Unions should empower black communities

By Alex Turner, North Las Vegas

Monday, Dec. 29, 2014 | 2:01 a.m.

I am part of the Las Vegas Freedom Rider Network, and we’re writing to you as black members of the Las Vegas community.

As a community, we agree that the source of our anger is the interaction between black Americans and law enforcement, but there is no consensus on whether abusive law enforcement or the actions from some in our black community are to blame.

I would like to start on a topic where there is consensus: that the interactions between black Americans and law enforcement is often contentious. Starting from this, we would like to know whether police unions support the concept of empowering black communities. Most certainly, if police unions are a face of hope, our interactions can be less contentious because of mutual trust. We believe there are more police officers who make the extra effort to do good than those who abuse the authority.

We would like to see police union officials teaching our young black men and women about economic empowerment or supporting those best suited to. Help them register to vote. Sit with educators to understand their struggles to educate, and then actively help solve these issues. We would like to see more scholarships and union officials speaking in our churches.

If unions don’t make the effort, what should this tell the black community about the desire to build trust? Without trust, all that remains is your gun and badge; and with no trust, a gun and badge, and a few bad cops, you can distort the image of the do-gooders.