[EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a Letter to the Editor, written by a Reader. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The B-Town Blog nor its staff:]
B-Town Blog Editor:
After reading both articles published on your blog titled, “City of Burien issues statement about recent hate mail from Respect, WA†and “LETTER: I do not respect ‘Respect Washington’; plus, Sheriff responds,†I feel it necessary to send a Letter to the Editor, as well.
This is in direct response to the actions of the group “Respect Washington,†and their dissemination of addresses of alleged undocumented immigrants in Burien. I am both dismayed and disgusted at the comments made by individuals who support such vile action.
It seems to me that some people need to do their homework. Rather than run under the assumption that our “law and order” problem, and the assertion of an abundance of criminals and uptick in crime is directly correlated to Burien’s sanctuary city status, or illegal immigrants, how about citizens take a look at real statistics? Apparently for some, it is easier to listen to an off the cuff remark someone makes, and show ignorance and lack of education by believing it to be true and the gospel. They then begin to spew more nonsense. For those of you that might be interested in educating yourself with FACTS, you might want to know about the King County Sheriff’s Office website, which tracks and provides REAL, DOCUMENTED information on crime and criminals in our area. For instance, one poster commented on the recent Crosscut article titled, “Group spreads addresses of alleged undocumented immigrants in Burien,” by Lily Fowler. This poster spouted off about “murderers, drug dealers and rapists” on a list, and compounded their ignorant post by stating we should ask a rape victim how she feels about “DACA, dreamers, and Burien’s sanctuary city status.” Perhaps this uninformed and other like-minded, ill-advised individuals should take a look at the above mentioned website. It might give them pause to cast blame upon one particular subset or race, when they view the information regarding sex offenders in Burien. Should they bother to look at the REAL statistics, they will see that out of 29 sex offenders, 22 of them are WHITE. Of the remaining 7, ALL of them are BLACK. NONE of them are Hispanic, Asian, Native American or Indian. Now, if there’s an ounce of common sense, not to mention common decency, inside of those purporting to know it all and wanting you to believe the worst, then perhaps this information might give them pause, and they’ll reconsider regurgitating someone else’s bias, bigotry and flat out lies. Think for yourselves. Don’t let a slate of fear mongers disseminate untruths, thinking you’re gullible enough to swallow it. Make no mistake. The “Burien Proud/Burien First” and “Respect Burien” slate has NOTHING to do with “pride” in their community and its diversity, in putting Burien’s constituents “first”, nor in showing “respect†toward Burien’s citizens. Don’t take my word for it. Take the time to do some research of your own. Here is a direct link to the King County Sheriff’s website I mentioned above:
It’s beyond time to say NO to the bullies, and the right time to show ALL of Burien’s citizens common decency and respect!
– Dawn Lemmel
A citizen who proudly embraces Burien’s diversity
[Have an opinion or concern you’d like to share with our ~100,000+ engaged monthly Readers? Please send us your Letter to the Editor via email. Include your full name, please cite your sources, remain civil and – pending our careful review – we’ll consider publishing it.]
