Regarding the story printed on May 28 about the Belgrade man arrested for making racial threats against a Brazilian coworker: Initially, I wanted to write and say that I was born in Bozeman, I have lived here my entire life, and that this Montanan does welcome people of all nationalities, races, religions, etc.
The more I thought about it, though, I realized that, though true and heartfelt, that sentiment doesn’t really matter so much as acknowledging that a place in America is entitled to anyone who wants it. It is not only intolerant to shun (or threaten) the people of color who choose to make Montana their home, it is counter to every Christian and/or American value we as a nation insist we hold dear.
If America is great, it isn’t because we are homogenous; if my memory serves me, there was a country that tried reducing their population to just white Christians and the endeavor wasn’t successful, nor fondly remembered.
Jackelyn Thompson
Bozeman
George Floyd of Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor from Louisville are the latest victims of homicide by police officers. All they had in common was their skin color. It was not white. What assurance do the non-white citizens of Gallatin County, who make up 8% of the county’s population, have that “it can’t happen here?”
I would like the leaders of the five largest law enforcement agencies in our county, Sheriff Brian Gootkin, Bozeman Chief Steve Crawford, Belgrade Chief EJ Clark, Capt. Mark Wilfore, District 7, of the Montana Highway Patrol, and MSU Chief Kevin Gillilan, to answer that question. What makes our officers and deputies different?
What proactive steps have you, the heads of our law enforcement agencies, taken to insure that the armed citizens we employ and trust to serve and protect us will not act like officers in so many other cities across the nation, murdering citizens because of their skin color? And specifically:
What policies and procedures regarding racial issues do you have in place?
What specific training do your sworn staff have in cultural awareness, micro-aggressions, racial abuse, implicit bias, and the history of criminal justice regarding Black, brown, and Indigenous people in this country?
What steps do you take to make sure your sworn and non-sworn staff keep in touch with and have a good relationship with minority communities in your jurisdictions?
Please understand that this letter is a request for information, not a statement of suspicion or an accusation. It is a request for reassurance that, “it won’t happen here.”
John Heilman
Bozeman
Bozeman Daily Chronicle Letters to the Editor, 5/31/20