Rep. Veasey addresses resident’s concerns
U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey took questions from constituents in Southern Dallas Aug. 11. The subjects discussed included the #BlackLivesMatter campaign, fracking and the Iran nuclear deal. MIKE MCGEE
U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey took questions from constituents on subjects ranging from the #BlackLivesMatter campaign to alternative energy to Middle East tensions at a town hall meeting on the evening of Aug. 11. The congressman, whose District 33 boundaries include a significant portion of Southern Dallas County, made his appearance before a full-capacity audience at the Hampton-Illinois Branch Library.
During the meeting, a small number of women described to the representative a frustration they have felt recently; a dual resentment in both having trouble finding employment and inherent racism they see across the U.S. in general.
"They are saying that the African American people are lazy and won't work, [but] we have to have jobs," one speaker pointed out.
She underscored her belief that the lack of jobs was a symptom of bigotry that extended to and permeated police forces around the nation.
The congressman took a moment to address their concerns about race in America.
"There's a problem that we have that's been happening a long time. We're just seeing it now because of video, something that's been happening a long time," Veasey began. "I have a certain opinion in that."
Some people have a bias against young Black males, he noted, and shared a personal story that he said took place when he was in his mid-20s.
"I had a situation that happened to me and I was with two friends I went to high school with. Both of them were White and we had been out. It was late."
The trio went into a fast food restaurant to get their order. He said when they returned to the car that Veasey was driving, there were two police officers standing behind his car.
"And since I didn't drink much I was always the designated driver," he explained.
The future representative let the officers know that he needed to back his car out of the parking space.
"They were just talking about cars or girls or something like that. They weren't talking about police work, and the policeman said ‘You're just going to have to wait a second.' I said ‘Okay,' and I sat down in the car."
He related that one of his White friends asked, "Why didn't you say something to him? That's ridiculous.'"
"I looked at him and I said, ‘You feel like you can do that because you're White. What we are going to do now is sit in this car and when he decides he's going to leave then that's when I will leave,'" he exclaimed as the audience laughed.
"[The officer] stood there and chit-chatted with the guy for another few minutes and he left. He was in the wrong."
Veasey confirmed the situation illustrated the bias across the country, but also cautioned attendees not to generalize about racism when it came to law enforcement.
"There are a lot of good police officers. Look at that video from McKinney," he reflected on the infamous June pool party. "Those other White police officers, they were trying to calm that guy down. That one officer grabbed his arm and was trying to get him to calm down."
Veasey was referring to the officers who arrived on the scene to find former Officer Eric Casebolt confront unarmed Black teens with his firearm who walked up to the Black 14-year-old girl as he began to take her down.
"So, it's like we don't want to be stereotyped about not wanting to work and things like that. We don't need to be stereotyping the entire police department, either."
Still, the congressman confirmed that investigations into police misconduct did need to take place and stated, "We're going to make sure that happens."
Veasey also decreed that the broader civic responsibility didn't just fall upon the law enforcement.
"And I think there's another issue that is not talked about, either … we have to create opportunity in this country where people can keep their families together – because a lot of these young guys out here are hurting," he said.
He proposed that some young Black men may be aimless or lost because there were no positive male role models within their family structure. He also offered that the problem was even more multilayered and shared a conversation he once had with the principal at an elementary school attended predominantly by Black students.
"And she said, ‘I want to thank you for talking about the issue of grandparents raising grandchildren,'" the congressman recalled. "She said, ‘The reason why I want to thank you for that is because 50 percent of the kids in my school are raised by someone other than their parent.' So now you have those situations where dad is not present or mom is not present."
He pointed out this also created an added burden to the grandparents who try to take care of themselves and a child while on Social Security.
The subject of energy development around the Metroplex also came up, at which point the congressman touched upon the hot-button issue of fracking – the hydraulic fracturing method used to draw natural gas from area shale formations, as described by the U.S. Geological Survey.
"We've had hundreds of earthquakes in the Irving neighborhoods in the past nine months," he voiced. "The damages from these frack quakes have put a huge economic burden on the citizens of the DFW area. There is significant structural damages to many of our homes."
The geological website stated that fracking should only cause extremely small earthquakes that are "almost always too small to be a safety concern." Veasey did not concur.
"The earthquake insurance that some of us have purchased has huge deductibles. Mine is $14,000," he insisted. "I'm not saying don't do it at all, but don't do it where there are fault lines."
Fracking aside, the representative described energy issues as "complex" and discussed his support of renewable energy sources.
"As a matter of fact, [in] Texas, which is a very oil and gas friendly state, we actually lead the country in wind production."
Yet another issue that weighed on the minds of some in the crowd was the recent Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action that the U.S. and five other countries created with Iran to limit that nation's nuclear program. One U.S. Air Force veteran in the audience questioned Veasey about his stance on the controversial deal since it has yet to be approved by Congress.
"I think both sides make compelling issues," he answered as he acknowledged the general political divide between Republicans and Democrats on the subject. "I'm a person that is going to read both sides of an issue."
The congressmen readily admitted that he had not yet made up his mind on whether or not to cast his vote to approve or deny the JCPOA.
"And I may not make up my mind until the day we get ready and go and vote, to be quite honest with you. When I get back I'm going to read [the plan] again, more classified documents, the supporting documents that go along with this deal and, you know, have a lot of questions."
As the meeting neared a close, Veasey commented that the entire region of the Mid-East is a concern.