The issue of humanity, respect and doing what is right were a few reasons more than 50 protesters demonstrated in Sun City West June 15 at the corners of R.H. Johnson Boulevard and Camino del Sol.
The event was put together by Sun City West resdient Susan Finley who passed by a single protester over the previous weekend with her husband and used the same plan on a bigger scale. She said her husband dropped her at home and returned to stand in solidarity with the lady, while she went to work to get the word out.
Two months earlier, Ms. Finley created the SC & SCW Demoractic Club Facebook page. It was here the message was relayed to others and the demonstration grew legs. Looking forward, the group hoped to encourage equality amongst the community and reaching out further to help people understand the importance of getting involved with a group such as this.
Dave and Lou Hennessy from Sun City West took part in the protests to show support for all people. Mr. Hennesey said he was pleasantly surprised to see most people passing by waving and honking to show support.
“There were a few bad people who showed us they don’t support what we are doing, but we understand where their head is at when they do those things,” he explained.
Linda Olsen and her husband Bob Olsen from Sun City West proudly supported humanity during the protest. Ms. Olsen said along with taking part in a caravan down Grand Avenue June 14 out of Sun City Grand, the goal was for the pair to get involved and make an impact without being around such a large crowd of people.
“We wanted to show our support of our group and be a part of making it more obvious to people in our community there are issues. So many of our friends have been stopped for things that are just stupid. I mean what is going on when you have a veteran police officer and suddenly something happens? Does that mean they snapped or is there an underlying issue.” Ms. Olsen said. “There needs to be more oversight and ongoing reviews of police officers and more ongoing training, as well as some emotional support. I mean they are humans and the systemic racism in our society has to stop.”
Mr. Olsen said everyone he spoke to at the demonstration supports the idea of humanity and the fact that something has to be done in this country, because things cannot continue as they are.
“The issue, of course, is it seems blacks get shot more frequently by police and that’s why Black Lives Matter is a big deal,” he said “As a former police officer in California, I get it, but things have got to change. The unfortunate deaths of minorities has motivated people to stand up and be heard and I am impressed over two weeks later people are still protesting. I feel like I am a part of the people who want to see change.”
Mr. Olsen said as a former police officer he understands there are several million contacts per day across the country by police and very few end up in arrests of any kind of violence. But said there are bad apples in every organization.
“The key is to show humanity and understand most people become police officers because they want to help people,” he said. “But we have to figure out a way to weed out the bad apples and create an environment for people in uniform who want to speak up and can feel safe and won’t carry fear of losing their career. We will clean all of this up.”
In a correspondence to the Independent, Sun City West resident Gary Kelly who was one of the 50-plus people that took part in the protest. He was responding to a previous article in the newspaper regarding racism.
“I would like to say racism is alive and well in Sun City West. I observed this last Monday on the corners of R.H. Johnson and Camino Del Sol while standing with a group of concerned citizens about what is happening in America today with signs displaying Black Lives Matter, All Lives Matter, Peace knows no Racism, etc,” Mr. Kelly stated in the correspondence. “While many people honked their horns in support or just drove by, there were some very obvious signs of racism. We saw the middle finger salute, people shouting expletives, passersbys waving there arms down in disgust, or the one comment by one passerby that White Lives Matter too, which was a ridiculous comment since there were signs that said that too. I know if I do this again, I will have a sign that not only displays Black Lives Matter but Human Lives Matter.”
The SC & SCW Democratic Club Facebook page calls for people who are like-minded and members of either community to talk, share thoughts and ideas in a safe and supportive environment.
Reporter Jennifer Jimenez can be reached at jjimenez@newszap.com or follow her on Twitter @SCW_Independent.
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