the four lower
Snake River dams,
multiple science-
and data-driven stud-
ies have shown that
Ryan
dam breaching does
Neal
little for fi sh while
harming our farmers, workers, and
communities.
There are many factors that con-
tribute to the survival of fi sh, and
not all are dependent on the Snake
River. Ninety-fi ve to 98% of juve-
nile fi sh already successfully pass
each of the eight federal dams on
the lower Snake and Columbia,
but salmon populations around the
world are struggling due to climate
change caused in part by rising car-
bon emissions. The Columbia-Snake
River System provides 90% of
the Pacifi c Northwest’s renewable
power. Removing dams on this sys-
tem would add more carbon to the
environment and more environmen-
tal stress on our already declining
fi sh populations.
It may be hard for some people
west of the Cascades to understand
how critical these dams are for our
region, but for us, it’s obvious: Our
region depends on the current water-
way system for power, food, com-
merce, and jobs.
Access to that same renewable
power that fi ghts climate change has
also attracted the data centers and
energy businesses that contribute so
much to our region’s economy.
The navigation locks of the lower
Snake and Columbia dams also
allow barging of our food that’s sold
in communities across the Pacifi c
Northwest and exported to feed hun-
gry populations around the world.
Without that navigation system,
those products would shift to truck-
ing and rail systems — if our gov-
ernments and businesses have the
ability to build and maintain the nec-
essary road and rail capacity in the
fi rst place. This would increase road
and rail congestion, greenhouse gas
pollution, and costs to farmers.
Speaking of costs to farmers,
without irrigation provided by the
Columbia and Snake River reser-
voirs, the Northwest loses much of
the rich farmland that has supported
our communities and states for gen-
erations. Dam breaching puts at risk
1,100 family farms, whose owners
have been working and conserving
their land for generations but could
go bankrupt from the loss of water
and transportation.
We can balance environment and
economic health without sacrifi cing
the backbone of our economy.
We don’t have to crowd our roads
and pollute our air with costly trans-
portation alternatives. The fed-
eral agencies’ draft environmen-
tal impact statement provides many
alternatives to breaching and recom-
mends other improvements backed
by science that support fi sh popula-
tions and the environment.
———
Ryan Neal is the executive direc-
tor of the Port of Morrow.
Thank you to the helpers
To the editor:
Nature has a way of making life interesting. This week-
end we got a double dose of thunderstorms that blew through
Hermiston, knocking down trees, fences, and power lines and
damaging property.
But as we’ve seen time and time again, this community
responded quickly to clean up the damage and make sure their
neighbors were safe. Chain saws and pickup trucks came out to
clear away the debris and get our lives back to normal.
City departments had their hands full taking care of fallen
trees on roadways and in the parks. The police and fi re depart-
ments worked together to make sure people were out of harm’s
way. Hermiston Energy Services worked around the clock to
restore power and our utilities monitored the damage to make
sure water and sewer systems continued to function properly.
That work was made much easier thanks to all of the com-
munity members who immediately got to work.
A big thank you to Hermiston residents for continuing to
look out for one another as we weathered yet another storm.
We’re a resilient community because everyone pitches in.
Byron Smith
Hermiston
CORRECTIONS
Printed on
recycled
newsprint
VOLUME 114 • NUMBER 21
Chris Rush | Publisher • crush@eomediagroup.com • 541-278-2669
Jade McDowell | News Editor • jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4536
Jeanne Jewett | Multi-Media consultant • jjewett@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531
Audra Workman | Multi-Media consultant • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538
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