The June 17 issue of the Courier-Herald provided an interesting contrast. There were a couple of opinion letters regarding the ongoing BLM protests. I think I can safely assume they were written by people who like me are white. As usual, they went directly to the issue of violence, looting, and burning that basically occurred on only the second night of protest.

Sadly, for most white people the rioting made a bigger impression than watching George Floyd being killed by a police officer. We white people never have to deal with systemic racism so we don’t get passionate about it. I guess for the same reason I have never worried about tornadoes, because I’ve never lived in a place where I had to worry about them.

Then there was the picture on the front page of all the young people laying down in protest at the park on Porter Street. Since the Parkland school shooting, I have watched the youth of our nation exhibit an awareness and activism that I haven’t seen since the Vietnam War. While the immediate future still looks pretty iffy in our great country, this apparent egalitarianism among our youth gives me great hope for the future!

Tom Thimgan

Enumclaw