The Antlerette Volume 95 Issue 2

The Antlerette Volume 95

October 2020

Issue 2

How COVID Has Affected Businesses and Essential Workers Kyle Williams, Staff Due to the massive breakout of COVID-19, a lot of businesses in the U.S. were forced to close temporarily. Sadly, due to some government conversation, these stores and businesses have not been able to open back up and are being forced to close their doors permanently. This is causing these store owners to become homeless due to their source of income being gone. Besides places going out of business, there are stores and businesses who are staying open due to being essential with essential workers. These essential workers are out there risking their lives helping other people to the best of their ability while also trying to be safe as possible among others.

Speaking on behalf of these workers and from personal experience, there are a lot of people who will walk into a place of business and just go with the flow and are very understanding of certain safety precautions that were put into place when COVID became very serious. But on the other hand, there are certain people who will come and treat workers poorly and fail to understand how serious COVID is and how the safety precautions work. Some customers will actually sit and retaliate against safety precautions and

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to complain about how it’s a mistreatment of customers and this is not how they should be treated. But in reality, we workers are just doing what our bosses told us to do to prevent any possible cross-contamination and to stop any possible spread of germs. The same people refusing to wear masks complain, which adds an extra layer of irony.

Non-essential businesses have had the scare of being shut down and losing their business for good. Some of these businesses were hit very hard financially too whether it being their stocks or how they had to possibly remove some of their sales or whatever the case may be. Bigger companies were forced to close down a lot of stores, and some have gone completely out of business. Some smaller shops were forced to close down like barbers or nail salons or some boutiques.

Aspiring business owners already have the expenses of owning and managing a shop, and the uncertainty of it all wreaks havoc among many people attempting to make their living.

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Vaccines for COVID-19 Greg Santos, Design Editor There have been approximately 15,000 deaths in California; 200,000 deaths in America; and 974,000 deaths in the world. All these casualties were at the hands of the infamous disease called COVID-19. This global pandemic has not only led to nearly a million people losing their lives, but it has also caused many businesses and schools to close down. Some people have lost their jobs, others couldn’t graduate the traditional way, and some have been forced to make certain adjustments in order to have a roof above their head and food on their plate. With all of these hardships going on in our lives, our hopes of going back to normal are now heavily relying on one thing, creating a vaccine.

Developing, testing, and distributing a vaccine usually takes about a year. With the limited amount of time projected to finalize this vaccine, it is understandable why people may think it is not safe. Although this is a valid thought, it is important for people to understand that it is indeed safe. Public Health officials, including the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, have been offering many assurances that it will be scrutinized to the same extent as other vaccines that have been created. According to William Moss, Executive Director at Johns Hopkins’ International Vaccine Access Center, the most important message that people must understand is that accelerating the timeline doesn’t mean they are cutting corners on efficiency and safety, and that there are ways to speed the process up. Moss states that the main reason why acceleration is possible is because the government and tremendous pharmaceutical companies are collaborating together to make the manufacturing capacity necessary to widespread the production before the vaccine is even approved.

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Now, let’s talk about time. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, one of the many companies developing a vaccine, has already begun themanufacturing process, according to CEO Albert Bourla. Bourla states that there is a “great chance” of knowing if the vaccine works or not by the end of October. He then goes on to say, “We’ve already manufactured thousands of doses… so the company will be ready when approved by the FDA.” Pfizer is not the only company that has started the manufacturing process. As of right now, there are 8 different companies in phase 3, which means that they are in the final part of the vaccine development which will include large-scale tests on at least 30,000 people.

Phase 3 is the first time companies test out the effectiveness of the vaccine, and how well it protects people from obtaining the virus, according to William Moss.

Regardless of how effective this vaccine will be, or when it gets released, it is vital that we continue to do our part in keeping numbers of cases down. Too many people have had to say goodbye to loved ones. Too many people have lost money or lost a job. Too many people have gone through hard adjustments and were forced to get their crap together because they got a family to put food on the table for. These things are too important to go unnoticed or to get ignored, so please wear a mask and social distance. Let’s hope this vaccine is the answer to everything to go back to normal. We’re all counting on it.

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A Nation Divided Between the Rich and the Poor Jessica Meeker, Guest Writer A Nation Divided; Why must we ignore A Nation Divided Between the rich and the poor?

Like dogs we all beg; We live off their scraps.

We howl for justice Until we collapse.

Like oxen in the field, We bleed and we sweat.

We're bound by their bridles.

And ropes of “our� debt.

They keep us on leashes.

They keep us all bound.

They say it's our fault That they work us into the ground.

It just isn't right!

How many more will be dead?

Before you uncover your ears And hear what we've said.

So throw down your tools; I won't stand for more.

Tear down this Nation Divided Between the rich and the poor.

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It is Important to Support BLM Kaitlin Rohaly, Staff As Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests have occurred almost all over the country, there has been a counter protest to the movement. When people chant the slogan Black Lives Matter, a common response would be All Lives Matter. BLM was brought back into the spotlight with the unfortunate death of George Floyd at the hands of the police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The incident was in response to a report of George Floyd using a forged note to purchase cigarettes, sparking outrage all over the country. People showed their outrage of police brutality, the very apparent targeting of people of color. As well as wanting justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Elijah McClain, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks, and unfortunately many more victims of police brutality.

The best way to reduce these incidences of police brutality is to defund the police.

Many people have explained what they mean by “Defund the Police”. In The Mary Sue, Actress Jane Fonda explains that defunding the police means that we should reconfigure the funds that go to police and put them into community-led systems that can handle certain situations differently than the police have been known to react. When BLM protesters dissented, it provoked chants of, “All Lives Matter”. When people said to defund the police, the people started chanting, “Blue Lives Matter”. Many people argue that there is no such thing as “Blue Lives”. The BLM movement is to protest civil rights and acknowledge the oppression of people of color in the U.S. When All Lives Matter protesters claim all lives matter, BLM claims all lives can’t matter until black lives matter. From the BLM point of view, the All Lives Matter people are hostile, racist, and predominantly white. When BLM supporters say the “All Lives Matter” statement is racist, the All Lives Matter people say BLM is racist because they think it's about making one race more important than others.

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President Donald Trump has claimed BLM to be a symbol of hate. In the 2016 election, Donald Trump claimed that the term “Black Lives Matter” is a divisive and racist term. CNN has an article, “Trump calls ‘Black Lives Matter’ a symbol of hate as he digs in on a race”. The reporter goes on to say, “Trump is also stoking racial tensions using language and tropes that harken to the day of segregationists politics and fears of ruined neighborhoods.” Trump is almost encouraging the hate against the BLM movement. He hasn’t acknowledged the targeting of black people and has said that white people get killed more often.

The article talks about how Trump has supported the police through this.

Trump said, “Maybe our great price, who have been neutralized and scorned by a mayor who hates and disrespects them, won’t let this symbol of hate be affixed to New York’s greatest street. Spend money fighting crime instead.”

From an outside standpoint, Trump not only encourages hate against BLM, he posted a video of one of his supporters chant, “White power” at protesters. He has since removed the video, but that obviously did not sit well with many people. Trump has also tweeted in response to the protests calling people of color, “thugs'” and “criminals”. He is constantly using microaggression towards people of color. When the president says things like that, his followers will think it’s okay, and will do the same. Newsweek reported the latest Trump rally in Nevada, On September 13th, BLM activists held a flag to disrupt the president's rally. Many of the president’s followers boo’d the protesters and started chanting, “All Lives Matter”. The people who support him represent the opposing opinion to BLM; they are very vocal about All Lives Matter.

Back in March, alongside protesting, came rioting and looting. Angry protesters started to loot and destroy public property, with a small minority of protesters involving themselves in rioting. On top of that chaos, the All Lives Matter supporters used that against the BLM protestors. Some supporters of BLM feel that peaceful protests don’t do anything while others just want to take a peaceful approach. Many people feel that the violence has to be condemned. An article from the Los Angeles Times explains, “Rioting may be inevitable in a society with so much entrenched and long-lived inequity and injustice, but still

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it must be condemned.” People recognize that rioting most likely won’t help their cause. The article also said, “Protests that are entirely peaceful, entirely confined to approved places and to approved times, are ineffective.” Even though people feel that being peaceful is the best way to go, it’s easy to be overlooked and ignored when being so.

The main issue right now is that BLM feels like they’re not being heard. It’s hard to know that you are fighting for justice and there is a whole group of people who are fighting against it. The difference of beliefs between the two are very apparent. Many argue that All Lives Matter people don’t actually care about all lives as they don’t explain who all lives are. It's easy to say the oppression is not real if you're not a POC (Person of color) and haven't experienced it firsthand.

Do All Lives Matter people think that because people want justice for victims of police brutality, they should chant “USA” as a counter protest? Is that what America has come to by completely disregarding the abuse of their country’s citizens? Hopefully in the future, America won’t need to fight for justice, even though systemic racism is so deep in our history.

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EGPD Harrasses 19-Year-Old Selena Enriquez, Staff On September 13th, 19-year-old Tobias Eagle was pulled over by Officer Misty Johnson for a traffic violation. According to the officer, Eagle had rolled past a stop sign near his home address. The encounter quickly escalated as the officer kept her hand on her gun for 10 to 15 minutes. The viral video of the officer racially targeting the family has made national news. Here are the exact details of what went down Sunday afternoon, and the interview I had with the family.

Traffic Violation

Officer Misty Johnson had addressed Tobias, the driver of the vehicle, on her loudspeaker to alert the driver that he was being pulled over. The video from the officer's body camera and dash-cam is available on YouTube.

First, Tobias Eagle was unaware that the officer was pulling him over until he got out of the car and his mother, Mrs. Harvey-Slocum, who was standing outside of the vehicle, noted that the officer might be there for him. The officer had asked Tobias not to get out of the car after he was already standing on the sidewalk.

Then, the EGPD officer stepped out of her car, walked over to Tobias, and asked for his license and registration. His mother promptly handed them to her.

Dress Code Violation Creates Distress Upon arrival, the mask Officer Johnson was wearing was an immediate trigger to the African-American family. The mask is a replica of the Blue Lives Matter flag, a flag of a movement created in response to Black Lives Matter. Though it may not have been its original purpose, the flag has been used by white supremacist groups and has stemmed into a symbol of hate.

The mask seen worn by Officer Misty Johnson is a violation of the EGPD Dress Code.

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Sequence Of Events The escalation began when Officer Johnson asked that Tobias Eagle "pullonto the right side of the road." Mrs. Harvey-Slocum requested that Tobias receive his ticket promptly once Officer Johnson approached them . This is when Mrs. Harvey-Slocum began recording. The Officer immediately notes that she wants Tobias to remain in the car for her safety.

It's apparent in the video that Mrs. Harvey-Slocum is worried about Tobias' safety from the beginning and is eager to end the altercation. What might seem like anger to an onlooker was true terror for her son's life. Mrs. Harvey-Slocum says, "I work too hard to get him this far." Officer Johnson repeatedly asked Tobias if he was on probation or parole when Mrs. Harvey-Slocum responded that he wasn't.

Next, Officer Johnson calls for back-up. At this point, the family is frustrated that the officer is refusing to execute her job when asked that she run the driver's plates and license and write Tobias the ticket. Mrs. Harvey-Slocum then requested that the officer take her hand off her weapon. Officer Johnson then denied that her hand was on her gun and turned her body, although it is unclear whether she had her hand on her gun or was merely resting it on the holster.

This escalated things.

Then, the officer said that Tobias was being detained and that the mother was free to leave. Mrs. Harvey-Slocum replied, "I'm not leaving my son with your hand on your gun."At this point, Officer Johnson refuses to run Tobias' license and registration, waiting for her partner to arrive. In the video, Tobias stands still. After my interview with him, he mentioned to me that he was afraid that the cop might see his movements as an act of aggression. He had his hands by his side the entire time.After 15 minutes, Officer Johnson is requested by Mrs. Harvey-Slocum to call her supervisor. Finally, backup arrives around 20 minutes after the beginning of the altercation, where Officer Johnson tells her partner, "I have no idea what they have on them."

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My Interviews With The Family Tobias Eagle mentioned that he was terrified the moment he stepped out of the car and heard Officer Misty Johnson on the loudspeaker. To him, the officer was asserting her dominance and flexing her weapon on their family. "I knew that it happened, but I didn't think it was going to happen to me," Tobias mentionedwhen asked about if he had a previous conception about police violence. Mrs. Harvey-Slocum mentioned that her family comes from a long line of educated law-enforcement officials, her grandfather being a judge. Since she was a child, she was shielded from injustice. The new light being shed on police brutality has heightened her awareness of systemic racism in our communities.

She has optimism that tensions will be lifted if we work together as a community to keep officers close to the communities they serve.

The tension witnessed by viewers is not an isolated incident. Police Departments across America target African-American families regularly. This is an irrefutable fact. According to Mapping Police Violence, black people are three times more likely to be killed by the police than their white counterparts. This isn't because they commit more crime or because they are more violent: it's because they are targeted by police which heavily alters the actual statistics of crime.

It’s important to recognize that the family is more than a viral sensation. They own Urban Me Down, a custom t-shirt business that operates here in Elk Grove.

They are parents to a talented 6-year-old daughter who does gymnastics. Mrs. Harvey-Slocum and her family have a huge involvement with their church! Mrs. Harvey-Slocum instructs praise dance and her parents are pastors.

Tobias Eagle is a 19-year-old master’s student at Sacramento State and has been taking college courses since he was in middle school. Since then, he has been working towards a Mechanical Engineering degree. In his free time, he works on his business, Firefly Robotics and volunteers to tutor.

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EGPD Harassment And Address To The Community After the video went viral, EGPD Chief Albright gave an address to the community. He let Elk Grove Citizens know that they were investigating the situation and they are open for questions.

Some of his officers were caught making an illegal U-turn near Mrs. HarveySlocum's house during a FOX40 interview. The family believes this was because the officers were coming to harass them or give them "a talk". The Public Information Office stated to the FOX40 interviewer that they were investigating a case on Sheldon North, despite driving past that street. Mayor Steve Ly reached out to the family, saying that the behavior was unacceptable.

He mentioned thatracial tensions between the police and their communities are not a new anomaly and that the city is working to improve the relationship between officers and the communities they serve.

Sonia Lewis, the founder of Black Lives Matter Sacramento, was a big help to Tobias and his family during the process. She handles these kinds of social justice issues in the community. "She put [the video] in the right people's hands and got the ball rolling," Mrs. Harvey-Slocum mentioned to me. At this time, the family is calling for the termination of the officer's employment and has filed a complaint with EGPD. EGPD has since stated that Officer Johnson did nothing wrong and followed procedures.

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