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STEREOTYPES: We can do better

| June 3, 2020 1:00 AM

I was shocked and saddened to see the letter to the editor printed in the Coeur d’Alene Press entitled, “CRIME: Look at the stats,” which spreads racist stereotypes. It would take about five minutes to look up FBI and Census statistics to see that the stats the writer cited were false.

As a white, middle-age woman who has spent about 90% of her life living in North Idaho, I am certainly no expert on race relations in the United States, but I do know that there are millions of Americans who are hurting in this country. Instead of speaking out in hate, we should be taking time to listen. If you are confused about why so many Americans are so angry, find ways to learn more on the subject. There are many resources out there, but here are a few that I have watched or read, which I have found very eye opening.

• “The 13th,” documentary on Netflix

• “The House I Live In,” documentary

• “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” by Michelle Alexander

• “The People’s History of the United States,” by Howard Zinn

• Literature by African American writers like Zora Neale Hurston, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison, Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, and so many others.

As I said, I am no expert on this subject, but as someone who loves this community and this country, I feel that we can do better.

JENNIFER CORK

Coeur d’Alene