editorial 24 THE COURIER SUN • JULY 14, 2016 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.qns.com sun WWW.COURIERSUN.COM VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS BOB BRENNAN ROBERT POZARYCKI AMY AMATO-SANCHEZ NIRMAL SINGH STEPHEN REINA RON TORINA, JONATHAN RODRIGUEZ, CHERYL GALLAGHER KATRINA MEDOFF, ANTHONY GIUDICE, ANGELA MATUA BRIANNA ELLIS KATARINA HYBENOVA CLIFF KASDEN, SAMANTHA SOHMER, ELIZABETH ALONI JACLYN HERTLING DEBORAH CUSICK WARREN SUSSMAN CELESTE ALAMIN MARIA VALENCIA VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS JOSHUA A. SCHNEPS PUBLISHER & EDITOR CO-PUBLISHER ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF VP, EVENTS, WEB & SOCIAL MEDIA ART DIRECTOR ASSISTANT ART DIRECTOR ARTISTS STAFF REPORTERS DIGITAL EDITOR CONTRIBUTING REPORTERS EVENTS COORDINATOR ASSISTANT TO PUBLISHER SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE CLASSIFIED MANAGER CONTROLLER PRESIDENT & CEO VICE PRESIDENT Schneps Communications, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside, NY 11361 718-224-5863 • Fax 718-224-5441 www.qns.com editorial e-mail: editorial@qns.com for advertising e-mail: ads@qns.com Entire Contents Copyright 2016 by The Courier Sun All letters sent to THE COURIER SUN should be brief and are subject to condensing. Writers should include a full address and home and offi ce telephone numbers, where available, as well as affi liation, indicating special interest. Anonymous letters are not printed. Name withheld on request. No such ad or any part thereof may be reproduced without prior permission of THE COURIER SUN. The publishers will not be responsible for any error in advertising beyond the cost of the space occupied by the error. Errors must be reported to THE COURIER SUN within fi ve days of publication. Ad position cannot be guaranteed unless paid prior to publication. VIctoria Media Services assumes no liability for the content or reply to any ads. The advertiser assumes all liability for the content of and all replies. The advertiser agrees to hold THE COURIER SUN and its employees harmless from all cost, expenses, liabilities, and damages resulting from or caused by the publication or recording placed by the advertiser or any reply to any such advertisement. SNAPS QUEENS CITIFIELD AT DUSK // PHOTO BY STEPHEN REINA Send us your photos of Queens and you could see them online or in our paper! Submit them to us tag @queenscourier on Instagram, Facebook page, tweeting @queenscourier or by emailing editorial@qns.com (subject: Queens Snaps). identify this PLACE Making a more perfect union today One of the biggest myths about debate in our country is that someone who stands for one thing can’t possibly also support some part or even all of the alternative. These days, everything is so starkly divided, and it seems there are only two sides to every issue, regardless of its complexity. Why can’t a Queens resident be supportive of the Black Lives Matter movement AND also be supportive of the law enforcement community? Neither idea is mutually exclusive. We are all reeling from a brutal week in our nation’s history, one that began with reports of two more police-involved shootings caught on tape in Louisiana and Minnesota in which trigger-happy offi cers took the lives of black men who posed no immediate threat to them. It culminated with what was, for all intents and purposes, a terrorist attack in Dallas, Texas, in which a mad gunman shot and killed fi ve police offi cers who were on duty at a protest rally over the police-involved shootings. Acts of murder are not acts of justice. Violence only begets violence. No one should ever consider homicide, no matter who commits it, as an acceptable means to justify an end. The Declaration of Independence signed 240 years ago acknowledged that all men are created equal, and to this day, we’re still struggling to fully achieve such basic equality. We need to recognize that we are not living in a post-racial society; we still have a long way to go. If recognition of the problems we have is the fi rst step toward solving them, the second step must be having conversations on large and small scales. The NYPD, in light of the Eric Garner and Akai Gurley police-involved deaths, is actively working to try and build a better relationship between its offi cers and the communities they serve. This effort must be duplicated by law enforcement agencies across the country to build a sense of trust that is frayed beyond belief at the present moment. Americans of all races, colors and creeds should be able to feel secure when stopped by a police offi cer for whatever the reason. Police offi cers should also feel secure that the neighborhood has their back in a variety of ways, largely through increased communication and cooperation. The majority of Americans, including police offi cers and those in the Black Lives Matter movement, believe in a criminal justice system that provides “equal justice under the law” for everyone, regardless of who they are. They also fi rmly realize that the vast majority of police offi cers are good people who work hard every single day to keep them safe. Comments from people like former Mayor Rudy Giuliani — who called Black Lives Matter “inherently racist” — serve only to undermine the overall objective of creating a safer and more just America. We support a more equal justice system; we support our local police. You can, and should, do both. THE COURIER/Photo by Katrina Medoff
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