Would the real Roy Vasquez, please stand
Mayor Dan Rivera has appointed Lieutenant Roy Vasque as Interim Police Chief upon Chief James Fitzpatrick’s sudden resignation. Since I had heard rumors in the past about him changing his name because he didn’t want to identify with his ethnic heritage, I set out to find out.
I didn’t do it earlier because as long as he was a ranking file in the department, it was no news. Now, as police chief, it’s a different story.
As you can see in the picture of Lawrence High School 1986 Yearbook, his name was VASQUEZ but in his marriage certificate appears as ROY PAUL VASQUES with a notation that after marriage it will be changed to VASQUE. For fun, I checked the voting list and neither he nor his wife appear as registered voters in Lawrence so I looked on the White Pages and he is listed in Lawrence as ROY PAUL VASQUE also known as ROY F. VASQUE and ROY F. VASQUES.
When someone is arrested using so many variations of his name they newspapers call it “aliases.”
What bothers me in all of this is that, if the reason for changing his name was not to be identified by his heritage, it makes me feel insecure in a multi-cultural city such as Lawrence having him so prejudiced as police chief.
Mayor Rivera hits the airwaves
On page 8, I have an article about Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ letter to Mayor Dan Rivera as a result of the Sanctuary City designation they believe Lawrence spouses. The mayor has been going on television interviews looking very innocent saying that he has no idea why he received that letter and I wonder how many people noticed what I saw on NECN.
During the brief NECN interview at exactly 4:45 from the beginning, he happened to mention Juana Matías saying that he advised her not to run for Congress. He referred to Washington D.C. as in turmoil asking her, “Why would you want to go there?” We cannot believe that, either. He supported her from day one so that his friend Marcos Devers can go back to the position of State Representative from which Ms. Matias beat him.
Please check it online and see it for yourself.
Miscellaneous thoughts
While watching the State of the Union Address Tuesday night, a few things came to mind. No, I’m not going to get political or sentimental. I never talk about national politics because local issues keep me busy enough and the moment I touch it, such as now, I will be opening myself to criticisms and misunderstandings that I have no interest in clarifying.
Ji Seong-ho, the North Korean man who lost both legs and walked through China on his crutches in search of freedom now helps other compatriots escape to South Korea. When President Trump pointed him out in the audience, he stood up raising his old crutches in tears. That poignant moment was etched on my brain forever. Few people in this country have experienced that desire for freedom and wouldn’t understand it.
As the evening progressed, my mind was racing thinking about the reasons for escaping from Cuba and what I found in this country. I seldom talk about my personal history and it is always extremely difficult to talk or write about how I got here but that night, it all came back to me.
Since I was in sixth grade, my friend Doris and I loved writing short stories, parodies and poetry in school. I knew writing was in my future. By the time I was 14 through 16 years of age I had strong opinions about politics but was well aware of the conditions and penalties imposed on anyone disagreeing with the new government. The closing down of newspapers was my clue that I had no future there.
Escaping under cover of night in a small boat has no comparison with what Mr. Ji Seong-ho did on crutches but I understood him.
All my life in the United States I treasured the Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Press as the greatest asset we enjoy. For the past 40 years being involved in media, I have honored that privilege. For several years I was a card carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union and Ford-Hall Forum enjoying the exchange of ideas they provided in a respectful manner.
Today, the hostility and refusal to engage in intelligent discussion is nowhere to be found. The terms “freedom” and “equality” seem to have been taken out of dictionaries. This is evident among college students preventing other students from hearing speakers with whom they disagree when real learning happens with the exchange of viewpoints and logics. Resorting to threats, intimidation, rioting and violence only leads to ignorance.
The same goes for “innocent until proven guilty”. We have seen prominent people fall from their pedestal based on just an accusation of sexual misconduct. I know it happened because it has existed through the ages and most women have been targeted by men at work or their social lives. It also allows for abuses and revenge when charges are exaggerated or untrue yet, entire family lives are ruined on their word.
Let’s face it, many Hollywood starlets availed themselves to that abuse in order to grow within the industry. The stories about relationships between bosses and secretaries were common and that was job security for many. This is not siding with the perpetrators – just allowing for the truth to be explained before taking action.
Where is the country I migrated to?
