OPINION READER’S FORUM
Founded in 1906
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2021
A4
EDITOR’S DESK
As language evolves, we must change too
n America’s culture wars, words
are the weapons of choice.
The problem with this, I
have increasingly noticed, is that the
words used often mean completely
diff erent things to the two sides.
Take racism. In my experience,
the word carries a spec-
trum of meanings. On
one end, you have peo-
ple who think of rac-
ism only as a hatred of
all people with a diff er-
Jade
ent color of skin, possi-
bly to the point of want- McDowell
NEWS EDITOR
ing them dead. On the
other end, you have peo-
ple whose much broader defi nition
of racism includes unjust institu-
tional structures, microaggressions,
cultural appropriation and even the
unconscious biases of well-meaning
people.
I watched last summer as those
diff ering defi nitions caused complete
meltdowns in communication. If
someone used the word racist, what
one person heard as “We can all do
better at combating our own preju-
dices, so that’s why I’m explaining
to you why what you said is harm-
ful,” another person would hear as an
accusation that they love Hitler and
the Ku Klux Klan. Things would go
downhill from there.
You can see the same problem
repeat itself over and over again
as liberals and conservatives have
absurd arguments based on the fact
they both have very diff erent defi -
nitions of words like “gender” or
“rights”. Half our political discourse
I
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald, File
A protester holds a sign asking, “Why is racism a debate?” outside the Umatilla County
Courthouse in Pendleton on July 15, 2020, as systemic racism became a topic of debate in the
county.
these days is like going into a class-
room of kindergarteners and tell-
ing half of them that “blurble” is the
number of fi ngers they have on one
hand and telling the other half that
it’s the number of feet they have, and
then asking the class what blurble
plus blurble is.
I’m sure everyone reading this
right now is absolutely convinced
that their own defi nition is the correct
one in every case, and everyone who
doesn’t agree with them is a dummy.
Perhaps you are right. But even if
that were the case, we’re not going to
accomplish anything worthwhile in
this country if we can’t have even a
basic dialog.
As you talk about controver-
sial issues, discuss what both of you
mean. If you say “Congress should
pass gun control,” you might mean
universal background checks and the
person you’re talking to might think
you mean banning all private own-
ership of guns. Meanwhile, “I’m
against gun control” to them might
mean “I think there should be few
restrictions on gun ownership,” while
you might be assuming they mean
convicted felons should be able to
walk the streets with machine guns.
Establishing in good faith what you
both mean when you use the phrase
“gun control” will lead to a far more
productive discussion.
COLUMN
CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES
Students return to the classroom
thanks to community’s eff orts
n a year like this, we have
learned to celebrate the small
milestones.
Wednesday, Feb. 17, was the
day we welcomed kindergartners
and fi rst graders into the class-
room. Aside from
some limited in-per-
son instruction for
high needs students,
this was the fi rst
time we have been
able to put kids at
their desks, in front
of a teacher, learning Tricia
Mooney
together.
Older elementary students have
been added each week since then,
and teachers and students alike
have been reinvigorated by the
personal interaction.
On Tuesday, March 2 we
hosted the fi rst sporting event at
Kennison Field, a Bulldogs girls
soccer game. Just playing the fi rst
home game since Nov. 8, 2019
was a victory in itself, and beating
our friendly rival Pendleton Bucks
was icing on the cake. Other Bull-
dogs teams have been practicing
and competing as well, and watch-
ing student-athletes reconnect with
teammates and coaches has been
thrilling.
On Monday, March 22, mid-
dle school students will return to
I
the hallways of Armand Larive
and Sandstone. And on April 12,
the Monday after Spring Break,
we’re planning to reopen Herm-
iston High School for in-person
classes. These milestones are pos-
sible because the Hermiston com-
munity is working hard to reduce
the spread of COVID-19.
It’s been a long road, and
unfortunately there have been
plenty of disappointments along
the way. As a district and school
board, we have done everything
possible to safely bring students
back since the start of the year.
The education and health of our
kids and community is our top
priority.
Part of the compromise has
been the hybrid model, where stu-
dents are in the classroom for part
of the day and learning from home
part of the day. This is to make
sure we can comply with state
guidelines on maintaining distance
between students within the build-
ing. It’s not ideal, but our teachers
are seeing growth from the limited
time together.
Even with a hybrid schedule,
reopening Hermiston High School
means bringing 1,000 people into
the building. If this isn’t the sin-
gle largest gathering of people
in Umatilla County since March
2020, it’s close. Because of the
exciting growth of our community
and enrollment at our schools, we
have additional work to ensure the
health and safety of students, staff ,
and their families.
I am optimistic that we will be
able to bring all students back to
the classroom for full days this
school year, even though updated
state guidance still makes it chal-
lenging. New rules released this
week will allow larger cohorts of
students, giving schools fl exibility.
However, continuing limitations
on personal distance — 35 square
feet per student and staff member
— won’t allow us to bring all stu-
dents back at the same time.
The school district will do its
part by following testing protocols
to make sure the virus isn’t spread
on our campuses as we continue to
make a case for the safe and pro-
ductive conclusion to the school
year.
We are committed to continu-
ing to do our part to make sure our
schools and businesses can safely
stay open, and that we have many
more positive milestones in the
coming year.
———
Dr. Tricia Mooney is the
superintendent of the Hermiston
School District.
U.S. PRESIDENT
JOSEPH BIDEN
STATE REP. GREG SMITH,
DISTRICT 57
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
whitehouse.gov/contact/
900 Court St. NE, H-482
Salem, OR 97301
503-986-1457
Email: Rep.GregSmith@state.
or.us
———
STATE SEN. BILL HANSELL,
DISTRICT 29
———
U.S. SENATORS
RON WYDEN
221 Dirksen Senate Offi ce Bldg.
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5244
La Grande offi ce: 541-962-7691
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VOLUME 115 • NUMBER 10
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Kelly Schwirse | Multi-Media consultant • kschwirse@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531
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———
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———
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Conversations also work bet-
ter when we ask the right questions.
Instead of having an intense, days-
long, national debates on the ques-
tion “Is this specifi c person/incident/
book/tweet racist?” we would be
better off spending our energy dis-
cussing questions like “How can we
make sure all Americans have an
equal shot at this opportunity?” or “Is
this system working equally well for
everyone, and if not, what can we do
to change that?”
We can also be thoughtful in using
words as they were intended, to pre-
serve their meaning. Too many
phrases, from “cancel culture” to
“fake news” to “virtue signaling,”
started out with specifi c, useful defi -
nitions and have now devolved into
nothing more than a blanket term for
“something I don’t like.”
Other words, it’s time to purge
from our societal vocabulary. There
are words that I’m ashamed I used as
growing up that seemed harmless at
the time that I stopped using when I
got older and understood how hurt-
ful they could be. Many years ago, I
quit using a certain “R word” I used
to hear on the playground a lot, for
example, after a conversation about
it with a friend in high school with
a brother with intellectual disabili-
ties. As our society has become more
aware of how harmful some language
can be, habit is no excuse for con-
tinuing to use it.
Language is a constantly grow-
ing, ever-changing thing. If we don’t
adapt with it, we won’t get anywhere.
It is the policy of the Hermiston Herald to correct errors as
soon as they are discovered. Incorrect information will be
corrected on Page 2A. Errors commited on the Opinion page
will be corrected on that page. Corrections also are noted in
the online versions of our stories.
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state, national or world issues. Brevity is good, but longer
letters should be kept to 250 words.
No personal attacks; challenge the opinion, not the person.
The Hermiston Herald reserves the right to edit letters for
length and for content.
———
MAYOR DAVID
DROTZMANN
180 NE Second St.
Hermiston, OR 97838
ddrotzmann@hermiston.or.us
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