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12 | JUNE 25 • 2020
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been taken “for a family member
of the mayor.
” He also told me
that my dad could have been “at
McDonald’
s or in a hotel” and
“that he didn’
t warrant depart-
mental resources.
”
As you can imagine, this was
shocking and devastating to
me. My dad, in fact, was not at
“McDonald’
s” or “in a hotel.
” He
was found dead in his car the
day after he went missing, not
by the police, but by a person
that lived on the block where my
dad’
s car was parked.
It came to my attention via
friends that Shelide had made
some abhorrent posts on social
media. These posts invoked
violence against people of color.
At best, they are unequivocally
racist in nature. At worst, they
are criminal and should not be
acceptable coming from any
human being, let alone a law
enforcement officer.
My concern is that if your
chief of police could speak to a
grieving daughter that way, what
else is he capable of? And how
many police departments in this
state will pass him around, hop-
ing he will magically change? If
change is going to come, it has to
start with the people who have
power. And you do. So, the ques-
tion is, how will you use your
power?
Would you be OK if the next
George Floyd occurred in your
city? Forget about Neal Rott, of
blessed memory. Think of all
those who don’
t have the priv-
ilege I have to even be able to
write this letter.
Black lives have always mat-
tered but, apparently, they matter
more to some than to others,
and others should not include
law enforcement officers.
Leslie Rott Welsbacher
University of Michigan
Editor’
s Note: You can read
about the social media posts in
“
Actions Matter,
” page 34 in the
June 18 issue of the JN. On June
16, Shelby Township Trustees
suspended Chief Robert Shelide
for 30 days and ordered him
to undergo cultural awareness
and de-escalation training.
Choosing Life
Following the funeral of my late
husband, Dr. Sheldon Kapen,
and listening to the most beau-
tiful eulogy of our eldest son,
Gilead, a close friend quipped
that for such a funeral and eulo-
gy it was wor
th dying. Needless
to say, he wasn’
t serious.
However, these very words
can also be said regarding the
most elaborate funeral and eulo-
gies said on behalf of Mr. George
Floyd, the African American
who was callously killed by a cop
who kneeled on his neck, not
listening to the man’
s plea that he
couldn’
t breathe.
Yet, I’
ll bet that Floyd would
not forfeit his precious life for
the most elaborated funeral and
the nicest of words said about
him.
Our holy Torah tells us —
practically orders us — to choose
life when faced by the choices of
life and death; thou shall choose
life — u’
vacharta ba’
chayim.
May we all vow to do all that
in our power to make this choice
available to us all when at all
possible, and make sure that
Black Life Matters is more than
a slogan, but a guiding light to
us all.
Rachel Kapen
West Bloomfield
continued from page 10
Neal Rott
BC