Letters: Lee Boulevard, police reform, face masks and more | June 26

A Lee we can be proud to honor

My suggestion to the renaming of Lee Boulevard is to dedicate the street to the memory of Maj. Kurt Lee. He has the distinction of being the first American-born Chinese-American marine officer. He enlisted in 1946 and served with great distinction during the Korean War winning the Navy Cross, the Silver Star, two Purple Hearts and a commendation for valor in combat. He retired in 1968 after serving in Vietnam. I believe this is a Lee that General Mattis and Richland would be proud to have a street named for.

Rename Lee for Spike, save money

Suggest the Richland City Council could pass a motion renaming Robert E. Lee Boulevard the Spike Lee Boulevard, thus saving the cost of changing the street signs.

Glenn C. Lee a fitting Lee to honor

Once again the issue of Lee Boulevard comes to the forefront and with good reason. It just seems so simple to me that the information plaque be replaced, not all the street signs. It is more than just a nuisance for the businesses and home owners to identify with a new address.

Simple solution: Lee Boulevard should be named in honor of Glenn C. Lee who, for many years, was the publisher of the Tri-City Herald. He was a quite influential person in the early growth stages, of our area subsequent to World War II. There are many of us who remember him. He was referred to as Mr. Tri-Cities on more than one occasion!

He deserves this honor!

Maybe ‘Liberty’ instead of Lee?

My thinking on Lee Boulevard has evolved. Having done historical research on Richland over the years, I value the uniqueness of the Alphabet homes, the overall design of Richland by the noted architect G. A. Pehrson, and the street naming after noted Army Engineers.

Robert E. Lee was a great Army Engineer and a greater general. But, ultimately, he was fighting a battle to maintain slavery in the South. Would we think the same if Goethals Boulevard were Goebbels Boulevard, or Kimball Avenue were Khomeini Avenue? What if the main drag through town were Bin Laden Way? All of these were great people to their followers, but to the rest of us, these are symbols of oppression and killing. No other nation would allow celebration of those who fought so hard against their country.

Perhaps rather than a person, the street could be named after an emotion—a few “L” words come to mind: Liberty, Love, Loyalty, all attributes that Robert E. Lee subscribed to, as well as those oppressed by him. Lee belongs in the history books and people should study him and decide for themselves. But not to honor him at the expense of those who are Americans.

Let’s solve bigger problems than Lee

I am outraged that the City of Richland is planning to rename only Lee Boulevard. The righteous indignation shouldn't only be focused on Robert E. Lee, but on the most evil roots of slavery, the slave owners.

If we really want to get crazy, every monument, city, county, school and street across this nation that are named for George Washington and Thomas Jefferson need to be destroyed or changed. The names of these villainous slaveholders who bought, sold and "owned" Black human beings should be erased from history forever!

Lee is considered to be a traitor in this country, just as Washington and Jefferson were considered traitors by the English; difference is that we won that war, Lee didn't win his.

The impassioned efforts of some to revise history is a slippery slope. The human experience is full of times that would call for a do-over if possible, slavery being one of the major ones. We can't and shouldn't try to change history, just focus on what we can learn from it.

We have much bigger problems in our country right now than to be fixated on something as stupid as changing street names!

SARC a place for LGBTQ to get aid

LGBTQ is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer or questioning. These terms are used to describe a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. Sexual violence affects people of every gender identity and sexual orientation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), individuals who identify as part of the LGBTQ communities experience sexual violence at similar or higher rate than straight individuals. Various studies have shown that LGBTQ individuals are more likely to be bullied, ostracized and vulnerable to human trafficking. LGBTQ individuals face higher rates of poverty, stigma and marginalization, which puts them at greater risk for sexual violence. They also face higher rates of hate-motivated violence, which may lead to some type of sexual violence.

The Support, Advocacy & Resource Center (SARC) is a nonprofit community-based agency that helps anyone who has been impacted by a crime. SARC helps individuals who may be affected by sexual assault, assault, harassment, stalking, homicide, human trafficking, and so much more. All of SARC services are free and confidential. SARC also has a crisis line that is available 24/7. If you need to talk to someone, have questions, or need help, please call SARC at 509-374-5391.

Boot out the bad, keep good officers

We want to say we appreciate the police! Are they perfect? No, but who is? Do they make mistakes? Yes, but who hasn’t? Are some of those mistakes heinous? Without a doubt, so let’s go after those offenders with the full force of law, following due process.

It bothers us when the entire law enforcement community gets painted with the same brush when only a small portion are bad. Is it fair to lump all protesters together when the vast majority are rightfully protesting peacefully and only some are rioting/looting? Is it fair to lump any group of people together when everyone has different motives? Of course not — that’s our point.

We’re not saying abuses don’t happen; we’ve all seen videos of awful things! All we’re saying is that for every horrible video we see, there are millions in law enforcement who are not the problem and it’s not fair to make them carry that burden. Could the system be reformed? Could we empower police to speak up when they see abuses? Could any number of other changes be made? Absolutely, but let’s not punish everyone because of the bad apples.

Thank you to our law enforcement community!

Let’s move police into public safety

Many of us have seen the horrific video of George Floyd dying with Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressing his knee into Mr. Floyd’s neck for almost 9 minutes.

We learned that the Minneapolis department had previously implemented multiple reforms including training officers on the dangers of the restrain Officer Chauvin used. We learned that Officer Chauvin had 17 previous citizen complaints on his record.

We learned police unions across the country have contracts that allow the union to arbitrate and reverse any sanction placed on their members. And we wonder how police officers are either not indicted or acquitted when they clearly killed unarmed and cooperative citizens.

The National Academy of Sciences tells us that black men have a lifetime probability of 1 in 1,000 of being killed by police, 2.5 times the risk of white men.

In the last two weeks, we have seen video after video of excessive force by police against peaceful demonstrators.

Tri-Cities — transform from policing to public safety. Set goals, apply strategies, assess and pivot when necessary. Move funding from programs and departments that cause harm to programs and departments that provide safety and truly serve.

Make housing available to all

In light of what has been happening here and all over the country, I think we all need to do more to make sure housing and jobs are open to people of all races and genders. I have lived in Richland for three years. There are currently at least two properties for sale in my neighborhood. I would like to make clear that I would welcome neighbors of minority races. I trust real estate offices and agents are working to make housing available fairly.

What’s hard about wearing masks?

Why is it so difficult for people to understand about wearing a mask for virus protection?

Why are they not required by law?

I am sure there are those who like to drive the speed they think is safe for them, park where they like.

Maybe have a few drinks and still be allowed to drive, certainly the use of their cell phone while driving is fine.

All of the above are accepted and enforceable by law.

The coronavirus can be just as deadly as any of the above actions given the right circumstances.

Wear the mask. It is not about you, but about others.

Takeout orders often not accurate

We have been supportive of local restaurants, but I am tired of arriving home only to discover that what I ordered and what I received are not even close. When ordering in a sit-down restaurant you know right away if the order is wrong, the same restaurant doing take out may not be so accurate. My message to local restaurants: if you want to be open for take out, make the quality of the food, accuracy of the order and service (ease of ordering) just like we are used to. I have noticed that even the fast food restaurants are having a problem with accuracy.

Shutdown isn’t really about virus

Clint Didier is a Constitutionalist who embraces our First Amendment. Businesses owners have always had the right to remain open and provide a living for their families. The oppressive government we now have may pull a license, bring on fines and threats. That’s fine. Life isn’t fair, and sometimes being an American requires one to stand up against all odds and fight.

If you're going to lose it all, let the bully take you to court. There’s nothing left anyway, but maybe a good fight and dignity. The real fact of (the) day is the shutdown has nothing to do with the virus. There’s an election and a state debt at hand. The state is $21 billion in debt and with a second stimulus in sight, (Gov. Jay) Inslee is holding all of us hostage to leverage the administration. The man loves power and attention which he could care less. This is about money and extortion. Tyranny or liberty?

This story was originally published June 26, 2020 at 12:01 AM with the headline "Letters: Lee Boulevard, police reform, face masks and more | June 26."