On Monday, Oregon’s Governor announced that beginning in July 2020, it is law that all Oregon businesses comply and enforce what is now a state-wide mask-wearing mandate or face business closures in response.

The mandate is for only medically approved masks but as observers have noted, no one is really checking whether that is so, and many people are minding those instructions with disdain, and/or neglect. Questions of the true effectiveness of a society wearing masks and keeping its citizens in economic lock down are being raised. Nevertheless, Governor Brown has decided to express her will through this new government mandate, even despite outcries from Oregon counties with minimal infections.

Governor Brown said, “From the beginning of the reopening process, I have said that reopening comes with the risk of seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases beyond our health systems’ capacity to test, trace, and isolate them,” said Governor Kate Brown. “Over the last month, we have seen the disease spread at an alarming rate in both urban and rural counties. The upcoming July 4th holiday weekend is a critical point for Oregon in this pandemic, and we can all make a difference.

“Modeling from the Oregon Health Authority shows that if we don’t take further action to reduce the spread of the disease, our hospitals could be overwhelmed by new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations within weeks.

“The choices every single one of us make in the coming days matter.

“Face coverings that cover your nose and mouth play a critical role in reducing the spread of this disease because droplets from our breath can carry the virus to others without us realizing it. If we all wear face coverings, practice six feet of physical distancing in public, wash our hands regularly, and stay home when we are sick, then we can avoid the worst-case scenarios that are now playing out in other states.

“I do not want to have to close down businesses again like other states are now doing. If you want your local shops and restaurants to stay open, then wear a face covering when out in public.

“Please keep your Fourth of July celebrations small and local. We saw a lot of new COVID-19 cases following the Memorial Day holiday. Another spike in cases after the upcoming holiday weekend could put Oregon in a dangerous position.

“Oregonians have all made incredible sacrifices over the last several months that have saved thousands of lives. The actions we take now can protect our friends, neighbors, loved ones, and fellow Oregonians from this disease, and prevent the need for another statewide shutdown. We are truly all in this together.”

Oregon Occupational Safety and Health (OSHA) will take the lead, along with other state and local agencies, in enforcing face covering requirements for all covered Oregon businesses.


--Ben Fisher

Post Date: 2020-06-30 12:15:13

Q: What counties are impacted?
A:Clackamas, Clatsop, Hood River, Lincoln, Marion, Multnomah, Polk and Washington. Clatsop county was added on June 26 at the request of the County Commissioners

Q: What type of establishments does this order apply to?
A: All businesses, as defined below, and to the general public when visiting these businesses.

• Grocery stores
• Fitness-related organizations
• Pharmacies
• Public transit agencies and providers
• Personal services providers
• Restaurants, bars, breweries, brewpubs, wineries, tasting room and distilleries
• Retail stores, shopping centers and malls
• Ride sharing services
Phase Two counties only:
• Indoor licensed swimming pool, licensed spa pool and sports court operators
• Indoor entertainment facility operators
• Indoor recreational sports operators for specified sports
• Indoor venue operators

Q: What qualifies as a mask?
A:There are several items referenced. They are defined here:

• “Mask” means a medical grade mask.
• “Face covering” means a cloth, paper, or disposable face covering that covers the nose and the mouth.
• “Face shield” means a clear plastic shield that covers the forehead, extends below the chin, and wraps around the sides of the face.

Q: What is a “fitness-related organization”?
A: A “Fitness-related organization” include but are not limited to gyms, fitness centers, personal training, dance studios, and martial arts centers.

Q: What is an “indoor spaces open to the public”?
A: An “indoor space open to the public” include indoor spaces, whether publicly owned or privately owned, where the public has access by right or invitation, express or implied, whether by payment of money or not. In addition to the public areas of the businesses defined above, such spaces may include, but are not limited to, building lobbies or common spaces, elevators, and buildings or meeting rooms outside of private homes where people gather for social, civic, cultural or religious purposes.

Q: What is a “personal services provider”?
A:“Personal services providers” means barber shops, hair salons, esthetician practices, medical spas, facial spas and day spas, non-medical massage therapy services, nail salons, tanning salons, and tattoo/piercing parlors.

Q: What are businesses required to do?
A: A business is required to

• Require employees, contractors, volunteers, customers and visitors to wear a mask, face shield, or face covering, unless an accommodation or exemption is required by law or one of the following exemptions applies.
  • Employees, contractors and volunteers: Masks, face coverings or face shields are not required when eating/drinking or when at or in a location where the employee, contractor or volunteer is not interacting with the public and six or more feet of distance can be maintained between other people.
  • Customers and visitors:
  • Masks, face shields or face coverings are not required in restaurants, bars, breweries, brewpubs, wineries, tasting room and distilleries while eating or drinking.
  • Masks, face shields or face coverings are not required when at a business and engaged in an activity that makes wearing a mask, face shield or face covering not feasible, such as strenuous physical exercise, performers singing or playing an instrument if at least six feet of distance is maintained from others.
  • Provide masks, face shields, or face coverings for employees.
  • Provide for accommodations and exemptions from the mask, face shield, or face covering requirement for employees, contractors, customers and visitors if such accommodations or exemptions are required by:
  • State and federal disabilities laws if applicable, including the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which protects people with disabilities from discrimination in employment and requires employers to engage in the interactive process for accommodations.
  • State or federal labor laws.
  • State and federal public accommodations laws that provide all persons with full and equal access to services, transportation, and facilities open to the public.
  • OHA public health guidance if applicable.
  • Post clear signs about the mask, face shield, or face covering requirements.

Q: What are businesses encouraged but not required to do?
A: A business should, but is not required to:

• Provide, at no cost, at least disposable face coverings for customers and visitors who do not have one.
• Post signs about the mask, face shield, or face coverings requirement in languages that are commonly spoken by customers and visitors.
• Educate employees:
• On how to safely work and communicate with people who cannot wear masks, face shield, or face coverings.
• That they may need to remove a mask or face covering while communicating with an individual who needs to read lips or see facial expressions to communicate.

Q: What are customers and visitors of businesses are required to do?
A: Wear a mask, face shield, or face covering when at a business unless the individual:

• Is under 12 years of age.
• Has a medical condition that makes it hard to breathe when wearing a mask, face shield, or face covering.
• Has a disability that prevents the individual from wearing a mask, face shield, or face covering.

Q: What about customers and visitors of businesses between the ages of 0 and 12 years old?
A:

• Children under the age of two are not required to wear a mask, face shield, or face covering.
• It is strongly recommended that children between two (2) and 12 years of age, wear a mask, face shield, or face covering at all times in all indoor spaces open to the public, particularly in places where it is likely that physical distancing of at least six feet from other individuals outside their household unit cannot be maintained, and where vulnerable people may go.
• Because children between the ages of two and 12 years of age can have challenges wearing a mask, face shield, or face covering properly (e.g., excessively touching the face covering, not changing the face covering if visibly soiled, risk of strangulation or suffocation, etc.) we urge that if masks, face shields or face coverings are worn by this age group, that they be worn with the assistance and close supervision of an adult.
• Masks, face shields, or face coverings should never be worn by children when sleeping.

Q: What about indoor spaces open to the public?
A: Individuals visiting indoor spaces open to the public are required to wear a mask, face shield, or face covering unless the individual:

• Is under 12 years of age.
• Has a medical condition that makes it hard to breathe when wearing a mask, face shield, or face covering.
• Has a disability that prevents the individual from wearing a mask, face shield, or face covering.

--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2020-06-27 08:49:55

Last Update: 2020-06-26 19:50:28

During the special session, the legislature passed legislation championed by the Oregon Legislature’s People of Color (POC) Caucus. Rep. Janelle Bynum (D-Happy Valley) said “these measures represent just a first step in the long road of reforms that our state must tackle.” Sen. Lew Frederick (D-Portland) confirmed, “We took important steps on that path today, but this is just the tip of the iceberg. We have much work ahead.”

The measures that passed the legislature today were:

• Joint Committee on Transparent Policing and Use of Force Reform – HB 4201A – establishes committee to examine policies related to use of force and transparency in policing and recommend legislation to committees of Legislative Assembly related to judiciary on or before December 31, 2020.
• Outlaw the use of respiratory restricting restraints – HB 4203A – declares that a peace officer is not justified or reasonable in any circumstance to use physical force that impedes “the normal breathing or circulation of the blood of another person by applying pressure on the throat or neck of the other person” unless it is a circumstance in which an officer may use deadly force as provided by in ORS 161.239. Rules will be adopted prohibiting the training of this force, except as a defensive maneuver.
• Duty to report and intervene – HB 4205A - requires police and reserve officers to intervene to prevent or stop another officer from engaging in an act they know, or should reasonably know is misconduct.
• Transparency of police discipline records – HB 4207A - requires the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training (DPSST) to establish a statewide online public database of records for officers whose certification has been revoked or suspended and specifies the information to be provided.
• Protecting freedom of speech and assembly from excessive force – HB 4208A – prohibits law enforcement agencies from using tear gas for crowd control, except for circumstances that meet the definition of a riot in ORS 166.015. In the event of a riot, the legislation requires sufficient notification and ability for individuals to evacuate an area before tear gas is deployed.
• Discipline guidelines and arbitration decisions – SB 1604 – requires an arbitrator to uphold a discipline decision should they agree that misconduct occurred, as long as the discipline lines up with the discipline guide. The disciplinary guide or matrix would be a mandatory subject of collective bargaining.

“Today we proclaimed that Black Lives Matter,” said Sen. James Manning (D-Eugene).

“For the people marching on the streets today, for everyone who wants to feel safe in their own communities from police harassment, for the future generations who deserve to live in a better World, today is an historic day,” said Rep. Akasha Lawrence Spence (D-Portland).

Rep. Sherrie Sprenger (R-Scio) quoted the late Rep. Vic Gilliam on the floor on HB 4207A “Passing this resolution reminds me of someone who won the game and they continue to celebrate it.” She said, “You’ve won the battle, but this is a poke in the eye.” This bill was on collecting a statewide database on police disciplinary records, whether founded or not, and publish them online.

Law enforcement agencies have a hard time getting recruits. Current law requires a psychological evaluation of all police officers. Will these reforms improve conduct, or reduce the caliber of recruits?


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2020-06-27 08:38:39

Last Update: 2020-06-27 08:54:46

A Special Session called to address COVID issues and Police Reform to appease rioters, deviated shortly after opening in SB 1603. Proponents begged for assistance to help rural communities to install internet service in areas that still live a wholesome life away from WIFI waves. The claim is the lack of internet access has hampered virtual schooling during the pandemic. However, some areas with internet that chose to issue paper workbooks had lot less confusion and more success among grade schoolers than those needing to work on a computer.

Not that we don’t want rural communities to have internet, but on whose backs do we put the cost? In the hearing, it was presented that low-income families have given up the cost of landlines for cell phones for cost savings. Cell phones are used for security and safety tracking between family members. Likewise, seniors have gone to cell phone use for security and safety.

SB 1603 lowers the landline tax from 8.5% to 6% that will benefit the very people who want internet access. Only to add a 6% tax on all cell phones on families that already have internet access. This type of distribution of wealth hits the most vulnerable. For example, a family with four cell phones could face an added charge of about $18 on their monthly bill. This is a lot for low-income families, and seniors on a fixed-incomes.

This bill was passed after testimony alerting the committee that PUC is in the process of reviewing the Oregon Service Fund that expires in 2021, and should be considered before more funding is instigated. The bill raises $2.5 million per biennium, and caps the fund at $28 million annually. However, only 15% is designated to build broadband. This is a slow way to get access when the estimate is in the billions. The Emergency Board provided $20 million of Cares Act funds for broadband already, and USDA provided $6 million to Grant and Wheeler Counties for this purpose. Representative Greg Walden announced that the Federal Communications Commission authorized $67.7 million for rural broadband in Oregon over the next 10 years for ten rural counties. All this funding has not been utilized to see where or if additional funding is needed, but it did not deter the Democrat assembly from imposing this tax on the most vulnerable along partisan lines.

At a time when this state is hurting on every level, adding an additional burden on all families is poor judgment and poor leadership. Was this the appropriate way to expand internet? What was the big hurry to foist another tax on unsuspecting Oregonians?


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2020-06-26 20:25:27

Last Update: 2020-06-26 20:25:39

Oregon’s legislature has passed a cell phone tax at a time when Oregonian’s people and economy might not appreciate the financial investment on behalf of the government, when they are themselves are soon required to make massive and historic budget cuts due to the recent shutdown of the economy. The tax will be applied to monthly service bills.

The proceeds of the tax are dedicated to building rural broadband infrastructure. Nonetheless, many Republican legislators from rural districts voted no, as they could not see the benefits outweighing the drawback of another tax.

Senate Republicans voted against SB 1603, describing it as a cell phone tax disguised as a rural assistance bill. “The legislative process has not only been taken away from Oregonians, but now they must absorb a new tax when they are living in an economic shutdown,” said Senate Republican Leader Fred Girod (R-Stayton). “Democrats are spending money the state doesn’t have. This is a tax, and I think Oregon deserves better.” The Emergency Board recently allocated $20 million to broad band. “You know something is wrong with a bill when senators like me that represent rural Oregonians voted no,” said Senator Lynn Findley (R-Vale). “My constituents cannot afford another tax on their livelihoods, especially when the Emergency Board just allocated $20 million in funds to broadband without any plan on what projects the money will go to.”

Critics have also noted that many Oregonians -- including many rural Oregonians -- use their cell phone as an internet connection and has the effect of taxing an existing internet connection in order to create another one. The tax is seen by experts as regressive, placing a heavier burden on lower-income people who have to use a greater proportion of their income to pay the tax.


--Ben Fisher

Post Date: 2020-06-26 19:50:07

Last Update: 2020-08-03 19:09:05

Making a recent move amidst a wave of name changes in some institutions, two schools in Oregon have declared that they will abandon the name of their popular sports competitions, the annual Civil War, with no plan to otherwise rename the event, citing that some people have been offended at the name.

A statement from Oregon State University can be seen here:

"Changing this name is overdue as it represents a connection to a war fought to perpetuate slavery," said OSU President Ed Ray. "While not intended as reference to the actual Civil War, OSU sports competition should not provide any misconstrued reference to this divisive episode in American history. That we did not act before to change the name was a mistake. We do so now, along with other important actions to advance equal opportunity and justice for all and in recognition that Black Lives Matter."

"A number of student-athletes, alumni and friends of Oregon State University have questioned the use of the term Civil War in our rivalry series in recent years," said Beaver Vice President and Director of Athletics Scott Barnes. "We initiated discussions with our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) about the possibility of eliminating the name "Civil War" from our series and with

their leadership, we are moving forward. "We will embrace members of the university community, alumni, student-athletes, and friends of Oregon State to assist in a collaborative process with the University Of Oregon to consider other names for this historic rivalry."


--Ben Fisher

Post Date: 2020-06-26 16:14:18

Last Update: 2020-06-26 16:14:56

Democrats in Oregon have passed legislation ending the practice of driver’s license suspensions due to inability to pay fines or fees and have identified race as the reason. Some libertarian voices have noted that this legislation itself is not so outlandish, but don’t understand the insistence on the racial narrative, if it could be done without.

Rep.Chris Gorsek (D-Troutdale), a longtime champion of the legislation and a candidate for State Senate, carried House Bill 4210 on the floor. “This bill is especially important as we confront some of the inequities and institutional bias in our systems,” said Rep. Chris Gorsek. “We know that Black and Latinx Oregonians are disproportionately stopped, ticketed, charged and convicted, and we know that this cycle of debt and punishment especially burdens communities of color. Increased frequency of being stopped and cited for driving offenses, along with increased fine amounts, puts communities of color at greater risk of license suspension for inability to pay.” According to the Oregon Law Center, more than 334,000 license suspensions have been issued in the last decade. These suspensions, which impact individuals who are unable to pay fines and fees, perpetuates cycles of debt and poverty, and deprives individuals of the ability to get to work, school or the doctor. Further, according to data recently released by the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, Black and Latinx people are disproportionately stopped, ticketed, charged and convicted. As a result, fine and fee-based license suspensions disproportionately impact communities of color, in addition to low-income Oregonians.

The House Democratic sponsors are Rep. Teresa Alonso Leon(D-Woodburn), Rep. Julie Fahey(D-West Eugene and Junction City),Rep. Chris Gorsek(D-Troutdale),Rep. Ken Helm(D-Beaverton), Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer(D-Portland),Rep. Akasha Lawrence Spence(D-Portland),Rep. PamMarsh(D-Ashland),Rep. Susan McLain(D-Forest Grove), Rep. Mark Meek(D-Oregon City),Rep. TiffinyMitchell(D-Astoria),Rep. Nancy Nathanson(D-Eugene),Rep. Rob Nosse(D-Portland),Rep. KarinPower(D-Milwaukie),Rep. Andrea Salinas(D-Lake Oswego), Rep. Tawna Sanchez(D-Portland),Rep. Sheri Schouten(D-Beaverton), Rep. Marty Wilde(D-Eugene), and Rep. Anna Williams(D-Hood River). The bill, which passed 44 to 13, now heads to the Senate for consideration.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2020-06-26 15:49:07

Last Update: 2020-06-26 15:50:07

One of the subjects of the Special Session was to address police issues. Since the Democrats have supermajorities in both chambers, they don't need Republican support, yet after days of conversations about the bills, in which content of the bills was agreed upon to get some Republican support, Democrats amended the bills to add this language at the beginning:

“Whereas Black Lives Matter; and
“Whereas the three other police officers present at George Floyd’s arrest had 8 minutes and 46 seconds to save his life; and
“Whereas the history of racial violence in America, including public lynchings, deeply implicates police officers that did not intervene to stop extrajudicial murders of Black Americans, creating a culture of distrust between law enforcement and the Black community that persists to this day; and
“Whereas police officers swear an oath to serve the public; and
“Whereas police officers need to be trusted to step in when lives are endangered; and
“Whereas two-thirds of Black Americans do not trust that they will be treated equally by the police; and
“Whereas Black youth experience hypervigilance, a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder, in the presence of police officers; and
“Whereas Black children deserve to feel safe around the police; and
“Whereas we all deserve to feel safe around the police; and
“Whereas restoring trust in the police is not possible without real accountability measures; and
“Whereas the United States Department of Justice’s October 2018 Special Report found that Black people and Latinx people are twice as likely to experience the threat or use of force compared to white people; and
“Whereas intervening and reporting misconduct protects the reputation of police officers who are acting in good faith and within the bounds of the law; now, therefore,”.

“Whereas” clauses have no force of law, but they do express the intent of the lawmakers. All of the bills passed easily, with strong support from Republicans.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2020-06-26 10:44:48

Last Update: 2020-06-27 08:15:41

Oregon House Republicans today joined their Democrat colleagues in support of legislation that would establish temporary and limited liability for coronavirus related litigation. Ten House Democrats shared a letter with their fellow lawmakers encouraging legislative leaders to quickly pass this legislation during the current special session.

“My office has been flooded with emails and phone calls from organizations, both public and private, seeking relief from the uncertainty surrounding employer liability during this unprecedented time,” said House Republican Leader Christine Drazan (R-Canby). “Public and private employers are committed to meeting state and federal guidelines to protect the safety of their employees, students and customers. It’s our job as lawmakers to ensure that organizations who are doing everything they have been asked to do by the government, are protected from potentially devastating legal threats.”

“Given the extensive bipartisan support for adopting a fix to this problem in this special session, I am committed to working with all stakeholders and legislative leadership to bring this concept to a vote,” concluded Leader Drazan. Language to ensure nonprofits, local governments, schools and businesses are protected from opportunistic lawsuits is expected to be introduced as an amendment to HB 4212.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2020-06-26 10:44:39

Last Update: 2020-06-26 10:44:48

During a hectic week in Oregon, as Governor Kate Brown has decided to call a ‘closed-to-the public’ Special Legislative Session, where normal legislative rules are to be overlooked in an unfamiliar capitol environment where “social-distancing” rules are to be mandated in the building. Here, as observers have recently noted, we are once again seeing some rules- that were once in effect, now deemed “non-essential”. We all have certainly become familiar with these terms as of late, whether we believe if they do legitimately work, or not.

Senate Minority Republican Leader Fred Girod has released the following statement citing concern over the Special Session rules adopted:

“The rules the Senate Republicans voted against included that only the Senate President and Speaker of the House have the capabilities to create bills or amendments during the special session, not any other sitting legislator. “The rights of the minority, no matter who the minority party is, are extremely important and they are compromised by these special session rules,” said Senate Republican Leader Fred Girod (R-Stayton). “Without the ability to create or amend legislation, my colleagues and I are legislators by name only during the special session.”

The second rule change the Republicans voted against was about the lack of transparency in the process. Typically dependent on the participation of Oregonians, the rule change largely excludes citizens from the legislative process during the special session. Senator Girod continued,

“In the midst of this pandemic, why is the Governor willing to risk the health of legislators by calling the special session, yet prevent Oregonians from being part of the process? No matter how you want to phrase it, this is the building of the people, not legislators.”

Despite the plea of concern, which observers have also noted as being echoed by the public, Oregon Democrats will likely push through policy legislation as quickly as they possibly can, while affording themselves extra powers to accomplish what they might not be able to normally -all while cutting the public out of the normal process. One can only hope that the people of Oregon will weather the effects of this legislation that is likely to be passed by this often excessively authoritarian Democrat Majority.

To see a full list of the bills that will be considered during the special session and to keep up with everything happening in the Joint Committee on the First Special Session of 2020, click here.


--Ben Fisher

Post Date: 2020-06-24 16:27:14

Last Update: 2020-06-25 07:43:12

Governor Brown has called a Special Session starting June 24. The first thing you need to know is everything in a special session is considered and emergency. If it isn’t, then the Governor isn’t being accountable to taxpayers. They have scheduled 23 bills, so far, for a two-day session and three do not have any emergency clause. The other 20, the public has no recourse once passed. But, the fact that there is an emergency clause doesn’t necessarily make it an emergency.

The emergency clause has been misused as an overreach of government authority since the day it was passed, but by 2016 parties were conjuring up fake reasons to use the emergency clause to prevent voters from challenging controversial bills. Because the Republicans walked out of the regular session this year, only a handful of bills were passed. Had the emergency clause not been misused to prevent voters from challenging cap and trade bills causing the walkout, we would actually be in worse financial condition. I’m guessing there were 400-600 bills left on the table, and most of them had a cost to them. Stopping bills with emergency clauses by walking out isn’t the best way to conduct the people’s business. Early petitions for 2022 include an initiative on No Fake Emergencies, which will begin gathering signatures in July. We can stop this abuse.

In looking over the bills for the special session I am hard pressed to find a bill with a true emergency. The exceptions might be school funding distribution and reevaluating finances, but the other 20 are all knee-jerk emotional responses that should be carefully thought out. Even strategies to protect Oregonians from the effects of COVID-19 is past its prime and the news is reporting the virus is mutating and getting weaker in countries that never locked down.

What is immediately apparent is the use of the special session to make quick work to strip local control and build the Democrat central empire. For example, HB 4201 and HB 4207, two of the six bills on police reform, centralize police conduct. HB 4207 establishes a centralized data base of police discipline records including the number of founded and unfounded complaints against an officer. HB 4201 transfers police violations of law enforcement to the Attorney General. This bill transfers planning authority on issues of use of deadly physical force, resolving issues of potential criminal responsibility, develop training, and the conduct of investigation into physical force cases. This transfer of power and centralization removes local enforcement authority and exposes every complaint making it more difficult for officers to do their jobs. It also raises the question whether it is constitutional to usurp county enforcement in this way.

What I don’t see on the list is how to kick-start the economy. If anything is an emergency, it should be our right to make a living. After all, we have to make money before we can pay taxes unless you’re subject to the gross receipts tax – this tax doesn’t care if you’re losing money, pay anyway. I guess the rest of us didn’t destroy enough property or march enough to make our point with the Governor. Elections are in four months.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2020-06-24 16:13:53

Last Update: 2020-06-24 16:14:01

During Friday’s riots in Portland, Antifa-types wrapped the George Washington statue with an American flag and set it on fire, pulling down the statute and defacing it. Was this a justified action or a declaration of war against America?

They argument that George Washington was a slave owner and therefore had to be bad and therefore he couldn’t have written a credible constitution. They vent their anger without logic or reason to justify destroying the statue and flag.

The flag they so carelessly disrespect symbolizes what so many have died to protect, and Americans have deep emotional attachments to it. Thus, flag burning is not political speech but instead an attack upon Americans feelings. Burning the American Flag was illegal to burn or desecrate until June 11, 1990, when the Supreme Court ruled that the burning of the flag is protected by the First Amendment. Acts of desecrating the flag is a deliberate act to denounce America and all it stands for. Can the flag be desecrated and not declare a hatred towards America and the American people?

Destroying George Washington, the commander in chief in a war to free America that would lead to freeing slaves is short sighted. It is true that George Washington personally owned 123 slaves, inheriting 10 from his father at age 11. His ownership was about one-third of the 317 slaves at Mount Vernon. By the 1780s, Washington’s feelings about using slaves to work the land had changed, and he expressed his uneasiness with close friends, including his Revolutionary War comrade Marquis de Lafayette. His distaste for selling slaves at public venue was based on his desire that slave families not be split up.

There was still the matter of maintaining his Virginia plantation and Virginia laws. But, upon his death in 1799, Washington's will freed his slaves upon his wife's death. Up until 1782. Virginia’s legislature made it illegal to release slaves and the new legislation permitted release by will or deed at the death of the slaveholder. Both Washington and Jefferson took advantage of freeing slaves.

Neither George nor Martha Washington could free all the slaves at Mount Vernon because they did not own all the slaves. Some were owned by Martha Washington's first husband, Daniel Parke Custis, and they were inherited by their children. One such slave is written about in Never Caught: The Washingtons’ Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge. She actually ran away when Martha was going to give her to her granddaughter, and agreed to return if freed upon Martha’s death, but Martha didn’t have authority over that decision. Martha Washington chose to free her late husband’s slaves early. So, in December 1800, she signed a deed of manumission to free George’s slaves.

Toppling the statue of George Washington on the eve of when all slaves were freed seems like hypocrisy. The defacing included graffiti on the surface that read “genocide colonist.” If the rioters knew their history, George Washington was the least likely person to kill Black people or even mistreat them. Writings on Washington recently has grabbed generalities of slave owners and imposed them on his history. Wikipedia says Washington thought of his workers as part of an extended family with him the father figure at its head.

The paternalist in him saw his relationship with his slaves as one of mutual obligations; he provided for them and they in return served him, a relationship in which slaves were able to approach Washington with their concerns and grievances. He allowed his slaves to supplemented their diet by hunting, trapping, and growing vegetables in their free time, and to buy extra rations, clothing and housewares with income from the sale of game and produce. As commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in 1775, Washington initially refused to accept African-Americans into the ranks, seeing they were needed to support the economy. But, it became necessary to reverse this position due to the demands of war.

According to historian Joseph Ellis, Washington saw slavery as the culprit, preventing the development of diligence and responsibility that would emerge gradually and naturally after emancipation. E.P. Thompson wrote, “Washington went beyond the legal requirement to support and maintain younger slaves until adulthood, stipulating that those children whose education could not be undertaken by parents were to be taught reading, writing, and a useful trade by their masters and then be freed at the age of 25.”

What cruel slave owner whose sole interest was in his own financial status would make sure his slaves were educated for success once freed? What would those slaves say about burning the flag and destroying George Washington’s statue?


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2020-06-21 09:14:12

Last Update: 2020-06-21 09:14:31