4A
OPINION
SATURDAY, JUNE 13, 2015 | WEST HAWAII TODAY
W
ASHINGTON
— Video
imagery
doesn’t get much worse
than a white police
officer throwing an
African-American girl in
a bikini to the ground,
kneeling on her back as
she cries, and drawing
his gun on other teens.
What in God’s name
is wrong with our cops?
I should say, what was
wrong with McKinney,
Texas, police Cpl. Eric
Casebolt, the officer in
the video. Would that
this were an isolated
case, but we’ve seen
other videos the past
year or so involving
other police officers,
mostly white, whose
aggressive tactics
resulted in death or
injury to unarmed,
black victims.
While it’s necessary
to qualify that most
cops are good and risk
their lives to protect
our safety, nothing
justifies what millions
of Americans witnessed
in the latest viral video
described above.
The 15-year-old
girl reportedly was
mouthing off; Casebolt
may have felt flustered
as he faced dozens of
teenagers following
a fight he didn’t yet
understand; the
moment may even
have felt dangerous to
him. We don’t know.
What has been
reported is that the
original melee, which
had ended by the time
police arrived, may
have been prompted
by two white women
hurling racial slurs
when a crowd of teens,
mostly black, arrived
for a cookout at the
private, planned-
community pool.
“Go back to [your]
Section 8 home,” one of
them reportedly said,
according to the party’s
host, a teen who lives in
the pool’s neighborhood.
Most anyone can
understand the women’s
irritation at the suddenly
overcrowded scene
but not their resort to
cruel and inflammatory
language. Some of the
teens apparently were
shouting at the gate to
be let in, while others
scaled the wall. The
mixed-race community
has strict rules that
residents can bring only
two guests to the pool.
A fight eventually
erupted and the police
were called. This would
have been a daunting
situation for anyone, but
Casebolt couldn’t have
picked a less appropriate
individual to subdue as
an example to others.
Many have asked: Didn’t
he realize he was being
filmed? As though, if
only he’d known, he
would have behaved
better. The more
compelling question
to me is: What in the
world was he thinking?
Obviously, Casebolt
felt he had to take
command of what
appeared to be a
chaotic situation. But
we’ve reached a point
where something has
to be done, not only
to better monitor
police behavior, but
also to quell inevitable
racial tensions.
Were Casebolt’s
actions racially
motivated? A black
resident said no; a
white resident said
yes, according to CNN.
The white teen who
filmed the incident,
partygoer Brandon
Brooks, said police were
targeting blacks. Benet
Embry, a 43-year-old
black resident, said
the incident was not
racially motivated.
Perhaps. Yet the
image of a black girl
pinned down by a
white cop is impossible
to shake and brings
to mind the closing
defense argument in the
film “A Time to Kill.”
The attorney, whose
black client had killed
his little girl’s rapists
and torturers, described
the scene of the broken,
nearly dead child to
the all-white jury.
“I want you to picture
that little girl. Now
imagine she’s white.”
It was a chilling,
convincing moment.
Does anyone
think that Casebolt
would have treated
a bikini-clad white
girl with long, blond
hair the same way?
Recent debate
has focused on body
cameras for police.
Although cameras
can positively modify
actions, they only
capture what happens,
not what motivates
behavior. It seems
our greater concern
should be getting at
those motivations with
a greater focus on
in-depth psychological
testing and monitoring.
Even if some
departments do
background checks
and take other
measures, they’re
apparently not doing
enough. The Cleveland
officer who shot and
killed a 12-year-old
boy last November
had been cited in
a previous job for
emotional immaturity,
yet the Cleveland
department didn’t
review those records
before hiring him.
Many officers come
from the military.
Have they seen battle?
Do they suffer post-
traumatic stress?
Casebolt was a former
military police officer
in the Navy, which may
mean nothing, but he
brings that experience
to the job. Are there
factors therein?
It was clear from the
footage that Casebolt
had lost his cool. He was
angry. Maybe anybody
would have been under
the circumstances. But
a police officer shouldn’t
be just “anybody.”
Armed with a gun and
the authority to use it,
he should always be the
exception to ordinary
human behavior.
Kathleen Parker’s email
address is kathleenparker@
Kenoi should
step aside during
investigations
In May I attended a
celebration of senior
achievement awards
given out to people from
all over the Big Island. It
was gratifying to see their
volunteer spirits being
lauded and made me
feel my recent decision
to move to this island
was basically both a
smart and good choice.
But this letter is about
the divisive situation we as
neighbors and taxpayers
face as investigations into
Mayor Billy Kenoi’s alleged
mishandling of county
funds intensify. When
Wally Lau stood in for the
absent mayor I thought
that was a smart move on
Kenoi’s part. But before the
event ended, the mayor did
show up and frankly acted
as if he was running for
office, telling a few jokes
amid his notable glad-
handing style of speaking.
I’ve been talking with a
number of people — some
neighbors who’ve lived
on the Big Island all their
lives and some who are
newcomers. Almost without
exception, all thought that
although he may have done
wrong, they would like to
see him step aside until
the ethics investigation is
completed. Most feel his
having already admitted
numerous instances of
mishandling county money
through misuse of his
pCard plus the slew of
new allegations cropping
up almost daily, for him
to act as if there’s nothing
amiss is the wrong image to
show the public. Many who
supported him in the past
said they’d be happy to see
him acquitted but he now
needs to act professionally.
So I raise the public
suggestion that Kenoi do
the proper and gentlemanly
thing by stepping side while
ongoing investigations are
in progress and completed.
His continued presence is
a detriment to any sense
of good government,
which I assume he feels he
represents. By temporarily
giving up the keys of his
office to Mr. Lau he can
regain some of the mayoral
lustre his past actions
have no doubt tarnished.
Mr. Kenoi, are you a real
leader with a backbone or
something I refuse to name
in a family newspaper?
I’m hoping to see a quick
reaction to this suggestion.
Warren Peace
Waimea
Cut administrators, not
the hospital workers
Kona’s basic human
services have to keep
up with our exploding
population. Concurrency
is a word that our
government cannot find
in the dictionary.
It cannot be possible that
this community will allow
basic hospital staff to be cut
from the people who serve
us to the best of their ability.
If there is a shortfall, let
it fall on administration.
How many high-paying
positions can be eliminated
to keep the real backbone
of our hospital in tact? Will
Kona stand for this lunacy?
Steve Snyder
Kalaoa
Stifling a boycott: For Israel,
it means finding a two-state solution
Pool party mayhem
KATHLEEN PARKER |
THE WASHINGTON POST
EDITORIAL |
PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE (TNS)
W
ith their
multimillion-dollar
contributions
to presidential hopefuls,
Sheldon Adelson and Haim
Saban have emerged as two
of the biggest names in the
post-Citizens United world
of democracy for sale. This
week the Republican casino
owner and the Democratic
media mogul turned the
power of their bank accounts
on another country: Israel.
At a Las Vegas confab, the
political odd couple joined
with ardent Israel advocates to
discuss strategies to improve
the Jewish state’s image on
U.S. college campuses, the site
of a growing BDS campaign
— to boycott, divest from
and impose sanctions on the
country for its occupation of
Palestinian territories. But
the duo’s approach — which
stresses outreach to friendly
students and retaliation against
Israel’s detractors — will do
little to shield the Jewish
state from these attacks.
With no peace deal in sight,
BDS has drawn high-profile
backers off campus, too. It has
prompted calls for corporations
and investment funds to divest
from businesses that profit
from the occupation — or,
in some cases, all companies
based in the Jewish state.
Fighting the boycott,
Adelson, Saban and their
allies never address its root
cause: Israel’s half-century
occupation of the Palestinian
territories. Israel, Adelson
has said, should maintain
its grip on occupied lands,
whatever the implications for
the country’s democracy.
The reality is that only
a two-state solution can
stop BDS. This starts with
confidence-building measures
to establish trust between
the two sides — a freeze on
settlement construction on
the West Bank, for example —
and ends with an agreement
for a just and durable peace.
Despite Adelson and Saban’s
opinions, recent polls show
that at least a plurality of
Americans — and a majority
of American Jews — believe in
two states. With the current
government in Jerusalem,
chances for progress in the
short term are dim. But the
message should be clear: If
you love Israel, free Palestine.
LETTERS
YOUR VOICE
