March 23, 2016
Just a Story about a Rational Person
How would you feel if the police came and arrested you for a crime that you truly did not commit? Then you were convicted of that crime and sentenced. They take away some of your freedoms and rights. They make you pay fines. Then people think you are a bad person. Then, it’s tougher to get jobs. Then, people tell your kids that you are a bad person. What if all of that happened to you and you truly did not commit the crime?
Let’s walk step by step –
Certainly, a rational person would be calm (albeit miffed and indignant) and understand that the police are just doing their jobs when they stop and question you. It will work out as soon as they realize you are ok and they have the wrong person.
Certainly there would be some cause for concern when you realize not only are you being arrested and charged, but will stand trial. I would guess a rational person would get a little panicky, start looking for help and get a little more vocal. Still though, a rational person would remain civil.
Then the rational person is convicted. A judge, a jury of peers and the law pronounce you guilty. Certainly, a rational person would feel fear and panic and desperation. Certainly shock and disbelief would cover and begin to smother them.
You do your time. Certainly a rational person would become somewhat jaded and bitter toward the system, circumstances, the process and some of the people who did not listen or help. Then they take some of your rights, freedoms and begin to fine you. Certainly the rational person would become wary, guarded and defensive to ensure they weren’t sucker punched again.
When you get out, you are viewed as a loser. You are fined. You have to report to the parole officer who incessantly threatens you to not re-offend. They hold your remaining freedoms in their hands and lord it over you like some evil puppeteer. “Dance!”, they say… and you dance. You don’t want to, of course, but you are complying and trying to hold on to the freedom to what you have left. Certainly a rational person would begin to form two faces. One for the “man” and one that knows all of the person in their mirror. Certainly, a rational person could begin to lose faith and respect for the system. Certainly a rational person could begin to consider embracing the label and just become the evil that they have been falsely convicted of.
The cultural police, judges and courts have stopped, tried and convicted me.
In the course of just a few days, people have told me that I:
- Am racist and privileged because I am white.
- Hate homosexuals because I am Christian.
- Am dangerous and a nut because I carry a weapon.
- Am uncaring and oppressive because I own a business.
- Am hateful and stupid because I am a conservative.
I have been waiting on some logic and reason to enter the culture of America for a long while. I guess the story above is an answer to the question that I could not give a few days ago to someone. They were talking about the news reports covering a few of the recent Donald Trump events. At those events the supporters were pushing shoving, cursing and some were fighting. They said, “The Trump folks were getting angry!” Then, they asked me directly about the Trump supporters’ behaviors. “How could any rational or civil person think and act like that?”
— R. A. Grier