My son, Sean, has given me
permission to post the following essay he recently wrote as an expression of
his deep concern for our nation and our world in the wake of tragic events in
places like Ferguson MO and New York City. I gave it a title I thought fitting.
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The Wages of Fear
There
is an intense interest by more than a few to perpetuate the illusion of fear in
our society. No matter your particular flavor on the matter of the Ferguson
shooting, or any other police event in which an unarmed, innocent, or otherwise
guiltless life is extinguished in the course of a confrontation that is both
fearful and confusing, the bottom line is that fear drives us to certain
hysteria when things like this happen. And that hysteria is avoidable.
As
long as we fear each other, these things will continue to happen. Since 9/11,
fear has become an even larger part of our infrastructure. We are, it seems,
always preparing for something awful looming on the horizon. A terrorist
attack, global warming, a wide spread disease, an economic plunge… our daily
lives are shaped in some way by the looming fear of disaster.
I
think it would be healthy for us to acknowledge that fear and realize the
extent to which it influences the way we respond to everyday events. It’s not
unlike acknowledging alcoholism or drug addiction. The first step is to admit
that fear is a problem.
In
Ferguson, two separate issues have become constructively connected for the
purpose of muddling fact (we are a long way from solving injustice and
inequality) and fiction (fear each other, fear the police, fear anything apart
from your own experience). Issue one: Police in this country are too hasty in
the application of lethal measures. Issue two: Racism is alive and well in our
society.
Since
the shooting, all manner of speculation, innuendo, and opinion on it found
light in social media, radio, television, and printed news. The fact is that
there was so much of it; anyone exposed could not reasonably set fact apart
from fiction. Fairness and bias somehow became strangely, but predictably,
distorted. The story was shaped by conjecture, hyperbole, and overt prejudice,
to explode an already perilous powder keg of emotion and fear. Reason,
rationale, and logic were entirely stripped from the narrative.
This
brings me to our judicial system. When things like this happen, there is a
process. It is not a perfect process, nor will it ever become perfect. But it
is not a bad process. Our President asked that we respect the process,
regardless of our feelings about the outcome. It’s all we have, really. Can it
be better? Yes. And certainly the outcome of dialogue initiated by the
illumination of these events can and should influence any change.
Disregarding
race, gender, cultural features… sans it all, a police officer shot and killed
an unarmed person. A grand jury is convened to view this occurrence on that
evidence alone. Whether you are black, white, man, woman, Muslim, Christian,
elder or child… there is no real way to remove the human conditions of empathy,
bias, fear, and passion. My litmus test on an issue is to see a situation from
multiple aspects… and if my opinion on that issue changes radically with any
aspect, then I know I can’t offer an unbiased opinion. Acknowledging that truth
is independent of feeling is tantamount to being fair and impartial.
Inequality,
racial bias, poverty, greed, selfishness, and senseless acts of crime are,
among many, significant problems in our society. But I don’t believe we are
unable overcome them.
Love,
Respect, and Tolerance. That’s the lesson here. Just as an officer, in a moment
of fear and confusion, too quickly draws and fires a weapon, as such, we cannot
be too quick to render judgment. In the absence of truth and understanding,
fear must not be allowed to fill the void. The Sneetches got through it. And so
we can as well.
Don’t be afraid. Don’t be scared.
