Julie McDonald Commentary: Arrest Vandals and Criminals and Do What’s Possible to Curtail COVID

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Three police officers were jumped and dragged through the streets of Chicago.

Two elderly women harassed in Portland, one doused with paint, another with a walker hassled after trying to protect a police precinct building against vandalism.

Militant thugs mingling with peaceful protestors on city streets set fire to police precinct buildings, destroyed businesses, damaged the livelihoods of innocent people.

We’ve watched law and order on some inner city streets unravel since the May 25, 2020, killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis.

Like many people, I watched in horror as Floyd, an African American man, struggled to breathe for nearly nine minutes beneath the knee of white Officer Derek Chauvin. Even if Floyd had resisted arrest, he didn’t deserve to die on a Minneapolis street at the hands — no, knees — of a police officer who made himself judge, jury, and executioner.

As I read first-person accounts from African American men questioned by police officers who must take extra care before pulling out their identification to avoid being killed, I understood the reason behind the mantra Black Lives Matter (too).

That’s why I attended the protest against police brutality at the Lewis County Courthouse June 1, where 300 people kneeled for eight minutes and 46 seconds, the length of time Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck.

But since then, some peaceful protests against police brutality have been infiltrated by anarchists intent on destruction. The message — the need to root out the few bad law enforcement officers who use excess violence against perpetrators — has been diminished as nightly news reports of vandalism, destruction and assaults. Random attacks on police officers, the vast majority of whom do a good job protecting and serving the public, are inexcusable.

In the Chicago altercation cited above, young women among the peaceful protestors yanked the offenders away from the police officers and formed a circle to protect them from violent hoodlums. Good for them.

On Sunday, a group of pro-law enforcement demonstrators gathered in downtown Seattle to persuade the city council to maintain funding for police.

The efforts of well-intentioned protestors who seek change have been muffled by anarchists. Even some people who initially supported their efforts turn away in disgust at the violence. This is America, not a war zone in a third-world country.

Enough already. This nation is built upon the right to free speech and assembly. But people who engage in criminal behavior should be arrested and jailed. Leaders who ignore criminal activity by anarchists should be replaced. We need to pray for peace in the world and on the city streets of our nation.

 

COVID-19 Cases and Online Learning



Lewis County had 29 positive COVID-19 cases May 1, and last weekend that number topped 230, or 3.6 percent of the 6,393 tested.

The numbers were bound to increase after we began reopening the economy, which we needed to do. But the spread of the disease could have been slowed if most people had followed the advice of epidemiologists and infectious disease specialists who recommend social distancing and wearing masks.

Granted, despite the 800 percent increase in the last three months, the numbers are still relatively small compared with the county’s population of 80,000.

But last week, when Gov. Jay Inslee recommended most schools engage in distance learning in the fall, Lewis County was labeled among the “high risk” counties, based on our rate of infection during the past two weeks surpassing 75 per 100,000. Clark, Cowlitz and Thurston counties fell into the moderate risk tier.

Distance learning is no substitute for students learning in the classrooms. I’ve asked kids how much they learned last spring when all classes were online. Not much.

Perhaps, with more time to prepare, the schools will provide meaningful education for students through Zoom meetings and Google classrooms. It won’t be easy for teachers, especially those instructing little kids, and people like my sister, a special education teacher for blind students.

It’s hard to fathom how students will learn much online. I’ve taken enough Zoom workshops to realize it’s much easier to let your attention drift while in the comfort of your home than in a classroom.

Access to high-speed internet varies tremendously throughout Lewis County, which could pose problems for online learning. Some families can’t afford internet. Libraries are closed. So are childcare centers.

Working parents face horrendous obstacles with schools closed, forcing children to remain at home. I’ve heard some parents are banding together to hire someone to teach small groups of students in their homes. That’s possible for people with extra money, but out of reach for those working paycheck to paycheck.

What a mess.

I don’t know the answers, but I hope students don’t fall too far behind. Whenever life returns to some semblance of normalcy, and I pray it does soon, it’ll take time to recoup the economic, educational, and social costs of the pandemic.

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Julie McDonald, a personal historian from Toledo, may be reached at chaptersoflife1999@gmail.com.