Page 14 - 01A_CL7_OCT20.indd

Communications Report
Misconceptions about police supporters
On Sept. 18, the Chicago Sun-Times published an opinion piece written by reporter Natalie Moore from WBEZ in which she discussed “long- term systematic problems of race and economic equality.”
Ms. Moore went on to say that she “lunched on oysters and filet mignon outside at a table in the street,” when a number of Chicago Police Officers passed the restaurant on bicycles and “some cus- tomers at Gibsons, as well as those at surrounding eateries, applauded.” Ms. Moore then described
in detail why she and her family chose not to clap for the offi- cers as they passed and went on to describe the “perceptions of neighborhoods and the people who live there.”
There is truth to that, the “perceptions of neighborhoods and the people who live there.” We all may have our percep- tions of how people from “certain neighborhoods” fit into this category or that category. Gold Coast. Englewood. Edison Park. Garfield Park. Uptown. Mount Greenwood. Chatham. Each neighborhood may elicit a Pavlovian response from you.
But those perceptions and those responses are often flat- out wrong. Communities are not monolithic, and we would be naïve to think that just because you come from a certain neighborhood, you must be a certain way or think a certain
way. Most of those perceptions, in fact, turn out to be miscon- ceptions. Like Ms. Moore said, “The applause was a show of gratitude, delineating a line between Black Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter.”
What a misconception. Applauding officers means those people do not believe that Black lives matter? Why can’t it be both? Why can’t a person believe that both Black lives matter and the lives of police officers matter? Applause for officers is saying “thank you” for protecting our city, a simple thank you for risking your life for the people of Chicago.
And the members of Lodge 7, the men and women of the police department, do just that — risk their lives for people in every neighborhood in Chicago. And yes, we get applause. We get thank-you cards. We get food donated as a small gesture for all that officers do for the people of Chicago. We unfortu- nately also get obscene gestures thrown our way, along with bullets. So far in 2020, 66 officers have been shot at, and 10 of- ficers have sustained gunshots, the most in generations. Our officers risk everything for the people of Chicago.
And it’s not just those “frilly stores” on the Gold Coast that Ms. Moore described in her opinion piece. Our officers risk everything for the people of Englewood and Uptown, Cha- tham and Edison Park. They risk everything for the people living in all corners of our city.
Save nuns, priests and pastors, what other group or subsec- tion of Chicago has spent more time working with the com- munity than Chicago Police Officers? Our officers are asked to do so much, and we come though day after day for these communities we serve, working with these diverse groups, together, making a difference. Racism is real. There is no de- nying it, and there clearly is a history of racial division in Chi- cago. But to lambaste supporters of the police as somehow not supporting the fact that Black lives do in fact matter?
We don’t do this job for kudos from journalists, pundits or opinion columnists in the press. Officers step up and take that risk for the people of Chicago, the moms and dads, kids and grandparents — we do this important work for you. Over the summer, officers worked weeks on end with no days off, more than 12-hour days with no time to sit down and enjoy a meal with their own families. No time to lunch on oysters and filet mignon.
We don’t need applause from opinion writers, because we don’t work for you. We work for the regular, hardworking people who make up this incredible city, and their contin- ued thanks is more than enough. In every community, North, South and West, our officers will continue doing their job, serving the people of Chicago — even those who choose not to clap.
Racial division indeed is “all of Chicago’s problem,” and the men and women of Lodge 7 who make up the Chicago Police Department will continue to chip away at it, working day and night for all of Chicago — every neighborhood, every com- munity and every person who calls this city home.
MICHAEL CARROLL
Knapp Medical Center
You Take Care of Us...
We Take Care of You and Your Family
We take our commitment to you PERSONALLY
• Serving Chicago Police Officers and their families since 1957
• We accept Approved CPD Health Plans and all Private Insurance
• On-site Pharmacy
• On-site lab for bloodwork and EKG
• On staff at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center and Illinois Masonic Medical Center
• Convenient Location with Free Parking in rear
Knapp Medical Center LTD Keith C. Knapp, Jr, MD
3303 S Halsted St • Chicago, IL 60608
Hours
Monday 8 a.m.–6 p.m. • Tuesday 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Wednesday 6 a.m.–5 p.m. • Thursday 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Friday 8 a.m.–3 p.m. • Saturday 8 a.m.–Noon
CALL NOW for an appointment: 773-890-0800
COMMITTED to serving CPD members and their families
14 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ OCTOBER 2020