Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing

On behalf of the department, Chief DiLuzio read a statement on “George Floyd’s Death & Policing in America” at the Council meeting Wednesday night. You can find the text here and the audio below. (The Mayor’s May 31 statement was not read into the record but can be found here.)

The Chief’s statement was the occasion for response to the local and national events of the last ten days or so by each member of Council.

Followers know that a main purpose of this blog is to help you know your Council members better. These Council responses are a good way to do exactly that, so Gadfly will take the next day or so to present each one individually for better focus.

Listen to the voices of our elected officials.

We began with President Waldron and are proceeding in the order in which the comments were presented at the meeting. Previously we have posted on Councilmembers Van Wirt and Crampsie Smith.

Councilman Reynolds

“I want to thank the Chief for making sure that the rally last week on Saturday was peaceful, and I also want to thank the Mayor for reaching out to the organizers as well as his comments. I do share the feelings of my colleagues, though, when I think it is really only the beginning of the conversation here. I think that the fact that everybody in this country just about agrees that what happened to George Floyd was horrorific, it was a tragedy, it was an injustice unlike what we have seen on camera for a long, long time. But there’s also a difference between not doing something wrong and doing what’s right. And I think that’s part of the conversation we need to have in the city. And to piggyback on what other people have said, we need to start with the understanding that we don’t have the same experience in this country based on our skin color. We don’t. And I think as a government we need to be creating institutions that are equitable and fair. Ms. Crampsie Smith just gave the line and Dr. Roy just said that recently, that it’s just not enough to be against racism, but we need to pro-actively be anti-racist. A 150 years ago you could be an ally of African Americans by being against slavery. A hundred years ago you could say Jim Crow laws were wrong. 60 years ago you could say desegregation is wrong. Today it takes more than that. It’s conversations about where highways are built, and how you draw zoning codes, and how you can make sure you can’t make a house on a lot smaller than a certain amount so that you can improve affordable housing. And those are the conversations. We’re not to blame for those things, but it is our responsibility to fix those things. Look at the history of Bethlehem _____?, look at our African American population compared to Allentown or Easton. A lot of that has to do that Bethlehem Steel didn’t want to hire African Americans for a long time. So we have, what’s our population of African Americans according to the census — 6. 7. 8%? What has that done? It has created generations of African American families in this city that have inherited that discrimination and had to face those challenges. Look at what’s happened to our Hispanic community as people have moved to this city. We are not to blame for those things, but it is our responsibility to understand that a lot of the anger we are seeing in the country over the past several days is not about what happened in Minnesota. It’s about the discrimination, the anger, the frustration that has crossed over generations that we have inherited as elected officials. And one of our jobs here is to understand that as our country’s identity changes, our city’s identity is changing as well. And we need to do everything we can to make our institutions and build the trust because a lot of us are teachers, I guarantee you, Mr. Callahan, Ms. Crampsie Smith could tell you the same thing. When students walk in to our classrooms and a lot of times they are angry at us or they’re angry or pissed off at the world, they’re not actually angry at us. It is traumatic experience that has led to damage, hurt trust to the people standing in front of them. As a teacher, it took me years to understand that. That when a kid was angry, he wasn’t angry at me. And it’s not our police department’s fault, it’s not our fault that this has happened, but it needs to be a wake-up call to us, and we need to be inspired going forward that it is not enough just to say what happened in Minnesota is wrong. It is not even enough just to say that we can have peaceful demonstrations here. It’s gonna be enough when people that are in marginalized communities are able to look at us as our elected officials and look at things we’ve done and say, you know what, they made things better, they made things more inclusive, they gave power to people that didn’t have power before, because as I said before, it is more difficult sometimes to point out some of these biases and existence of racism than might have been fifty or a hundred years ago. It’s a challenge for us to do that, but that is our job. I would agree with Ms. Crampsie Smith when she said that she wouldn’t be up here if she didn’t feel strongly about these issues, and I think we need to make more of an effort as a community, as individuals, and this does not all fall on our police department. It falls on every public institution, every governmental institution to make sure that we understand both the history, the pain, the anger, the frustration, and we need to be committed to creating better, fairer institutions that are equitable and that our citizens can look at and say that they believe them. And that’s the challenge for all of us going forward.”

Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing

On behalf of the department, Chief DiLuzio read a statement on “George Floyd’s Death & Policing in America” at the Council meeting Wednesday night. You can find the text here and the audio below. (The Mayor’s May 31 statement was not read into the record but can be found here.)

The Chief’s statement was the occasion for response to the local and national events of the last ten days or so by each member of Council.

Followers know that a main purpose of this blog is to help you know your Council members better. These Council responses are a good way to do exactly that, so Gadfly will take the next day or so to present each one individually for better focus.

Listen to the voices of our elected officials.

We began with President Waldron and are proceeding in the order in which the comments were presented at the meeting.

Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith

“Well, as President Waldron said, this has been an extremely difficult week, more so for some than others, but I just want to speak from the heart because I feel I want to say something, and I’m not really sure what to say, but I’ve been thinking a lot about it, but I think that, you know, at every Council meeting, every morning at the beginning of school, and at almost every public meeting, we cite the pledge of allegiance. And within it are these words, “liberty and justice for all.”  And I really take that part and think about it every time I say it. I think, is there really justice for all? And obviously the answer is no. There hasn’t been for even the past 100 years since this pledge was written in 1892 and for many hundreds of years before that. They say anger is a bodyguard for hurt, anger is a bodyguard of hurt. While I never condone violence, it is really important for us to reconcile with the fact that people of color are deeply and profoundly hurt and that hurt is manifesting itself as anger. Can we blame them? Absolutely not. I would not be in this position of councilmember if it were not for my dear friends of color. I am blessed every day to see the gifts, talents, and dignity of my wonderful students of color. My heart is broken for them and for our country. As a mother you live with many fears regarding your children’s well being. I thank God my twenty-year-old son is white, for his safety is greater than his friends of color.  And that is truly wrong. My heart breaks for the parents of children of color, for I cannot fathom the fear they live with each and every day. Their fears are above and beyond what any parents’ fears ever should be. Our path to justice for all and especially for people of color has been diverted especially in the past 3 1/2 years. We must continue on this path, bolder, stronger, and even more determined. The time is well past for justice for all. We must open our ears, eyes, heart, and soul to our brothers and sisters of color. We must work together as a city to insure that all our community members and visitors of color feel safe, secure, equal, and loved. We must insure that we are not not just against racism, but we are anti-racist, we are inclusive, and we always strive to insure justice for all.”

Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing

On behalf of the department, Chief DiLuzio read a statement on “George Floyd’s Death & Policing in America” at the Council meeting Wednesday night. You can find the text here and the audio below. (The Mayor’s May 31 statement was not read into the record but can be found here.)

The Chief’s statement was the occasion for response to the local and national events of the last ten days or so by each member of Council.

Followers know that a main purpose of this blog is to help you know your Council members better. These Council responses are a good way to do exactly that, so Gadfly will take the next day or so to present each one individually for better focus.

Listen to the voices of our elected officials.

We began with President Waldron and are proceeding in the order in which the comments were presented at the meeting.

Councilwoman Van Wirt

“Thank you, thank you, Chief, I agree with everything President Waldron said about the commendable bonds that the police formed in a difficult situation, but I’m going to raise the bar a little bit. Thank you for addressing recent civil unrest nationally and locally; however, what I explicitly did not hear from Chief DiLuzio was an acknowledgment of systemic racism at the heart of Minneapolis police officer Chauvin’s murder of George Floyd. That racism was the reason for this event and many other similar events and not just a lack of training. That racism played a role in the other three officers looking away. Mayor, you’re a good man, Chief DiLuzio, you’re a good man, if the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing, then I ask you to do something, to look at our own city and address economic and social racism where it exists. Chief, you said in the paper that the one thing he could have done, our friend Officer Chauvin, was to take his knee off of him. My question to you is why did he not? It was not a lack of training here, clearly, it was because of institutionalized racism in the police department. I too am glad that the Bethlehem Police Department modeled a calm attitude and insured protestors could have this day. But that is simply not enough. I’m going to read a letter published locally from a Lehigh professor which encapsulates my concern over both the Mayor’s letter and the Chief’s response. And while this letter might paint broad strokes for police officers — I think implicitly it doesn’t mean every police officer, and explicitly I certainly don’t mean every police officer —

PVW then read the post from Breena Holland published here on Gadfly June 2

Now I know this doesn’t leave us with a great Bethlehem Moment feeling, but if you can’t speak the truth for what it is, I don’t know what the use is in saying anything. We are very used to handing out attaboys up here, but the quality of good leadership is how they respond to the pointed criticism of it. And I do fully place this burden on your shoulders, Chief and Mayor, and I do thank you for listening.”

Latest in a series of posts on the George Floyd killing

On behalf of the department, Chief DiLuzio read a statement on “George Floyd’s Death & Policing in America” at the Council meeting Wednesday night. You can find the text here and the audio below. (The Mayor’s May 31 statement was not read into the record but can be found here.)

The Chief’s statement was the occasion for response to the local and national events of the last ten days or so by each member of Council.

Followers know that a main purpose of this blog is to help you know your Council members better. These Council responses are a good way to do exactly that, so Gadfly will take the next day or so to present each one individually for better focus.

Listen to the voices of our elected officials.

Beginning with President Waldron and proceeding in the order in which they were presented at the meeting.

President Waldron

“Obviously when we have such a large event like we did last Saturday, and what you’ve seen is many other cities where things have turned violent, it’s a great indication of the folks that we have in our community as well as the restraint and the respect the Police department showed when there was not a single incident that happened within that large rally last Saturday. The berth that the Police department gave the marchers, to allow them space to be heard, is a testament to the planning and the thoughtfulness that went into that event, and I would encourage you and the department to continue that practice. Where you’ve seen other Police departments in the country escalating the tensions that are there and forcing stand-offs and physical altercations that are not necessary, I think the Police department in Bethlehem did a great job in helping to be part of supporting the First Amendment rights that everyone is granted. I would hope that that practice can be encouraged in future events tomorrow and through the weekend as well.”

Almost 250 years ago, Thomas Jefferson, declared, “That all men are created equal.” Our nation has had a long and difficult history dealing with those simple and profound words. Since 1776 it has taken numerous conflicts and much bloodshed for us to live up to those words. And yet, have we? Once again, we are grieving as a nation and standing together to condemn the shocking violence in Minneapolis and the innocent loss of life, and those simple words of Thomas Jefferson, somehow got lost in translation or understanding.

I grew up in South Bethlehem. The words “all men are created equal” were words to live by in my neighborhood and in my world. We were a melting pot, a cauldron of hope where there was no room for racism, bigotry, and intolerance. We had our differences – culturally, linguistically, racially and religiously, and yet we were a community. When we had to, we locked arms across the many lines and boundaries of our differences and dedicated ourselves to unity. Because of that, we were able to achieve some early measure of social and economic justice and equality for many in our community.

Those lessons of social and economic justice and equality traveled with me and were a daily part of my 35 years as a teacher at Allen High School in Allentown. I made sure my students were tolerant of all who attended Allen High School – Black and White, Latino and Asian, Gay and Straight, Male, Female and Transgender, Rich and Poor, and all who made up the city, the Lehigh Valley and the country.

As the son of a police officer and as a Mayor, watching the images from Minneapolis have been tough. I have great respect and admiration for our police officers, so it was very emotional watching that Minneapolis police officer suffocate handcuffed George Floyd with a knee to his neck. I know that almost all police officers adhere to the law and would never hurt someone like that, and yet this behavior continues and it hurts – it hurts the police and it hurts every one of us.

The kind of behavior we have seen in Minneapolis has no place in America or anywhere in the world. We in Bethlehem must condemn acts of violence and hatred, and are deeply saddened by the loss of life of a fellow human being. This is not just a race issue, this is a human issue, and we are all connected by our shared human experience.

Max Lucado wrote, “If Jesus could teach us only one thing, it would be that a person has value simply because they are a person.”

This is not the time to pretend that there’s not a problem in America.

This is not the time to turn our backs on racism.

This is not the time to accept innocent lives being taken from us.

This is not the time to think this doesn’t affect you.

This is not the time to sit back and say nothing.

This is not the time to think that you can’t be part of the solution and the change needed for this to stop.

Benjamin Franklin said, “Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.”

This is a time for outrage, but it is not a time for violence. The hatred that comes with racism, bigotry, and intolerance will not be condoned or supported here in Bethlehem or anywhere else for that matter. We are one. Our anger and abhorrence must be converted to something more positive – to hope, to faith and to love.

To quote Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

Mayor Bob Donchez