We Can Fix This
To the Editor:
We Americans are living in a perfect storm of national disaster - the dangerous COVID-19 pandemic, a seriously depressed economy and a maelstrom of racial turmoil. Like most Americans, I am appalled at the incidents of burning and looting that are the unfortunate spin-offs of the many peaceful protests. Like most Americans, I believe the black lives matter movement has a legitimate foundation in our culture and history. I admire the courage and energy of the hundreds of thousands of people all over the United States exercising their First Amendment rights who are peacefully protesting the outrage of continuing bigotry and racial injustice and unfairness in our country. If you read American history you know about the unspeakable atrocities and heartbreaking pain that African Americans have endured for over 400 years.
Sure, enormous progress has been made, but much more needs to be done. And for full disclosure, I am a retired white teacher who spent part of his 35 years career teaching chemistry to black kids in inner city schools in Houston and talking to parents about their concerns and their hopes for their children. And I can tell you this for sure - African Americans want to be safe and secure just as much as white folks do. They are just as concerned about crime, gangs and drug abuse as white folks. African Americans want their kids to be treated fairly and get good educations and jobs just as much as white folks want for their kids.
I also have some thoughts about the avalanche of attacks on our police. The recent shootings by police officers of unarmed black men have caused a racial upheaval unlike any event since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King in 1968. Tragically, the overwhelming number of police officers who do their best daily to keep us safe are receiving much blanket criticism with demands for general reform because of the actions of a few bad cops. The majority of cops are good, decent, family folks doing an incredibly tough and dangerous job. Many cops, especially in urban areas, see the underbelly of life’s miseries. I do not see how police work could be done without the potential for some form of emotional distress, even PTSD.
There have been suggestions that the police have been given too much to do - duties involving barking dogs, loud music, minor traffic accidents, etc that have nothing to do with fighting real crime. How many issues that currently involve the police could be reassigned to social services and community support organizations? Perhaps it would be helpful to reallocate resources and duties to free the police to deal with real crime and draw upon social and community resources for other needs. Actually, the argument could be made that more funds are needed, but allocated in such a way to reassign certain current police duties which don’t involve fighting crime.
People of good will of all races, ethnic groups and political parties can and must sit down with community leaders, the local police and elected officials and figure out how we can all work together to make our young democracy work better to provide fairness, opportunity and justice for all our people. America, despite a few historical detours and stumbles, has always been a work in progress. We can fix this.
Bill Balch
La Grange