OPINION READER’S FORUM
Founded in 1906
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2020
A4
EDITOR’S DESK
You, too, can be a politician
O
ne of the side effects of
being a reporter is you get to
know a lot of politicians.
I don’t say this to brag, but rather
to make the opposite
point: It’s really nothing
to brag about.
Sometimes a sena-
tor or governor or mayor
can seem like some mys-
Jade
tical being, a celebrity
McDowell
NEWS EDITOR
you read about on the
news but would never
expect to have a casual conversa-
tion with. Talking to one might seem
intimidating. But politicians are just
people.
Congressman Greg Walden may
have the ear of president, but he also
went to the same public elementary
school in The Dalles as me. Our city
councilors and county commissioners
might make important decisions for
our communities, but they also live
in the same towns we do. They drive
on the same roads and shop at the
same grocery stores.
The upshot of all of this is that no
one should feel inadequate about get-
ting involved in politics.
As a taxpayer and a resident of
this country you have every right to
show up at a town hall or a city coun-
cil meeting or a legislative commit-
tee in the Oregon Capitol and voice
your opinion. If your opinions are
good enough to share with your
friends on Facebook or with your
family over the dinner table, they are
HH fi le photo
Eighth-grader Hunter Houck asks Rep. Greg Walden about climate change and the Green New
Deal during a town hall in Heppner in August 2019. Participation in town halls is one way
everyday citizens can be more civically engaged.
good enough to share with the people
whose job it is to represent you. If
public speaking sounds too intimidat-
ing, you can always write a letter.
Just as importantly, we also need
people to step up and do the work of
being one of those representatives.
Each election we see races where
candidates are running unopposed.
Even if that candidate is a great
choice for offi ce, opposition can help
candidates fl esh out their ideas and
push them to do more outreach.
While contests for fl ashy elected
titles like governor get most of the
attention, much of the work of run-
ning government also happens in
committees where everyday volun-
teers you’ve never heard of are also
representing you.
The city of Hermiston’s public
infrastructure committee, for exam-
ple, worked with city staff to craft
the capital improvement plan that
set in motion the water, sewer and
street projects now underway, and the
water rate increase helping to pay for
them. The city council was the ulti-
mate authority to approve the plan,
but the committee spent hours refi n-
ing it fi rst.
Anyone can apply to sit on a city
committee, and the long list of com-
mittees coupled with relatively low
interest means there are almost
always seats open somewhere. Any-
one can also apply to sit on one of the
state of Oregon’s boards and advi-
sory councils, where residents advise
the state on everything from wine to
hearing aids.
While anyone can also run for
elected offi ce, regardless of expe-
rience, boards and committees are
great training grounds for doing so.
Serious candidates — the kind who
win races — often learn the ropes
that way fi rst.
Dan Dorran, for example, who
recently advanced to the general
election for Umatilla County com-
missioner, studied the ins and outs of
how the county operates while serv-
ing on the county’s charter review
committee. Hermiston’s newest city
councilor, David McCarthy, hit the
ground running by voting to approve
a budget that he had already stud-
ied as a member of the city’s budget
committee.
The world is run, as someone once
told me, by those who show up. I
hope in this time of political strife
that more people ponder how they
can “show up” on behalf of their own
community.
COLUMN
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Lots of reasons that Black Lives Matter
Disappointed in
commissioners
I
In response to comments
made at a Umatilla County
Board of Commissioners meet-
ing last week, Mr. Bill Elfering,
thank you for not passing judg-
ment on all protesters. Thank
you for wanting to learn more
and then coming to a conclusion
of whats happening in Uma-
tilla Country and across Amer-
ica today.
Commissioners George Mur-
dock and John Shafer, I am very
disappointed in the two of you
for broadly painting a brush
across all protestors. Here in
Hermiston and across the coun-
try, the majority (at least 99%)
of the protestors were/are peace-
ful. Yes, their were some loot-
ers and violent people who were
trying to distract from the thou-
sands that are against police bru-
tality and murder. Four hun-
dred thirty-two unarmed black
men, women, and children were
murdered by bad cops across
the country (the ones we know
about).
We are not against 800,000
police offi cers. And saying that
you are for 800,000 police offi -
cers means you support the bad
cops too.
What we want as a coun-
try is for cops that are murder-
ing and brutalizing Blacks at the
highest rate and other people
of color to be brought to justice
just like any other civilian would
be. George Floyd was the straw
that broke the camel’s back. To
watch this man die as he was
complying with the four cops
was despicable!
We as African Americans
have been fi ghting to be treated
like citizens of this country with
full rights since 1866. And we
are still fi ghting in 2020.
I am thankful for the whites,
Asians, and Latinx as well as
all African Americans and the
world for joining in the fi ght to
set us free from brutality and
murder.
We want people in offi ce that
are concerned about all of its cit-
izens, no matter their color.
Jackie Linton
Hermiston
would like to write my fel-
One analogy that is helpful
low non-Black East Orego-
understanding why “All Lives
nians as to why I feel we must Matter” is an insuffi cient and reac-
engage in diffi cult conversations
tionary response: If I were to men-
regarding race in America. No
tion that breast cancer research
longer can small towns be
matters, your fi rst reaction
tucked away only engaging
wouldn’t be to say, “No it
in monologue. Now is the
does not, because skin can-
time for dialogue.
cer also matters.” Now what
Why can’t “All Lives
if breast cancer was killing
Matter” suffi ce? Simply
exponentially more Amer-
put, because all lives will
icans while its research
only truly matter when
for a cure was woefully
Black lives matter equally. Mitch
underfunded? Wouldn’t it be
Thompson
It’s important to know
important to raise a level of
that, when people say Black Lives awareness around the crisis?
Matter, they are illuminating a
We have Breast Cancer Aware-
painful reality that many non-
ness Month because it’s a pub-
black Americans ignore. Afri-
lic health crisis and we need to
can Americans experience severe
address it. We don’t wear pink
health care disparities compared
in October in spite of skin can-
to white Americans. They expe-
cer, but because we know this is
rience poverty and homelessness
a means to bringing awareness to
at far greater rates than their non-
a cause that needs our collective
Black counterparts. Our Black
support to save lives. Black Lives
brothers and sisters are expo-
Matter is simply doing the same
nentially overrepresented in our
thing. Trying to save lives.
prison system and experience
This brings me to my next
racial profi ling from police offi -
point: protest. Protests aren’t
cers in ways that white Americans intended to make us feel comfort-
have never experienced.
able, they are made to shock those
If we can establish that, yes,
who systematic ills do not impact
it is true, that African Americans
into consciousness and action. It
have been historically disadvan-
comes from a deep place of privi-
taged and these social inequalities lege to think that there is not a cri-
remain as prevalent as ever, one
sis occurring simply because it
must come to the conclusion that
doesn’t directly impact you per-
white Americans have then been
sonally. This is why we need pro-
historically advantaged.
tests, to call us into action.
Martin Luther King Jr. said,
“Freedom is never voluntarily
given by the oppressor; it must be
demanded by the oppressed.”
Did women just get the right
to vote? Did our gay and les-
bian brothers and sisters just get
the right to marry? Did Black
school children just get the right
to learn in a classroom with white
students?
No. It was demanded.
Now you might say, we are
fi ne with protest, but not vio-
lence. I have heard, “It’s terri-
ble that Black man died, but the
burning, looting and destruc-
tion of property needs to stop.” I
would counter that, “It’s horrible
that property is being destroyed,
but the killing of unarmed Black
Americans needs to stop.” As
white Americans, we must pri-
oritize Black American life over
property. Humans are more
important than things. Period.
We as a society should not
approve of riots and therefore we
must not approve of the circum-
stances that lend to such despera-
tion that people feel rioting is their
only voice. Collectively, we must
think critically about the centu-
ries of failed social and economic
systems that have disproportion-
ately impacted Black Americans.
We must ask ourselves uncomfort-
able questions about our past and
how the intersectionality of racial,
social and economic inequalities
have contributed to the situation
we are in today.
Now for my white brothers and
sisters who feel they are already
allies. It’s important to remem-
ber whose space we are in. One
of the most important things is to
understand that we do not speak
on behalf of the African Ameri-
can community. We need to lis-
ten, support and follow directions.
We cannot ever understand what it
feels like to be Black in America,
trust them. It’s OK to start small,
every bit counts.
When we see injustice, don’t
sit back, become engaged. Sub-
scribe to podcasts, support bail
funds, read books, watch doc-
umentaries that challenge our
biases. Most importantly, join
local organizations and vote for
politicians who are serious about
ending white supremacy and fi x-
ing a system that maintains insti-
tutional racism. This includes hav-
ing a serious conversation about
the militarization of our police
force and the amount of funding
they receive.
As a white American, I ask my
fellow non-Black Americans to
join the struggle of racial equity.
Black Lives Matter.
Mitch Thompson comes from
Hermiston, has previously worked
as a community organizer and
now works in basketball.
CORRECTIONS
Printed on
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VOLUME 114 • NUMBER XX
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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