Stuart Reges email
I sent the following email to the AAUP mailing list at the University of Washington (local chapter of the American Association of University Professors) on 6/3/20.
I listed as the subject of the email "blue lives also matter." I should have learned from Heather MacDonald's experiences that on college campuses any use of the "lives" phrase other than Black Lives Matter is considered "an unspeakable provocation." I regret using it because it distracted from the main point I was trying to make.
Here is the text of the message:
It is commendable that our university leaders have put so much effort
into asking us to consider the difficult circumstances our students
face right now and to encourage us to show flexibility in helping them
to get through this challenging time. I have been disappointed that
there hasn't been much discussion of the police officers and national
guard troops who have been performing such a vital task to keep the
city safe.
The police and national guard have literally been on the front lines,
often forced to contend with angry protesters. They have had to
manage despicable acts of rioting and looting. I'm sure that many of
them have been working extra shifts to allow the city to keep a strong
police presence all through the day and late into the night. They
deserve our respect and our gratitude.
We also should denounce the unfair stereotyping of police officers
that we see coming from some protesters. It is important to call out
those few police who behave badly, but we shouldn't denounce the
entire police force. The vast majority of police are well intentioned
individuals who take their professional responsibilities very
seriously. They are working to preserve order in our community while
applying standards of justice equally to all citizens. We are all too
familiar with historical examples of injustice where a group is
painted with a broad brush and an entire community is denounced
because of the actions of a few. We should, therefore, reject
reprehensible slogans like ACAB which has been spray-painted on many
buildings downtown (meaning "All Cops Are Bastards").
We must come together to find a way to work through our issues and
that includes honoring and thanking those who are working hard to
preserve order and the rule of law in our society.
--Stuart Reges, Principal Lecturer, Computer Science & Engineering
https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~reges/
last updated 06/08/2020