Racism in Shoreline? The other side of the story
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Recently I wrote a story about a very large demonstration in Ridgecrest in support of a 13 year old Black girl who had been threatened by a neighbor. The demonstration was admirable in its restraint and determination.
I reported that "But while the 13 year old girl (I'm not using names in this story) was standing in the street with her bicycle and her protest sign another neighbor swerved their car toward her, as if to hit her, then followed with threats to lynch and shoot her."
To my shock, after the story was published I was contacted by the neighbor said to have committed the hate crime. It was a shock because the neighbor (we'll call her Neighbor B) is someone I know and have known for a very long time.
It was disorienting because in all the time I have known Neighbor B, I have never known her to even whisper anything that could be considered racist.
She is very forceful and is the kind of person to step forward when others might hold back. These can be good traits - she was involved for 20 years in youth sports and boards.
She is also a person of deep empathy and compassion.
So how did she become this symbol of injustice that brings out crowds of demonstrators?
The beginning
The beginning was the death of Bothell police officer Jonathan Schoop, who was killed after a routine traffic stop in Bothell on Monday July 13, 2020. Neighbor A, who lives on the same street, was deeply moved by this senseless death. Her family includes police officers, so to show her support for a fallen officer, she hung a Blue Lives Matter flag on her house.
On Wednesday, July 14 Neighbor A discovered a large chalked Black Lives Matter on the street in front of her house and a sign duct-taped to a stick dug into a pot of geraniums on her front porch. The sign said Black Lives Matter on the front and and F*** the Police on the back.
Neighbor A called the police but they noted that neighbors' cameras didn't catch anything - so there was nothing to follow up on.
On July 15, Neighbor A called the police to report that a Black woman who looked to be around 20 was standing on her street yelling at her.
The incident
Thursday, July 16, Neighbor B (the one accused of being a racist) was returning home.
The incident
Thursday, July 16, Neighbor B (the one accused of being a racist) was returning home.
As she does several times a day, she drove to her house and made a hard left toward the opposite side of the street, stopping, then backing into her driveway.
She noticed a Black woman who appeared to be 18-20 years old standing in Neighbor A's driveway and was careful to make eye contact to be sure she was out of the way. The woman was 20-30 feet away from the car and never moved.
Neighbor B parked her car, got out and went to talk to the woman. She stopped about ten - twelve feet away because neither of them was wearing a mask.
Her first words were: "How may I help you?"
The woman's response was to shoot her fist in the air and yell "Black Power!"
Again Neighbor B asked "How may I help you?"
This time the response was "My life matters!"
Neighbor B: "Of course it does. Who says it doesn't?"
The woman pointed at Neighbor A who was sitting on her front porch with Neighbor C.
"She did because she supports police and police just want to kill black people."
"Are you the person who put the signs in my neighbor's yard?"
"Yes."
"That solves a little mystery, we didn’t know who did it."
"Yeah she’s a racist."
"Have you ever talked to her?"
"Well no."
Neighbor B: "I see you want to defund the police."
"Yes because they just want to kill black people."
"What are you going to do if something bad happens?"
"I’m going to call the police but they’re probably going to just come and shoot me."
Neighbor B: "If I have to call 911 I need to know that they are going to come."
"I didn’t choose to be born black."
Neighbor B: "I didn’t choose to be born white and my son didn’t choose to be born disabled. I think that everybody has to do their best with what they are given."
The interchange did not get better from there. Neighbor B kept trying to make points and the woman repeated her slogans. Neighbor B got more and more frustrated that the woman wouldn't do anything but shout catchphrases and say that the police would come to her house and kill her if she called them.
Neighbor B admits that after one of the Black Power fists / shout responses she might well have said "Black Power my ass!"
Neighbor B never got closer to the woman than 10 feet. She did not threaten to lynch or shoot her. She did not insult her. She did not "clap in her face."
The confrontation was about police and trespassing.
At some point during the confrontation, a man walking a dog stopped to listen. He jumped in on the woman's side and he started yelling too. Neighbor B gave up and turned and left, going in to her house. The man, the woman, and Neighbor A were all yelling at each other.
On Friday, July 17 there was a sign propped across the street facing their houses. It said Blue Lives Murder.
Neighbor B did say something like - "How would you feel if someone left signs that were offensive to you in your yard?” And - "if I find any crap in my yard you and I are going to have a personal problem."
At some point during the confrontation, a man walking a dog stopped to listen. He jumped in on the woman's side and he started yelling too. Neighbor B gave up and turned and left, going in to her house. The man, the woman, and Neighbor A were all yelling at each other.
Neighbor B, and Neighbor A for that matter, never realized they were talking to anything but an 18-20 year old woman. They didn't find out until later than the "woman" was 13 years old.
On Friday, July 17 there was a sign propped across the street facing their houses. It said Blue Lives Murder.
The police
On Sunday, July 19, two Shoreline Police officers came to talk to Neighbor B and asked her to tell them about the incident.
She told them the details. They asked if there were witnesses and she told them about Neighbor A, who had left town, and Neighbor C. They talked to Neighbor C in person.
Police conclusion: there was no hate crime. Neighbor B's version was credible. They categorized it as a "dispute between neighbors."
The letter
Sunday afternoon July 19 Neighbor C (the one who was sitting on the porch observing the confrontation) was gardening when a man walked by and asked if he could give her a flyer about something happening in the neighborhood. She tucked it into her pocket and didn't look at it until late that night. When she read it, she immediately contacted Neighbor B.
It was a two and a half page letter from the girl. In it she provides Neighbor B's first name and house number. She claims that Neighbor B swerved her car and tried to deliberately hit her so that she had to move or be hit.
She claims that Neighbor B came out of her car swearing at her and yelling insults about her being a "dumb little girl" and a "selfish baby" and "if she were a police officer she would happily shoot and lynch me." She claims that Neighbor B said she wasn't racist because she let Black EMTs into her house to save her son's life.
(Neighbor B says that EMTs have been to her house twice, and neither was Black.)
(Neighbor B says that EMTs have been to her house twice, and neither was Black.)
She complains that Neighbor B hasn't contacted her or apologized. She did sign the letter with her first and last name and age but no other contact information.
The letter was hand delivered to about five blocks of houses around where Neighbor B lives, urging people to "make sure this racist woman doesn't do anything to harm me or my family."
The letter was hand delivered to about five blocks of houses around where Neighbor B lives, urging people to "make sure this racist woman doesn't do anything to harm me or my family."
Neighbor B did not receive the letter, only the nearby neighbors did.
The police
Neighbor B called the police on Monday, July 20 to tell them about the letter. They came out, took a copy of the letter and talked to Neighbor C.
The girl's family had also submitted a police report on July 20.
Police went to the girl's home and interviewed her aunt. They spoke to the girl whose response to questions was to read them the two and a half page letter that had been distributed to the neighborhood.
The second letter
On the following Tuesday, July 21 Neighbor B's son found a crumpled note in the mailbox on their porch. It was a one page letter from the girl, listing all her accomplishments and repeating her accusations.
The wording was slightly different regarding the car. "It started out between us with you attempting to hit me with your car (or at least what I interpreted it as) to scare me."
The only comment she called racist was the "Black Power my a**" The complaint repeated the supposed threats to shoot her. She signed it "Your Neighbor, Black Lives Matter."
Police response
Neighbor B called the police to report the second letter. They thought it was a personal note and suggested that the girl was reaching out to her. Neighbor B said that she didn't know where the girl lived or how to contact her. The police showed her how to request a copy of the police report so she could get the original complaint filed when the girl was interviewed.
Social media
She soon realized that it was not a personal note but had been shared and reshared widely on social media. It was part of plans for a large Stand With Us rally and march which was apparently coming to her house on Saturday the 25th. She called the police and said, what do I do to protect myself, my family, and my property.
They said move your vehicles, put a tape barrier across the driveway to show the property line, get security cameras, put hoses in your front yard and get fire extinguishers in case someone throws incendiary devices, and most of all leave the house. Take your son, your dogs, and plan to be gone for a few days if you have to.
Not soon enough
On Friday, July 24 before the cameras were installed, someone came up deep into their property and slashed the tires on their pickup truck.
The rally
Neighbor B and her son left the house the morning of the Saturday, July 25 march and did not return until it was over. The marchers were very civil. No incendiary devices were used, no vandalism, and unlike the letters, the neighbors were not identified by name or by address.
Current situation
Neighbor B and her son left the house the morning of the Saturday, July 25 march and did not return until it was over. The marchers were very civil. No incendiary devices were used, no vandalism, and unlike the letters, the neighbors were not identified by name or by address.
Current situation
Neighbor B returned to her house the same day. There has been no more vandalism.
Because the girl posted photos of her and screenshots of her Facebook page on Instagram, Neighbor B had to shut down her FB page. People found her phone number and she started getting hate calls. Other people drive by and scream insults toward her house.
Now a group has started making daily trips to the houses to chalk slogans on the street.
They have blocked traffic for nearby neighbors. They have blocked traffic for postal carriers, Amazon, Fedex, and UPS. She has to plan daily errands and medical appointments around the chalk group.
Her family has lived in the house for three generations. She knows many of her neighbors. She is horrified that so many were so quick to believe the worst about her.
Since the original incident she has had no contact with the girl.
And it's not over yet.
Posts
51 comments:
My husband and nine year old daughter were at one of the marches in support of this girl. They were walking by a driveway and witnessed a man saying *to his children,* "What do you think, should I go in and get my gun and shoot them?" (The protesters)
...so there is always another side to a story.
chalk drawings on a public street are not vandalism.
This is really a one-sided bit of "reporting". Did you reach out to the 13-year-old Black girl and her family? If you didn't, this is not any better than an opinion piece or a Facebook post.
This story is absolutely abhorrently written with clear bias that is trying to bully and invalidate trauma experienced by a thirteen year old girl. You never even bothered to get the other side of the story from the child involved or her family. You should be ashamed of yourself for publishing this.
Why are you posting this self-serving and unsubstantiated account? Why don't you highlight the ongoing and escalating racism in Ridgecrest instead? K's experience is far from an isolated incident. BLM protestors and activists in Shoreline have been subjected to threats and harassment from several different neighbors.
This is what happens when the mob targets you for denunciation. We have a core group of a few dozen agitators in Shoreline who make it their business to manufacture racist outrage in order to justify their feelings about the police and anyone who's not signed up for their crusade.
It's divisive, vitriolic, mean-spirited, and dishonest.
But the worst thing about it is that it turns neighbor against neighbor instead of working toward building tolerance in the community. Some people are wedded to the fiction that we have racists hiding behind every blade of grass in Shoreline. That's not just a lie, but a damn lie.
Neighbor B is simply more credible than the 13 year old activist and her pugilistic mother. The march of July 25th had its origins in a lie.
this is absolutely disgusting. SAN should be ashamed of themselves for posting this garbage. “he’s not a racist ive never heard him say racist things” from a white person is DISGUSTING.
Anti-racism is a dangerous movement if actions taken are not guided by compassion and decency. The adults supporting this girl need to reflect on what they're doing and make amends.
Yikes. This article is pretty tone deaf. Not a balanced recollection of an incident. It reads like you talked to exactly one person....the person that was accused of being racists and then turned them into a victim with your words.
Balanced writing would have quotes and interviews from multiple perspectives and this certainly doesn't.
I am not surprised by this one bit that this happened in Shoreline where you see BLM signs everywhere... So all of this is just because someone has a different opinion, and get labelled as something they are not! All just to get them silenced and in trouble for not thinking like them. A certain noun come to mind for this instance which anyone can find on Google that describes these kind of people as "a person who is intolerant toward those holding different opinions". So who committed the real hate crime? Not neighbor B. Looks like privilege does matter here and it sure is not white.
Thank you for reporting the whole story. As most of us know, racism was not the problem. Antiracism and cop hating is the problem.
How sad. Clearly the girl's parents and her educators are failing her in such a tremendous way. It's so sad.
there are always two sides to the story. Thanks for your thoughtful journalism
THANK YOU for reporting the other side of the story. There is no doubt a problem with racial injustice and a need to repair the damage and move forward but this is not how it should be handled. There is 3 sides of a story and I hope that the truth soon comes out and dialogue begins. It is sad that neighbors don't know their neighbors anymore.
“An eye for an eye makes the whole
world blind.”
Mahatma Gandhi
that's a whole lot of quotation marks for what is AT BEST hearsay. You also seems to be missing the part where SEVERAL witnesses actually oppose this 'story' and that several witnesses have also seen this person be racist before and after the incident. And frankly she SHOULD be horrified so many were so quick to believe the worse about her. You reap what you sow. You know what my not racist white friends have NEVER had to do? explain how really not racist they are or even worse have to attempt to explain how not racist their friends are.
Thank you for having the courage to post this at this point in time - most social media is an echo chamber, where dissenting arguments are deleted. Irrespective of the ensuing events I fail to understand why we should be willing to allow the original protagonist to define what is acceptable free speech. Intolerance simply begets more intolerance.
I, like many others was at first enraged about this story. I was ready to go “investigate” or sign up for a safety watch slot.
I talked to my mother about this. I am 52 my mother is 76.
She advised me to wait and see if there is another side to this story.
In a situation where so much was left out of the first side of the story I am compelled to believe story number two.
Remember that we just had a lunatic tearing up black lives matter signs.
I think we all need to slow our roll. We must remember that our whole nation is hurting RIGHT NOW.
We must acquire and beget a temperance that will give us another few moments to look at the whole picture.
When did we get so ready to hurt one another (physically and emotionally)?
This story, like so many, makes me sad to my core. I want people to learn to care for each other and remember that there isn’t one of us that isn’t carrying some burden right now.
Love more, hate less.
Thank you for publishing this side of the story. There's always 2 sides to everything. I hate that I feel compelled to hide my identity and post as anonymous for fear of retribution by the mob who have continually shown up in front of this family's house and that of her neighbors. They have turned this once quiet neighborhood into a living hell for many on this street.
This article is problematic in terms of many things-- including the title--if there were no racism in Shoreline, the City Counsel and School District would not need to release anti-racist statements or committments, nor would so many our community need to come out to support a Black girl who is being harassed in her own home.
Particularly, this article is biased and told as a sympathetic narrative from the perspective of the accused--fully formed adults with resources, who are taking on a young girl.
The article does not link to the prior articles in your publication to provide context, nor to the community responses--including an article from the South Seattle Emerald, which reports on some of these issues. This article is much, much longer, and much more detailed than the other articles about this issue--I do not see an article in your publication which includes an interview with Kailyn, or any of the Black Youth Leaders in Shoreline.
Regardless of the details of the situation and the perspectives of neighbor A and B, harassing children in our community is not acceptable. I also think it is obvious that institutionalized and generational racism are factors in this situation. The reporters for Shoreline Area News should consider consulting with disciplinary experts if they would like to make implications about topics for which they do not have the necessary training or expertise.
Why is this allowed to happen??? That 13 yr old girl should be punished for filing a false claim. My thoughts go out to the Neighbor B. I am so sorry this has happened to you
First of all as a journalist, your article should not be biased. It is because you start off by mentioning neighbor B is your friend. This is your opinion article. Also, business trucks can drive by because while I was driving on that street not only did I see a postal truck going out doing its business but the same for garbage trucks and Amazon delivery trucks.
This is abhorrent. You should be ashamed of yourself for writing this.
So much of this is simply a supply and demand problem. Real racism is in very short supply now so imagined racism is needed to fill the void.
I don’t think this article should of been posted. I am concerned that it is not objective and only reports from one side.
Who really knows what originally happened? This is all started because a 13 yr old doesn't understand free speech. Her neighbor had a right to her flag and, and she has a right to her signs and thoughts. I'm positive the black family has experienced racism frequently, but it sure does seem they are taking it all out on this one neighbor. The current bullying and trauma seems to be directed at the neighbor lady who has a disabled son. She is the only person here who has been subjected to actual vandalism when she has her tires slashed in her diveway.
Before you go march in front of somebody's house, maybe everyone should sit down and talk to each other?
What is the goal here? To force the neighbor to move?
Just because people are loud does not mean they are just. Look at all the idiots at Trump rallies. Birds of the same feather.
Diane—
The lack of objectivity here is astounding. You managed to write nearly 2,000 words about an incident you were not present at as if you were standing right there with a microphone and video camera. It is grossly irresponsible for someone operating under the title of “news” to publish a story based on a completely one-sided perspective.
There are so many aspects of this god-awful, racist story that I could pick apart. First of all, you should not be reporting on this topic for a news site if you have a personal connection to any of the individuals involved. That is deeply unethical, especially as a white woman covering a racist incident.
You write that “Neighbor B never got closer to the woman than 10 feet. She did not threaten to lynch or shoot her. She did not insult her. She did not "clap in her face.” Where on earth is the attribution? Who is this coming from? This is written in a factual tone, as if to say, “this is what happened because my nice white friend who I’ve known for a very long time told me so. Did I mention she is a person of deep compassion and empathy?? She was on boards!” Clearly, this is a major discrepancy in your reporting. Even if this were a quote from someone involved, the reader cannot tell. The information in that quote and the entire article is all alleged and it is your responsibility to make that known. You didn’t. You write as if you were witnessing the interaction.
Another gross and racist misstep was referring to a 13-year-old as a woman for nearly the entire recounting, even though you clearly knew her age from the jump. You write that “They didn't find out until later than the "woman" was 13 years old.” This is simply unacceptable— first off, you should have referred to her as a child, a teenager, a 13-year-old, from the beginning. Even if “Neighbor A and B” thought she was 18-20 at the time, the sentence following that recounting could have been easily corrected by you, the writer, who knew her age. This was an interaction between an adult and a young teenage girl. Second of all, in writing this way, you participated in the adultification of a Black girl. According to a Georgetown study, “adults view Black girls as less innocent and more adult-like than their white peers, especially in the age range of 5–14.” By consistently referring to the 13-year-old in question as a woman, you are participating in this behavior; behavior that erases Black kids’ childhood and innocence in the eyes of white adults.
Another thing to note is that the teenage girl who was the victim in this incident has been the target of many more racially motivated incidents of harassment by neighbors. A quick scroll through BLM Shoreline’s Facebook or Instagram will allow one to see that this girl and her family have been the targets of vandalism, trespassing, and being sprayed with a hose along with other protesters. To not write a story acknowledging this pattern of racist behavior in Shoreline, especially against specific organizers and individuals, and to instead center your white friend being accused of a hate crime, is abhorrent and incredibly out of line.
I’m going to wrap this up by saying, Shoreline IS a racist community. There is no need for a question mark on your headline. I was taught in the Shoreline School District (graduated within the last few years), and I witnessed racism against my peers often. The educational environment was racist. I had racist, insensitive homework assignments, heard racist white teachers/staff say the n-word, participated in PE games like “Underground Railroad”, and watched as Black peers were consistently reprimanded, sent to detention, and talked down to. There is absolutely no question that racism exists here, a city founded on ideas of exclusion, white flight, and segregation.
“The burden always rests on Black folks to prove that we’ve actually experienced racism rather than on racist white folks to stop being racist and repair the damage that they’ve done” — BLM Shoreline
How about Neighbors A, B & C watch the cell phone video of George Floyd's arrest and subsequent murder by four policemen. Then do some research on how many black lives have been killed at the hands of police. Perhaps these adult neighbors might gain some empathy for a 13 year old black girl who was upset upon seeing a "blue lives matter" flag on her street. Over the years I have really appreciated the Shoreline Area News and I know the author of this article does our community a huge service by putting in tremendous work to publish it daily, but I believe this article shows a complete lack of what our community needs right now - EMPATHY, not white defensiveness.
Most of the people that are so outraged at this article appear to be dealing with a little bit of cognitive dissonance and can't / wont reconcile with facts, or more specifically a lack of facts in the first instance when they wholesale adopted the version of events of this teenage girl. I could point out this article is in fact providing an alternative version of events and points out confirmation of specific events that can be fact checked that the family of this teenager has already denied - the police never came and spoke to us, etc. but it wont matter.
I recently witnessed this group of people mischaracterizing events and harassing/assaulting an elderly disabled neighbor that I understand was actually friends with members of the family for decades before some of these recent events. That behavior and other things I have seen, point to a significant lack of credibility in this group and I am more inclined to find the events as outlined in this story credible, where before witnessing some of the events firsthand I would have been more skeptical.
Shoreline is supposed to be a safe place for all? Well it isn't if you disagree with this family in any fashion - if you do you must be a racist and we are going to harass you at your home. They may not be wearing MAGA hats, but they are certainly embracing the culture.
It's telling that the older white neighbors get labelled "Neighbor A," "Neighbor B," etc. while the neighbor who happens to be Black is just "the girl" and described as a suspect. This is incredibly othering and biased. Please remove this article.
The people complaining of bias or one-sided reporting here seem to be suffering from some amnesia. The first story about this series of events, as reported by the same writer, took the 13 year old's version of the events and reported them as fact, without seeking out other witnesses or versions, which should just be basic journalistic practice. So, THIS story, is merely doing what the first story should have done, which is seek out other points of view of witnesses and allow the readers to make up their own minds.
Perhaps if your friend is not a racist, she could post a black lives matter sign in her yard alongside the blue lives matter sign? That would demonstrate some of the empathy she is hoping for from her neighbors.
Let's discuss some facts. In the context of the phrase, "Black Lives Matter," the word matter is a verb that means to be of importance, or have significance. If you disagree with, or have a problem with this phrase, you are saying that Black lives are unimportant or insignificant. While we are all entitled to our opinions, it is MY opinion that disagreement with the significance or importance of Black lives is the definition of American racism.
The author reported that Neighbor A called the police because of a chalk drawing, and "sign duct-taped to a stick dug into a pot of geraniums on her front porch. The sign said Black Lives Matter on the front and and F*** the Police on the back." It seems that the police were called to defend the lives of the geraniums. So I guess, to Neighbor A, geranium lives are of significance or importance. Geranium lives are to be defended by law enforcement. Geranium lives matter.
The author also reported that Neighbor B, "Her family has lived in the house for three generations. She knows many of her neighbors." The length of her residence in Ridgecrest is presented as evidence for her pureness of heart, but those of us who study history know that Ridgecrest was a restricted community until the Fair Housing Act.
The restrictive covenant stated:
"All lots in this plat are restricted to R-1 District Use, except no lot or portion of a lot shall be sold to, leased to or occupied by any person other than that of the White or Caucasian Race, except this shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of a different race or nationality actually employed in good faith by the owners or tenants."
https://depts.washington.edu/civilr/covenants_database.htm
Apparently, to the authors of the covenant, good live in help mattered.
Finally, to the anonymous posters who did so because they fear retribution from the "mob." You are getting just a tiny taste of the African American experience. You live in fear that people will hate you because of what you are: racist. You worry that people will attack you and destroy your property because of what you are: racist. Welcome to our every day lives. African Americans have these same fears, but we cannot cloak ourselves in anonymity or change our identity, as you can.
Is that a privilege?
Racism is a choice that is of importance. Racism is a choice that has significance. Racism matters, and Black Lives Matter.
Post about EMPATHY? I think you mean selective or mutual exclusive EMPATHY? Cause Empathy by definition is not one sided. What about the EMPATHY for anyone else and their situation? So if your family members are police you are prohibited from supporting them with a sign on your own property (following the death of a local law enforcement officer), because you should proactively understand and empathize with a teenager girls feelings about the murder of George Floyd, and then anticipate and allow any response from the teenager? No of course not.
to the post ending with the BLM quote - you have all these complaints about this article and then you go into making assumptions and mischaracterize facts in your response. So is this a do what I say not what I do situation? I grew up in Shoreline, and there are certainly racist people in Shoreline, like any other community. So what? Is it right, no it isn't. So what? If I am a black man and I know someone that has some subtle racist thoughts towards say Koreans, does that mean I should come to their house and protest, and trespass on their property. Put up signs/chalk art decrying them as racist and then seem confused or surprised when there is push back?
Does it really seem reasonable to get to a point of belief where any disagreement or response to this group must be predicated on racist views - absolutely not and there is no way you can draw that conclusion in the absolute. Some of the incidents you are trying to use to bootstrap your argument are BS or do not have enough contextual information to let anyone develop an objective view on anything.
Are violence and actual threats made to anyone, let alone a 13 year old okay - of course they are not.
You know what else is not okay - using a 13 year girl as a tool to continue to push a racist narrative in all things. If you disagree with me about [insert anything] you must be okay with abusing and threatening a teenager - not only is this approach incredibly selfish and ineffective, it is patently intolerant.
I hope this girl will have an opportunity to learn how to actually connect with and engage others before its too late. To learn to be ale to direct her anger and frustration into positive outlets vs. serving as a lighting rod for a group of adults with some agenda/need to push their narrative and get attention.
I am wondering how the author of this article obtained information on these events. It also seems that the author provided one-side of the story and showing a bias for one side. It seems the author did not talk to all the parties involved. This article seems to be missing an important issue of racism happening in Shoreline.
The slogan "Blue Lives Matter" is a rebuttal to and negation of the Black Lives Matter movement. This immediate story begins with the fact that people of color do not feel safe in our city and that they do not trust that the police are there for them.
It is, in fact, an act of racism to post the Blue Lives Matter slogan, however unwittingly one does so. That's how racism works -by not even thinking about it. One must choose to be anti-racist, or by virtue of white privilege that person is an integral part of a racist system. Simple. Have K and her family experienced daily aggressions? If you have to ask, you haven't done your homework.
Also, in this extremely friendly accounting of the incident, Neighbor B admits saying, "if I find any crap in my yard you and I are going to have a personal problem." So the people who are so glad her side got out, and want the middle schooler to be punished for false reporting, remember that you are defending a woman who threatened a child in her full throated defense of her neighbor's geraniums. This fact matters, too.
We have all witnessed this sort of thing lately. Mob rule is corroding our society and the incessant lies about police, “systemic racism”, and white privilege is bearing fruit with division and hate. Totally unnecessary divisiveness by “race card” agitators that don't care about the destruction to our society. This was called “the other side” for a reason. We are bombarded with one side constantly so this brings an element of balance.
You don't know that anyone in this story experienced trauma. Clearly the neighbor was the one being intimidated. You should be ashamef of your response.
Most of the escalating racism and harassment in this area is coming from those who claim to support BLM. This article is an example of what so many people are experiencing and what our police officers are facing. The response to isolated examples of outrageous conduct on the part of a few individuals has been misguided and led to violence and mayhem. Mob mentality is destroying community and civility.
You marched in protest to a private residence on accusations from a thirteen year old girl? What is wrong with you?
It says “ The other side of the story” in the title and she explains that it is her friend so we have enough context to know this the other person’s version of what happened. You dont like it because you want to deny that the topic of racism and claims of racism right now are shades of gray rather than black-or-white (pardon the pun). Is there racism? Of course! Is there racism everywhere it is claimed? Certainly not. And if you have ever been accused of racism when nothing of the sort was true, you would understand how terrible something like this is where your reputation is trashed, your life and safety at your own home are threatened... horrible
To the posters that are claiming all this harassment and criminal behavior on the part of all these neighbors. are you really buying into that from a factual standpoint or is it really just an axe to grind and it needs to be sensationalized? I don't have a fight in this really, but I have seen half truths and lies perpetrated by some of this group - I don't think it is the daughter that is doing it, I think it might be the mother or the aunt that are doing it or others, but not sure. They have a prior relationship / organized BLM Shoreline page so they are basically controlling the content - its not like its being presented objectively in any sense of the matter. Why are you doing this? It doesn't serve any legitimate purpose? I am so sick of all this dishonesty.
For example, The one poster that notes go to BLM Shoreline or Facebook page - I have seen a couple things on there that are so out of context they are basically lies. For example a portion of a video showing a neighbor on the property that either the aunt or the mother construes as trespass. This neighbor has known the family for years (Like a lot of the other neighbors) and it sounds like went over to talk to the grandmother of the girl. The aunt had a violent reaction to him knocking on their door but it wasn't like he hadn't been over there before, as far as I know there was nothing said by the grandmother (who I believe is the home owner) about not coming over? Is that trespass? Someone in the neighborhood noted that the grandmother was at his house a few days before - was she trespassing on his property then?
I don't know what hose event the poster was referring to but there is one, where one neighbor literally was using the hose on his property and hosed off the sidewalk/parking strip in front of his house. I believe there was some of that accusatory chalk art on the parking strip. Then a bunch of people got right next to him (no social distancing) and came on his property and got in his face while he was using the hose and all of a sudden - he is using a hose on people. Way to create a situation to serve some narrative.
Its like there is a deep seeded need by a few of this group to want to martyr themselves - and when there isn't enough real opportunity to face a situation which would spark moral outrage, then they will just manufacturer one. At some point they are going to go to far and will wind up in court facing a defamation lawsuit and/or criminal charges for stalking/menacing - its like they forget these are peoples homes they are bringing this to and feel like if you can protest at city hall or downtown business districts, then the same standard applies with other peoples homes. These aren't public officials, they are working class/retired poor to middle income neighbors facing a lot of challenges of their own. Show some real empathy, stop lying, and start respecting each other. You will need your neighbors support if you really want to initiate change in your community - being dishonest and divisive is not the way to go....
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." MLK
The truth will ALWAYS come out.
Leaders in our community would be wise to distance themselves from this manufactured crisis and get some objective facts.
Thank you, Diane, for having the courage to present both sides.
Those of you being so critical of Diane for being "biased" must not have seen her earlier articles on the alleged hate crime:
https://www.shorelineareanews.com/2020/07/stand-with-us-shoreline-saturday-in.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ShorelineAreaNews+%28Shoreline+Area+News%29
https://www.shorelineareanews.com/2020/07/900-marchers-support-shoreline-teen-in.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ShorelineAreaNews+%28Shoreline+Area+News%29
I wonder where we might find the child’s side of events? I wonder if children and adults hold will equal responsibility in resolving difficult situations?
Ugh, so tired of one sided stories destroying lives. How is marching or protesting at a private citizens home ok? And by a child none the less. Come on folks, seriously.
" I grew up in Shoreline, and there are certainly racist people in Shoreline, like any other community. So what? Is it right, no it isn't. So what?"
So, it is of significance. So, it is of importance. So, it matters. So, racism is worth fighting against.
So, screaming at middle schoolers is always unneighborly. So, some unneighborly people have some chalk to hose off the street. So, maybe next time they will not scream at middle schoolers. So, if intolerance of people who scream at middle schoolers is a crime I plead guilty.
That's what.
The fact that she is a child is central to the story. The child behaved childishly. How did the adults behave?
So according to Jay Morse,the act of simply supporting the police department is an act of racism? Thanks for your honesty Jay!
Buddy - restrictive covenants are awful and have been void as a matter of law and public policy for decades. The original plat developers included that language, its not like the purchasers of the homes included that language. This is a total red herring issue - sorry you were not informed nor stood up against these covenants decades ago, but you can't draw any conclusions to the current people living in the houses, regardless of how long they have been there. If that was the case why not criticize the family at issue for living there under these same restrictive covenants.
Don't you get sick of being a pawn in this crap?
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