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Editorial board members are editorial page editor Kate Riley, Frank A. Blethen, Donna Gordon Blankinship, Brier Dudley, Mark Higgins, William K. Blethen (emeritus). are conducting fair and unbi- ased investigations of work- place problems. How can the public compare an agency’s responsiveness when handling a case involv- ing someone related to the agency director, for instance, versus an ordinary employee, if their identities are obscured? Shouldn’t the public know if allegations against a state sen- ator came from, say, a peer in the opposite party or from a 19-year-old intern? Identities of complainants are essential for the public to compare and understand investigations in either case. Public disclosure also serves as a deterrent to frivolous or overstated claims. And it re- duces the stigma and supposi- tions that secrecy perpetuates. HB2020 applies to internal This isn’t necessarily because they oppose open government. But sometimes, well-inten- tioned policies are drafted in ways that make government less transparent and account- able. That’s the case with House Bill 2020, which is pitched as a way to encourage state em- ployees who are victims of discrimination to come for- ward without fear of reprisal. That’s a worthy goal. But HB2020 seeks to accom- plish this with secrecy, by mak- ing essential elements of dis- crimination investigations exempt from the Public Re- cords Act. The public needs to knowmore, not less, about how government agencies address and resolve discrimi- nation complaints. Such investigations are now confidential while underway but become public record once complete. The bill would man- date that by default, identities of complainants and witnesses be redacted, unless the em- ployees agree to disclose their names. While this may sound like a benefit to victims, it could have the opposite effect. The public — the true employers of these people —would be less able to hold state agencies accountable and ensure they A lthough Washington lawmakers abandoned their most aggressive effort to undermine the state Public Records Act, they’re still chipping away at it during the current legislative session. OBSTINATE LEGISLATURE INSISTS PUBLIC RECORDS BE LOCKED AWAY 1953 — that suggest we are at another moment of make-or-break racial reckoning. Coates’ essay seems right now, especially this part: “And so we must imagine a new country. Repa- rations — by which I mean the full acceptance of our collective biogra- phy and its consequences — is the price we must pay to see ourselves squarely. …What I’m talking about is more than recompense for past injustices —more than a handout, a payoff, hush money, or a reluc- tant bribe. What I’m talking about is a national reckoning that would lead to spiritual renewal.” We’re a nation coming apart at the seams, a nation in which each tribe has its own narrative and the narratives are generally resent- ment narratives. The African- American experience is somehow at the core of this fragmentation — the original sin that hardens the heart, separates Americans from one another and serves as model and fuel for other injustices. The need now is to consolidate all the different narratives and make them reconciliation. David Brooks is a regular columnist for The New York Times. David Brooks Syndicated columnist I’ve been travel- ing around the country for the past few years studying Ameri- ca’s divides — urban/rural, red/ blue, rich/poor. There’s been a haunting sensation the whole time that is hard to de- fine. It is that the racial divide doesn’t feel like the other divides. There is a dimension of depth to it that the other divides don’t have. It is more central to the American experience. One way to capture it is to say that the other divides are born out of separation and inequality, but the racial divide is born out of sin. We don’t talk about sin much in the public square any more. But I don’t think one can grasp the full ampli- tude of racial injustice without invoking the darkest impulses of human nature. So let’s look at a sentence was “Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s 250 years of unrequit- ed toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said 3,000 years ago, so still it must be said ‘the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.’” There are a few thoughts packed into that sentence. First, there is a natural moral order to the uni- verse. There is a way things are supposed to be —more important than economic wealth or even a person’s life. Second, moral actions are con- nected to each other. If somebody tears at the moral order by drawing blood through the lash of slavery, then that wrong will have to be paid for by the blood of the sword. History has meaning. It’s not just random events. Third, sin is anything that as- saults the moral order. Slavery doesn’t merely cause pain and suffering to the slave. It is a corrup-tion that infects the society. The case for reparations there have been many types of discrimination in our history, the African-American (and the Native Americanexperiences are unique and different. Theirs are not immi- grant experiences but involve a moral injury that simply isn’t there for other groups. Slavery and the pat-tern history of affirming: You belong. You are us. You are equal. Nearly five years ago I read Ta- Nehisi Coates’ Atlantic article “The Case for Reparations,” with mild disagreement. All sorts of practical objections leapt to mind. What about the recent African immi-grants? DONN A G R E T H E N / O P - A R T workplace discrimination complaints, not criminal in- vestigations, which have stringent confidentiality rules for victims of sexual assault. A larger question is why state agencies are investigat- ing themselves. A better ap- proach would be for the Leg- islature to mandate that dis- crimination complaints be directed to a separate author- ity, such as the state Human Rights Commission, which is charged with enforcing the state’s anti-discrimination laws and has procedures to investigate and resolve com- plaints. It can also refer cases to administrative law judges. Also troubling is House Bill 1692, which would prohibit state employees accused of harassment from seeking public records pertaining to their accusers. This appears tailored to address a single incident, in which former state technology worker Steve Majerick used public records to disprove a manag- er’s claim that he deliberately brushed against her in a hall- way. According to testimony submitted by Majerick, he requested security video that showed he wasn’t in the build- ing when the alleged incident occurred. The video also showed the victimwas carry- ing a large bag that prevented him from brushing against her anyway. This incident was part of a protracted workplace dis- pute originating with an off- color joke he shared with her, resulting in a fine and disci- pline. HB 1692 would explicit- ly have prevented Majerick from obtaining security video and other records to defend himself from the subsequent allegation. The Legislature cannot pick and choose which citizens get to see public records. Nor should it be limiting anyone’s ability to exonerate themselves of an allegation. Astonishingly, HB 1692 was approved 98-0 by the House, where most leg- islators profess to be support- ers of the Public Records Act. They must have forgotten the act’s the opening construction: The people, in delegating au- thority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. AN INDEPENDENT, LOCALLY OWNEDNEWSPAPER Founded Aug. 10, 1896 F RANK A . B LETHEN publisher A LAN F ISCO president and chief financial officer D ON S HELTON executive editor M ICHELE M ATASSA F LORES managing editor K ATE R ILEY editorial page editor R YAN B LETHEN associate publisher EDITORIALS The newspaper’s view 2 R SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2019 | | OPINION D3