While I appreciated the Recorder’s sincere editorial statement acknowledging the rightful outrage we are experiencing in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, I was struck by a glaring contradiction. The editors write, “Talk is good. Listening is better. Action is best.” Yet the statement gives no indication that the Recorder itself is committed to anything beyond “talk.”
If listening is better, why does the Recorder not organize a virtual public forum to provide residents with an opportunity to speak about their experiences of policing in Greenfield and surrounding towns? Perhaps there are voices you haven’t heard.
If action is best, why does the Recorder not investigate the ACLU’s startling finding in its April 2020 report, “A Tale of Two Countries: Racially Targeted Arrests in the Era of Marijuana Reform,” that Franklin County-MA ranks No. 1 in the U.S. in racially discriminatory marijuana enforcement practices, with black residents 117 times more likely than whites to be busted for marijuana possession (yes, even in an era of progressive policy reform), despite virtually identical consumption rates across races.
If the Recorder truly believes that outrage is justified, then it’s time to do more than talk.
Andrew Ritchey
Greenfield