Your racist emails (plus one sliver of hope): Some answers you just don’t want to hear
I want to respond to readers who took issue with a Nov. 18 column in which I criticized Sacramento County Supervisor Sue Frost for voting “no” on a county resolution to declare racism a public health crisis. The resolution passed 4-1 on Tuesday, with Frost as the lone opposition.
She punctuated her “no” vote with a remarkable statement: “I don’t believe America is a racist county.”
The responses from readers create the opportunity for discussion about race. A lot has been written and said about how Americans must “talk” about race to bridge our ideological divides.
But the divide remains.
So, let’s try to have some real talk right here, right now.
“To me, the resolution was a thinly veiled attempt to yet again reduce funding to law enforcement. As many people are aware, reducing funding to law enforcement is not something I and most of my constituents support.”
– Frost, in her note to her district Nov. 19
I start with this comment from a written message Frost sent to her constituents because it’s instructive. To begin with, the supervisor makes an accusation without proof. In this case, the accusation is that a non-binding resolution to confront racism in all its forms – and for the public to hold the board accountable when citizens bring these issues to its attention – is framed by Frost as a Trojan Horse for “defunding” police.
In framing it this way, she stands out among Sacramento County elected officials – and not in a good way.
The defunding argument
This us-against-them dog whistle is clear and blatant. It suggests that law enforcement is threatened when county board members give non-binding consideration to the life outcomes of Black and brown people or anyone else who would experience discrimination based on their race or ethnicity.
Think about that for a moment. Not a single dollar has been allocated or even proposed to be spent on the racism resolution, yet Frost already smells a conspiracy against law enforcement? So being considerate of race and supporting law enforcement are mutually exclusive?
Her supporters can easily take Frost’s argument a step further and to draw this conclusion: Cops stand between them and dangerous, dark-skinned people. Those thoughts absolutely were expressed in comments by some readers. I will share them in a moment. (I informed them we were using some of their comments and some requested we use only their first name as these were emails to me and not originally intended for publication.)
But Frost’s fear of “defunding” law enforcement is not backed up by facts.
Despite a pandemic that has severely affected other county departments that serve people in need, the sheriff’s department received it’s full $277-million allotment. That’s easily the largest piece of the county’s $4.2 billion budget.
As I wrote earlier this year: “The county spends more of what it considers “net county cost dollars” — such as those taxes you pay on your property or every time you purchase taxable goods — on the Sheriff’s Office than on its entire social services budget. What’s in the social services budget? Child, family and adult services, probation, the public defender, human assistance, child support services, the county coroner, in-home supportive services and more.”
But the sheriff’s department received even more than that. County CEO Nav Gill – who is now on paid administrative leave –put $104 million of federal COVID-19 relief money into the budget of Sheriff Scott Jones. This is the same sheriff who in June refused to enforce Gov. Gavin Newsom’s statewide order requiring face coverings and who now refuses to enforce Newsom’s 10 p.m. COVID curfew.
So why would Jones get a $104 million in COVID-19 funds when he wants nothing to do with enforcing statewide COVID-19 rules? Because Jones’ department is about as far away from being “defunded” as any law enforcement could be.
Then what is Frost doing? She is repeating false narratives promoted by Jones and Kevin Mickelson, the head of the sheriff’s department union, who spent the summer trying to scare people that the sheriff would be “defunded” when no one on the Board of Supervisors supported it.
Mickelson, who likes to wear a Donald Trump mask, sent a mailer to county residents that read: “Public Safety at Risk!”
It said: “Cuts to Deputies have a Devastating Impact on Your Safety!”
The mailer also said: “Tax-paying, law abiding residents should not have to shoulder the risk of becoming crime victims to pacify a vocal minority of riotous, looting thugs who are bent on shattering public peace.”
Then the board approved Jones’ budget without incident. Frost is clearly sympathetic to the race-baiting tactics of Jones and Mickelson and some readers hear them loud and clear.
They see a direct connection between law enforcement, their safety and those who seek to fight racism.
The you-hate-whites argument
“Racism? Maybe the answer is to line up all the white people in the world against a wall and mow them down. Marcos would be grinning (from) ear to ear.”
– email from Dan, long-time reader.
Dear Dan: I get this kind of response a lot and, when you pull it apart, it amounts to little more than a deflection. It says that I have the problem and you don’t. It says that I want to see harm come to people who disagree with me.
I’m afraid that this type of comment is often used by people who don’t want to face their own prejudice and who blame people for talking about prejudice. And worst of all, the people talking about prejudice are viewed as a threat – a violent threat.
That kind of thinking began on the plantation with slave owners fearing uprisings. There is a direct link between that original fear and those who bend over backward to defend the police, say, when they shoot and kill a Black man such as Stephon Clark.
Speaking of which...
The Stephon Clark argument
“Stephon Clark was fleeing his crime scene, disobeyed the police and seemingly threatened police officers in the dark. All race mongers should wise up – using Clark, his brother, and other petty criminals, people who attack the police, etc. while ignoring the white & Latino civilians and police persons killed by blacks just ignites people! It does not cause introspection, understanding or change. Even informed blacks don’t swallow it!
– email from another long-time reader
Dear Reader: Clark was killed by police in the City of Sacramento and not the county, but I get your drift.
People who question racism are “race mongers.” And people like you get “ignited” when someone suggests otherwise. But, you see, introspection only happens when we try to be introspective. Calling people “race mongers” and getting “ignited” is not introspection.
These emotions are based in fear of other people and ideas different from yours. Clark was killed after a 911 call about a man breaking windows. Yeah, not a man shooting people or knifing people or attacking people. A man breaking windows. Clark was shot to death city cops and all he had on him was a phone. The reason that people became so upset is that they wondered why Clark had to be killed given the circumstances.
Why didn’t his life matter more? Why were people so anxious to demonize him after he died when the fact remained that he was unarmed when he was killed? City cops have changed their foot-pursuit policy since then, a tacit acknowledgment that Clark’s death was a terrible outcome given the facts of the case.
He wasn’t in your neighborhood, but you act as if he were. Why do you do that? And why does the topic of race inflame you? I recommend introspection.
The they-deserve-it argument
“Arresting criminals of any color is not racist. Do you think the black kids being suspended were on the chess team. The kids being suspended are out of control. They are suspended for fighting, drug possession and threatening teachers.
– Email from Terry O’Neil, a long-time reader.
Dear Terry: Actually, the data show that suspensions for Black males begins in early childhood education.
“The highest suspension rate occurs in Grades 7 and 8 (middle school), where 28.9 percent of Black males are suspended,” wrote the authors of “Capitol of Suspensions: Examining the Racial Exclusion of Black Males in Sacramento County.”
“That being said, the grade band for early childhood education (kindergarten through third grade) represents the highest level of disparity. Specifically, in early childhood education, Black males in Sacramento County are 9.9 times more likely to be suspended in comparison to the State average. “
These are little kids, Terry.
The authors wrote: “It is clear that some districts are far too reliant upon suspension as a form of discipline. This fact is worsened in light of research that suggests that Black male over-representation in exclusionary discipline is a function of bias and stereotypes that can be harbors (often unconsciously) by educators.”
Terry, when white people like you and others place the entire burden for this racial divide on people of color, and when you refuse to be introspective about the root causes of disparities in our community and country, we get nowhere.
Read the comments from some other folks I’ve quoted here. The majority of the responses I got were from people who weren’t really engaging with the ideas. They were dismissing the issue of race out of hand, just as Frost dismissed the prevalence of racism.
And as evidenced by the comments shared here, there is a clear connection between dismissing racism out of hand and harboring fears and misinformation about people of color while viewing law enforcement as protection from people of color.
“It’s just like the policy releasing criminals to prey on us. There are kids who need to be suspended to protect our children. Let’s see your attitude when your (kids) are threatened at school and the person is allowed to continue to harass them. Different Marcos then.”
– More from O’Neil
No, Terry.
My kids are in public school in Sacramento and the answer to your suggestion is, “no. “Whatever issues we’ve had have always been dealt with professionally by teachers and administrators in the Sacramento City Unified School District.
I don’t fear the kids at our school. But I do fear for our society as we become more rigidly committed to our biases. I fear for our community if more elected officials behave as Frost has – if they deny racism that is self-evident – and if they use their platforms to promote us-against-them tropes that only divide people.
And the facts actually show...
“SACRAMENTO COUNTY IS CURRENTLY IN A HEALTH CARE CRISIS FOR PEOPLE OF COLOR.”
– An email from Mike Phillips (the caps are his)
I think Philips’ comments can stand on their own, with little comment from me:
“Name your disease: COVID, diabetes, hypertension, infant mortality, obesity, renal insufficiency, hepatitis, vascular disease – the list goes on and on. We have been collecting longitudinal data long enough that the results are clear. Non-Caucasians have higher percent incidence than Caucasian populations corrected for age.
“As a non-binding resolution, this should be re-written and re-submitted for vote focusing on health and health care delivery access for people of color in Sacramento County. The denial of disparity in health outcomes by race is, by definition, systemic racism.”
Agreed.
This story was originally published November 22, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
