Professor Washington-Lindsey’s Guest Opinion in the Indy of Sept. 3. should have been entitled: “Bringing Critical Race Theory to Laguna Beach.” She starts by providing a list of the duties of the Laguna Beach Police; then states, additionally, they are responsible to the highest degree for “enforcing justice;” and, finally, asks (as her article is entitled) “Who is Policing the Police?” Next, the professor reminds the reader that in recent months many communities have seen “police use of extreme force, unlawful arrests, police harassment, police brutality, and racial profiling.”
To show how Laguna’s police are like those bad police communities and require reform and community oversight, Lindsey tells how 20 months ago, a policeman, presumably reacting to a 911 call, intercepted her at the top of Nyes Place and questioned her. If the professor, an expert in ethnic studies, had filed a complaint with the police department, a hearing might have helped us understand the motivation of the policeman. Also, two hate crimes toward students of color and one directed at a biracial couple are also mentioned as failures of the LB Police because the chief has not, as of yet, responded. If Melissa Harris was the bi-racial wife, she wrote a guest article in the Indy about the banging on her door late at night and leaving of chicken on the doorstep. She said she did not call the police when the harassment occurred but when she did the next day three LB policemen brought her a plant and a comforting note.
This is an absurdity. Only people under the spell of political correctness would agree that the professor has made a case for the five suggestions with which she concludes her piece. I’ll only make a couple of comments: The Police Department should have a color blind policy in hiring; neither the community nor its elected officials should acknowledge that they are racist; and there is no racial disparity in Laguna unless your goal is equal outcomes for everyone, not equal opportunity. Black Lives Matter incites racism.
Douglas Warren, Laguna Beach
Wow. This letter is shocking.
What’s shocking is the reality of his letter. Likened to women screaming rape 30 years after they’d gone to a producers hotel room for drinks.