Police killings of Black people are lynchings
It is time to call the recurrent police killings of Black men what they really are, i.e., contemporary lynchings. They have replaced the 4,723 statesanctioned lynchings, of which 3,446 victims were Black, in the U.S. from 18821968, and that does not include many missing and misclassified deaths. The current killings share many of the same characteristics of previous lynchings: They occur in public places, they are witnessed by crowds, the bodies of the victims are often displayed for periods of time (e.g., Michael Brown), the narrative blames victims for their own murder, and the assailants are rarely punished.
Unfortunately, slogans and demonstrations have not been very effective in reducing the frequency of these fatal accidents. As in the case of school desegregation, the goal should be achieving legislation to change police policies, procedures and tactics. Without such specific legislation, there seems to be little motivation to hold the police accountable for their aggressive behaviors toward people of color.
The entire system of justice is complicit in maintaining this unequal treatment of people of color, as well as legislatures at all levels of government and the whites who condone police brutality. True systemic change is long overdue. Jewelle Taylor Gibbs, Oakland
Change the Taser handle
Regarding “Cop, police chief resign after motorist’s death” (April 14): I read your article about Kimberly Potter, the 26year veteran former police officer who killed Daunte Wright. One thing that would prevent the recurrence of a cop pulling out a gun, thinking it is a Taser, is making the Taser much different from a gun by putting a surface full of bumps on the Taser handle, so that one can feel the difference even if not looking at it. I read that there have been 15 previous cases of such a mistake, including some fatalities. This commonsense change in making Tasers would lessen, if not eliminate, this from happening again. Linda Lewin, San Francisco
Finding blooming beauty
Regarding “Wildflowers bloom despite dry winter ” (April 3): As a recent transplant to the Bay Area from Southern California, I miss the annual spring rite of walking along trails amid vast expanses of color created by wildflower fields in places like the Carrizo Plain and Antelope Valley. The article by Tom Stienstra spurred me to explore some of the regional parks noted for blooms in the Bay Area. I would like to add Las Trampas Wilderness Regional Preserve in San Ramon to the list of East Bay wildflower destinations. A hike there on the Rocky Ridge View Trail passed through emerald hills generously speckled with dancing fiddlenecks, buttercups, cream cups, poppies, blueeyed grass, red maids and mounds of lupine along with sweeping views of the bay and mountains. In the dappled shade of woodland abutting Elderberry Trail were clusters of Pacific hound’s tongue and shooting stars. Lony Castro, Oakland
The struggle is real
Regarding “The Biden boom already is one wild ride” (Open Forum, April 15): Who is Michelle Goldberg describing in her statement? She certainly isn’t describing what I see in many San Francisco neighborhoods. What I see is people who are still reeling from losing their jobs, their businesses, their homes, their health care and their loved ones. These people aren’t interested in NFTs and BitClout. They aren’t thinking about professional influencers. They are thinking about making their next rent payment and feeding their family. Most of them don’t own homes and are not invested in the stock market. There is no money sloshing around them. I sincerely hope that as the economy gets hotter, the people who are focused on the bizarre things happening in the worlds of art and finance will spend some time thinking about how to help less fortunate Americans live a decent life. Mary Gardner, San Francisco