What happened to Officer Shay was a tragedy. Trying to take that and craft it to use as an example that supports a world view on what is happening in the country and world today is unfortunate.

I started several replies illustrating that the movement we see now is not about George Floyd, but in the end deleted them all because every one of us knows what it's like to try to change someone's mind on the internet. It is a fruitless endeavor that only leads ill-will.

I am not going to get into the problems that I have personally with the post, but feel it necessary to provide the complete story with regards to the "Portland gave all city workers 40 hrs. paid time off to grieve for George Floyd". Below is the email in it's entirety from the Mayor who made the announcement. Please note that "George Floyd" was mentioned exactly as many times as the acknowledgement of the Black community "...experiencing a collective grief and trauma coming from a culmination of oppression that is over 400 years old."

Colleagues,

As a nation and as a City we continue to grieve the recent loss of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery, and others in the country and in our community. We acknowledge that Black employees are experiencing a collective grief and trauma coming from a culmination of oppression that is over 400 years old.

We hear and understand that many of our employees, especially our BiPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) employees, are deeply impacted by these recent events and are hurting.

I want to give our employees space to grieve and reflect: 40 hours of bereavement leave as allowed under HRAR (Human Resources Administrative Rules) 6.03.

I am directing managers and supervisors to approve the leave without question.

I am hopeful that other employers in our community will do likewise.

We're witnessing a dramatic shift in our nation, one that is urgently charting the path forward for restorative justice, inclusion and understanding. I feel tremendous responsibility, as well as tremendous privilege, to be a part of this historic movement. Thank you for walking that path with me as we continue to serve the City of Portland.

Sincerely,

Ted

People are going to believe what they want to believe, but at least with regards to the Portland aspect of the OP (whether you agree or disagree with it) as Paul Harvey said "Now you know the rest of the story".

Respectfully,
Tom H.