OPINION READER’S FORUM
Founded in 1906
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 9, 2021
A4
EDITOR’S DESK
Still fi ghting racism, one year later
A
year ago this week, the front
page of the Hermiston Herald
featured the headline “Herm-
iston’s Black Lives Matter protests
continue.”
The article was one of several I
wrote last summer on Hermiston
residents taking to the
streets to advocate for
racial justice, joining
millions of people in cit-
ies around the world.
So, what has happened
since then?
Jade
The protests certainly McDowell
NEWS EDITOR
sparked increased dis-
cussion about racism.
They brought additional awareness
to systemic problems, and inspired
some state legislatures to pass police
reform bills.
Much of the “change” that has
happened has felt superfi cial, how-
ever. Corporations’ public rela-
tions departments whipped up a
social media post about how racism
is bad, and then blithely went back
to ignoring legitimate complaints
from employees of color about rac-
ist bosses, unequal pay and all-white
boards of directors.
Take the NFL. Last year, the
league, under pressure, stopped call-
ing its football team based in Wash-
ington, D.C., a name considered a
racial slur. But it continues to feature
only three Black head coaches in a
Ben Lonergan/Hermiston Herald, File
A Black Lives Matter protester waves a fl ag as the sun sets over the dueling groups of
protesters in Hermiston on Aug. 21, 2020.
league where 60% of the players are
Black.
Last week, in the face of peti-
tions and other pressure, the NFL
announced it would no longer use
”race-norming” to evaluate the set-
tlements for players’ brain injury
claims. The practice, according to
the Associated Press, “assumes that
Black patients start with worse cog-
nitive function than whites and other
non-Blacks,” resulting in some
retired Black players being denied
settlements that they would have
received had their brain function after
a head injury been measured against
the higher assumed baseline that
white players are measured against.
Like corporations, we can’t just
write a nice little anti-racism social
media post and call it a day. What-
ever work you put in a year ago, that
work is not over.
Start by looking at yourself. Do
you make assumptions about the peo-
ple you come across, based on their
race? Do you share social media
posts that use dehumanizing lan-
guage to talk about certain groups
of people, like undocumented immi-
COLUMN
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Open your eyes at the Umatilla Museum
O
n May 8 the Umatilla
Museum reopened its doors
to the public, Thursday to
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., each day.
But who cares about history, let
alone local history, let alone Uma-
tilla County history?
You should.
Visiting the Umatilla Museum is
a step toward eye-opening empow-
erment through questioning our
world. It is liberation, detaching
from “The Matrix” of disinterest
and apathy surrounding our nature
and identity.
In this process of
liberation, history
provides us with fi rst
with continuity, a
connection to preced-
ing generations and
legacy. From the con- Alex
Cooper
struction of McNary
Dam that keeps You-
Tube buzzing, to Native Ameri-
cans who left their mark on daily
language, to artifacts marking mil-
itary veterans’ sacrifi ces that pro-
vided freedom to write this article,
refl ecting on cause-eff ect relation-
ships unlocks a cascade of ques-
tions and subsequent insight.
Absent these questions, we see
only what is directly before us. In
turn we erroneously believe our-
selves to be a “blip,” rather than
belonging to a continuous fl ow.
From continuity comes humil-
ity. That is, while we are indeed
the doers, the creators of today, as
part of that fl ow of Homo sapiens
there is little fundamentally new
under the sun. Umatilla County’s
earlier housewives and craftsmen
had diff erent technologies but sim-
ilar aims; and while future Uma-
tillians will develop new tools, the
purposes of these will be famil-
iar. Humility acts as a thoroughfare
connecting past to present to future
and back again. It allows us to
learn from all members of this fl ow
to whom we are neither superior
nor inferior. It aff ords us the ability
to view our contemporaries as fel-
low travelers rather than as rivals.
Humility is neither natural nor
easy to obtain, however. When
2021’s teens refl ect on the Uma-
tilla Museum’s 1950s editions of
the Umatilla Viking, they may
struggle to look past the “old fash-
ioned-ness,” to fi ght a desire to
look down on predecessors. If
today’s teens are open to seeing
similarities with this earlier gener-
ation, however, they will fi nd them.
Accepting that one is not supe-
rior is a kind of “humble pie,” an
unpleasant part of the liberation
process.
Despite such immediate bit-
terness, “humble pie” provides
comfort. Yes, we should strive to
be better, as individuals, morally
and materially; yes, let’s push the
frontiers of technology. Nonethe-
less, we can take comfort in our
status as mere homo sapiens.
Psychology and philosophy have
value as theory, but are nothing
compared to the millennia of fi eld
data (a.k.a. the “history”) we have
on Homo sapiens. While all the bil-
lions of us in this human laboratory
have been individuals and respon-
sible for personal actions, as a col-
lective we have bumbled through,
simply doing the best we can. See-
ing ourselves, friends, and family
in the faces of Ancient Egyptians
or even of Umatilla’s 19th century
pioneers can give us comfort, mak-
ing us feel less alone in our short-
comings and limitations.
Once possessing comfort we
are equipped to generate empathy
for others, be they in the past or in
the present. We can put ourselves
in the shoes of a Umatilla railroad
worker, or of Lewis and Clark. We
can imagine that were we 19th cen-
tury pioneers or Native Americans,
we might have engaged in the same
atrocities for which we judge them.
Like “humble pie, “empathy pie” is
bitter — swallowing it requires us
to forgo our instinct to judge — but
doing so is again the only way to
unlock and unlatch.
A progression from continu-
ity to humility to comfort to empa-
thy under our belt, we can navi-
gate forward with confi dence. We
can propel ourselves by the warmth
of our predecessors, from Umatilla
County and beyond. With lighter
hearts we can continue writing the
story written by frail Homo sapi-
ens, one we realize to be as repet-
itive (cyclical) as it is progressive
(linear).
Perhaps most important, we can
give ourselves the power and oth-
ers the permission to depersonal-
ize challenges, shortcomings, and
confl icts.
We are individuals but also part
of something much bigger than
any one of us. Recognize this,
unlatch from apathy and disinter-
est, and open your eyes. Make a
visit to the Umatilla Museum as
part of this process.
———
Alex Cooper works in Migrant
Education for InterMountain Educa-
tion Service District.
CORRECTIONS
Printed on
recycled
newsprint
VOLUME 114 • NUMBER 21
Andrew Cutler | Publisher • acutler@eomediagroup.com • 541-278-2673
Jade McDowell | News Editor • jmcdowell@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4536
Kelly Schwirse | Multi-Media consultant • kschwirse@hermistonherald.com • 541-564-4531
Audra Workman | Multi-Media consultant • aworkman@eastoregonian.com • 541-564-4538
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The Hermiston Herald (USPS 242220, ISSN
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Herald, 333 E. Main St., Hermiston, OR 97838,
(541) 567-6457.
grants? Do you listen to pundits who
openly repeat white supremacist
talking points claiming elites are try-
ing to replace white Americans with
non-white immigrants?
Then look at the people around
you. Do the people you associate
with feel comfortable saying racist
things around you because they don’t
expect you’ll call them out? Are you
someone that people who look diff er-
ent than you feel comfortable hang-
ing out with? Are the organizations
you’re affi liated with a welcoming
place for people of color? Does the
company you work for do a good job
of hiring and promoting a diverse
mix of people?
Then look at your broader com-
munity. Are there racist laws on the
books in your city, county or state
that need changing? Are there dis-
crepancies in outcomes when it
comes to education, health, fi nances,
justice or other essential components
of society?
I guarantee you the answer to at
least some of the questions above
will reveal something you can work
to change for the better.
For years, visitors to Hermis-
ton coming in on South Highway
395 have been greeted by a sign
that proclaims, “We are building an
inclusive community.” It’s a wor-
thy goal, but one that we haven’t
fully achieved yet.
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Sports fan wants to know
I have a couple of questions for the Hermiston City
Council.
Why is there no public tennis court in Hermiston? I
checked; all belong to school district. Hermiston has a large
tennis community that plays year-round. Compared with
other outdoor sports, tennis courts would be used more fre-
quently than fi elds for other sports. Please build at least a
group of four.
The baseball fi eld located next to the Field of Dreams
was named Shockman Field to thank the family for the con-
struction of the fi eld with their heavy equipment and many
man-hours of labor. The sign that named the fi eld is now
gone. What happened? Please replace the sign to continue
honoring their hard work.
Mike Mehren
Hermiston
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