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Here and There ... and Back Again
Brand Selvia
A Greencastle native and a 2017 graduate of Wabash College, Brand Selvia is passionate about history, conversation and classic cars. Nicknamed "Brando" by family and friends, Selvia loves chatting over a cup of coffee or glass of bourbon, as well as joyriding in his 1974 Volkswagen Beetle.
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The precipice of the hard line

Posted Thursday, June 11, 2020, at 4:17 PM
Some protesters stand underneath the Buzz Bomb on Greencastle's Courthouse Square. More than 70 people participated in the demonstration which took place last weekend.

Since the story broke on George Floyd's death in Minneapolis, Minn. about three weeks ago, I have not publicly expressed any opinions or reactions on social media about the incident, or about the protests rocking the political and social landscape.

I am weary of how accusatory the divides have become. Whether it's about supporting or condemning our police, or about supporting the right to protest and denouncing violence, it seems to me that maintaining the middle ground has become problematic.

Two of the most prevalent ideals of the Black Lives Matter movement have been to the effect of "silence being violence," or that silence is being "complicit" with racism and police brutality. I believe that these slogans can only promote dangerous assumptions.

The U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis said that, "Neutrality is at times a graver sin than belligerence." How does this noncommitment apply to being a local journalist, when both conviction and resistance pits your community against itself?

Initially, I approached the large demonstration which took place at the Putnam County Courthouse last Saturday with some trepidation. Despite my anticipation that it could become violent, I wanted to cover it matter-of-factly and be on the sidelines. This was consequential and relevant, but I did not expect to get a true story out of it.

However, I realized after it ended that much of this story lay in the protest's sense of presence, as well as it being a peaceful one. The photos could only add visual context.

The article I wrote about this demonstration is perhaps the most important I've ever published in my time here at the Banner Graphic. This is because it has helped get part of the community talking more - and not just inspired the trolls stirring the pot. It's noteworthy that the great majority of those who came out were the "kids."

"I appreciate the role you are playing in this," a participant in the protest wrote to me later on. "I understand you are supposed to remain neutral, but that is exactly who we need telling our story. If we are to come together and actually listen, we need an unbiased mediator."

I went to document the protest as an onlooker. I was hustling around the lower sidewalk trying to get some usable shots just to put on the website.

I had to show its impact in the narrative. This was their protest; and they needed, and will have to continue, to speak for their efforts. They hope for those divides to somehow bridge, and to bring solutions to make their community more cohesive. The news had to be there to capture this unique moment.

"I consider you an ally, and I hope the other sides of this situation do too," the protestor added. It was up to me as a reporter/community member to evaluate why.

He provides what I think is a crucial idea lost in all the finger-pointing, especially on social media. I will note that, to my surprise, I haven't been called out for not saying anything in support of the movement. However, when one of my Facebook friends blasts one of those slogans but has not heard me out, that's the real virtue signalling.

You may earnestly believe that "silence is violence," but belligerent "pressure" will not draw me wholly to your side. The same goes for police assaulting peaceful protestors.

What are those ideas for social and societal change in the first place? Do you want to "abolish" or "defund" the police, or do you emphasize reallocating funds to go toward addressing persistent public health issues such as mental health or drug addiction?

Here's what I want the Black Lives Matter movement and its allies, especially our local advocates, to better outline: What will the dialogue and ideas for change examine moving forward? Will this be on your terms only, or will these conversations promote a marketplace of compromise? Will this change be practical, or will it be idealistic?

In the same vein, this is what I want our local representatives and law enforcement to contemplate: Can you individually be receptive to those ideas for change? Can you, as a unit, be able to openly debate these ideas, and do it without malice? Finally, can you provide constructive criticism on how to make this change work for our community?

These aren't questions I can hope to inspire on my own just in this forum. As such, I encourage tough conversations about race and equality to continue in a peaceful way.

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  • Well stated!

    -- Posted by vwhitaker11 on Thu, Jun 11, 2020, at 4:33 PM

  • Can I Try to shed some more light on the issue? I'm not Black Lives Matter, nor am I the NAACP, but as your friendly neighborhood anarcho-communist, I hope I can explain some of the issues and dialogue surrounding the police.

    Abolishing the police is a VERY hard left position. The position maintains that capitalism requires both the enforcement of private property rights and some form of economic hierarchy to self perpetuate, and the police (at least our modern conception of it) is designed to enforce those two things, private property and economic hierarchy. Public safety is a side gig, and one that would be better suited to social services and social workers. This idea will likely seem extremely far flung, and you would have to engage with the literature in order to get a truly nuanced understanding of the position. Marx, Kropotkin, and Luxemburg would bee good authors to start with.

    Defunding the police is a far more realistic goal. Some major cities have been known to spend very large sums of money on the police, often several times more than anything else, from fire departments to public health to public schools. Defunding the police isn't abolition, and so it is not removing the police budget entirely, but just asking the question of why the police are being paid to do things such as wellness checks, to deescalation, to drug enforcement when some of these roles would be better filled by health professionals. Re thinking public safety is the goal here, and diverting police budgets to public services.

    SO what does this mean for Greencastle? I don't know, I have no idea what the police budget is here, or what they do on a regular basis. It may not mean anything for us at all. It is still important, however, that we understand the discussion, it may be worthwhile to keep our eye on the big cities where many changes and reforms are already taking place and ask ourselves if we should be doing something similar here.

    -- Posted by CurieZastava on Thu, Jun 11, 2020, at 7:24 PM
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    Ain't no such thing as a "friendly" anarcho-communist.

    Violence is a necessary means to that end. (See Seattle)

    And your ideals of anarcho-communism may look good on paper, but they overlook (actually, they simply deny) one very important element: human nature.

    -- Posted by dreadpirateroberts on Thu, Jun 11, 2020, at 11:35 PM

  • You're free to think that if you want, but the merits of anarcho communism isn't really the topic at hand here. I only said it just so people who read the comments understand that I come from a certain radical position and have had exposure to these radical reform ideas for a long time

    -- Posted by CurieZastava on Fri, Jun 12, 2020, at 5:29 AM

  • well stated and thoughtful article- Thanks

    -- Posted by small town fan on Fri, Jun 12, 2020, at 10:03 AM
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    @CurieZastava, you can throw a coat of paint over a turd but calling it an M&M doesn't make it so.

    @Brand, your ideas come across as if you're trying to mull realities based in compromise. Good for you (seriously). I tried to do that for awhile until I realized just how moot of an effort it was. These creatures we see today whining about BLM-this, oppression-that not only consist primarily of affluent, well-to-do liberal arts twenty-somethings morons who use situations like this to steal and vandalize but who also have been taught to drive only on one-way streets: there's no compromising with any of them because it's not societal reforms they're trying to traffick in...it's religious ideology. You can't compromise using systems of belief or the fanatics inebriated with the involved convictions.

    The only way out of this mess is through educational reform. We've conflated all associated sensationalism and sacrificed the very intellectual foundations centered on science-based objectivity with emotional virtue. We need to implement safeguards against indoctrination, drastically intensify the level of accountability educational staff and faculty are managed with, and fire those who are found to use their classrooms as their little personal political pulpits. These situations where people are rationalizing their extreme mentalities is the real cancer needing excised but as such, it's going to get worse before it gets better.

    Today, it's blocking traffic at the town square, throwing rocks at cars, toppling statues perceived as symbols of hatred, seeing YouTube videos of 10+ black people beating up the 1 white store owner during attempts to defend it from looters, etc., but tomorrow, it's people-of-color-exclusive events, privilege tax, reparations, explosives installed underneath Mt. Rushmore, you name it...

    -- Posted by DouglasQuaid on Fri, Jun 12, 2020, at 11:37 AM

  • I'm your friendly neighborhood libertarian with a few observations. First, we cannot change history, but we can, as has been ongoing in fits and starts since 1864, attempt to improve as we move into the future. It may never be enough, like the unrealized ideal, but we can't stop trying. Second, there has been a criminal element since Cain killed Abel. That will never go away. Now we can differ on the definition of "criminal", but to ignore its presence, and disastrous affect on the most vulnerable communities, is foolhardy. Third, we have militarized police forces for the past few decades. I remember years ago when I was on the council a short-lived chief of police coming to me about starting a SWAT team. I don't doubt SWAT teams are necessary in some cases; nor do I doubt that they have kicked in the wrong door in a number of cases. So I am in favor of improving education by teachers teaching American History, both the warts and the heroics of giving the world the guide to a liberal society, albeit one that will always need work. I am in favor of encouraging productive achievement over sloth and the notion of easy money (that means no more zero interest rates for Wall Street as well). And I am in favor of cutting police budgets; most all budgets at all levels of government, for that matter. Personal responsibility and living by the Golden Rule would go a long way toward making this a more respectful and just society.

    -- Posted by luna maximus on Mon, Jun 15, 2020, at 6:22 PM
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