Letters to the Editor
Letter to Editor:
“White Silence is Violence” – protest sign in Minneapolis, May 31, 2020.
I am a white woman, a citizen. I stand with the victims of police brutality and racism all over the world, and here in the Ottawa Valley.
Because it happens here too.
I stand with the victims, their families and their friends, who have completely lost trust in the police force that is supposed to protect them.
I stand with communities, who see police getting away with brutality and racism, with no accountability or punishment.
I stand with every person who feels betrayed by their police and government.
When people are harmed by police, they need to be heard and to be believed. They need to see genuine remorse: not just words, but actions today and forever. We all need to know it can not happen again, before we feel justice is served.
So I add my voice to the great rising cry:
Take your knee off my neck
– protest anthem
I agree that police officers and officials who act with brutality and racism must be named publicly, criminally charged and removed from their jobs, just as we do with everyone else. I agree that all police and government officials must take honest responsibility for the actions of all of their members, and make brutality and racism a firing offence at every level of their
organizations.
Our police systems have lost the moral authority to police themselves. I join the call for truly independent, objective and effective oversight of policing, to ensure that they actively respect the dignity and rights of every person, and act in a lawful manner.
We choose our future, when we choose to stand.
How do you stand?
Genevieve Way
white woman
Killaloe, Ontario
Photo cdn.cnn.com
