By: BILLY ROY WAYNE
By the time this feature is printed, the request for investigation into the Shreveport Police Department by District B Councilwoman Levette Fuller may be decided. The emergency mask ordinance proposed by District G Councilman Jerry Bowman Jr. may be decided. The July 8 emergency order of Mayor Adrian Perkins may or may not be still wrapped up in legal talks.
The mayor and Councilman Bowman Jr. have issues which are similar in that both involve the wearing of masks in some shape, form or fashion for a specified time. Age in both cases may be a factor but should not be a deterrent to accountability. Without going into a lot of wherefores, thereuntos and be it knowns, the political ramifications of some who oppose the mayor’s and councilman’s measures appear to be as great as those who question the legality of such measures.
For this writer, health and safety far outweigh any other matters of concerns given the present medical and political climates which now engulf us. Simply requiring masks to be worn doesn’t mean that masks shall be worn. Yet the accountability in place for failure to “mask up” is long overdue. Kudos to Mayor Perkins and Councilman Bowman Jr. for their efforts.
Councilwoman Levette Fuller’s resolution requesting the Department of Justice open a practice investigation of the Shreveport Police Department over what I like to refer to as “patterns of arrest(s)” should not be viewed in any way as negative! When there’s nothing to hide, investigations should be welcomed so that the “air is cleared” and forward progress is made. Kudos to Ms. Fuller for seeking what should be viewed as right. Finally, while passing out kudos, Louisi
Finally, while passing out kudos, Louisiana State Senator Cleo Fields is to be commended for his stance on athletic events this fall. The health and safety risks involved in such events are not to be taken lightly. The question of “need vs greed,” in the opinion of this writer, jeopardize(s) the families of the one group of athletes who compromise a majority of these teams — blacks. According to the latest data, blacks are two times more likely to die from Covid-19 than whites. For me, this is about survival as much as it is about race.
THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE July 17 ISSUE OF FOCUS SB - THE INQUISITOR.