Heroes vs Victims
I have great empathy for Vivian Strong. I think more attention should be made about how she died by the “ineptitude” of a White police officer. I do not have all the facts on the topic but it looks like murder to me. I still cannot fathom why the responsible officer was not held accountable for his actions and was not fired from the Omaha police force. Perhaps there are facts I do not know. However, the issue appears to have gained gravity, merely because the police officer was White.
Want to name a health clinic after Vivian Strong? She had health problems so this would be a good idea (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Vivian_Strong). Hey, tell me how to donate. Want to have an event memorializing her or have a church service for her? Sure, go for it. Please do so. Tell me about it! However, naming a street after her is as stupid as stupid gets and White people showed no sincerity of saying anything about this being a very, very bad idea, perhaps out of fear of racial allegations (https://www.wowt.com/2023/06/16/north-omaha-street-renamed-vivian-strong/).
Hey, since the Nebraska Historical Society is pushing into this nonsense, let me throttle down on the argument. How about the City of Omaha place a better grave marker at her grave site merely explaining what happened to her and how she died? Here is the current marker where you can actually post flowers in her memory (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/223023895/vivian-strong). It certainly does not explain how she died. I encourage all, including the Omaha Mayor, City Council, and Douglas County Commissioners to post to her Find-A-Grave page. It is the least we can do. Yes, I am a “Johnny come lately” to recognizing her, but I have. So should you!
But a street? Are you stupid? Have you talked to anyone with any experience in real estate about this? People want to buy homes on streets named “Pretty Flowers Lane”, not a depressingly tragic victim. Let me walk you through the stupidity of this. Decades ago, John Joubert murdered two blonde hair white boys with a knife after kidnapping them (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Joubert_(serial_killer)). The whole community was terrified. Paperboys quit and parents drove their kids two blocks to take their kids to school because of fear. So, do we name streets after Joubert’s victims such as Danny Joe Eberle and Christopher P. Walden? Absolutely not! Such tragedies should not be gratuitously exploited to instill fear but instead memorialized. There are right ways to memorialize people and there are pathetically stupid ways to memorialize people.
Yes, honor, love and memorialize the victims, but what happened to them was terror which we should not promote. We want street names to inspire us and provide comfort to us, not having us wondering what tragedy awaits us. If you disagree, well, maybe I need to hold a sign saying “Blonde Boys Matter!” Or perhaps advocate changing the name of Western Avenue to David Koresh Avenue who was murdered by the FBI. Does anyone not see the problem here?
There are many who will not understand this post. They think I am taking issue with Black activists or White leaders. No, I refuse to play the role of a White liar. Blacks accuse Whites of being liars to the same extent Whites accuse Blacks of being thieves. When a White person tells the truth they are called a racist, so because of this, White people learn to withhold the truth. Sorry, I may be White but I am not going to play this racist game of ping-pong. Naming a street after a victim of a horrible situation does not inspire people of any race whatsoever. It is an intrinsically bad idea.
We should have monuments to inspiring heroes, not victims, but the concept of a hero has been lost. A hero is not a saint or person of moral perfection. A hero is someone who changes something for the better when everyone else said it could not be done. Yes, George Washington had slaves, but would you rather live under a monarchy? Washington is why the United States does not have a monarchy. Yes, Robert E Lee had slaves he inherited but he ended a war by choice. Would you prefer continuous civil war? Apparently, more and more people like the idea of civil war, not peace.
When anyone takes action, they need to think about reactions and what they are enabling. Think again, think of others, think of purpose, and only after doing so, respond. Again, you can post to the Vivvian Strong page on Find a Grave at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/223023895/vivian-strong
I totally agree with you on this. Where is this street that they want to name after her? Is it already in the "bad" part of Omaha? How is this going to improve matters for anyone?
There's a southern state where misguided people have done something similar to this. EVERY single bridge in that state seems to be named after a victim of one sort or another. It's absolutely incredible--but totally not in a good way. I don't think I could live there, and drive over those bridges all the time and not have a problem with that.
Robert has addressed the problem of actions have consequences. Thank you for looking at everything we do as reflecting on the total image of our being. Your article on heroes versus victims was giving me a chance to see how important each thing we do is building on the next event.
Submitted by Earl Visser