Friday, October 4, 2019

Reactions to THE HUG



There are hugs and then there are HUGS. Most everyone in my social media range of view has a strong opinion one way or another about the embrace depicted above. In case you've been living under a rock lately (a choice it may seem wise to make in these troubled days) a man named Botham Jean was shot to death in his home by a woman named Amber Guyger. The killer was a police officer, but she was not on duty, not responding to report of a crime. Instead, she claims that she mistakenly got off on the wrong floor of the apartment building they both lived in. Then she mistakenly entered Botham Jean's apartment (the door wasn't locked shut) which was directly above her apartment one floor below. Supposedly thinking that she had walked into her own home and found it occupied by an intruder, she pulled her gun and killed Botham Jean. There is more I can say about the ensuing criminal case, but I'll let you google the details if you wish to know more. I'll simply provide the result which was a conviction for murder and sentence of 10 years in prison (presumably she'll be able to get out sooner if good behavior allows) for Amber Guyger.

Prior to announcement of verdict, people wondered if there would even be a conviction. If so, would it be for murder or perhaps for a reduced charge of manslaughter. When the jury asked to consider a Stand Your Ground type rule, not for Botham Jean who was in his own home but for Amber Guyger who had entered someone else's apartment uninvited and proceeded to kill him, folks steeled themselves for the worst. Would YET ANOTHER white cop go unpunished for killing an unarmed, unsuspecting black person in cold blood?

The jury did its job (correctly in my opinion) by finding Amber Guyger guilty of murder. I don't care that she is absent minded, perhaps distracted by naughty texts from her lover. I don't care about her distasteful, racially insensitive social media posts. Maybe she was a white supremacist. Maybe she was a Second Amendment nut. Maybe she was a saint with horrible luck. I don't care. All that matters to me is that regardless of whose apartment Amber thought she was entering, once she crossed the threshold and saw Botham Jean she could have reacted in any number of ways that would not have resulted in his death. As a police officer she was supposedly trained in how to handle potentially dangerous situations. For some reason the only resolution that occurred to her was to take aim and fire at someone who was not threatening in any way to do her harm. I find this an act that warrants prison time no matter what the circumstances around it happen to be. Amber Guyger did the crime, she should do the time.

But this piece is not meant to be about THAT crime. Instead it's about the alleged "crime" committed by Botham Jean's brother Brandt after the sentencing. Brandt publicly forgave Amber Guyger for killing Botham. Speaking for no one but himself, not even on behalf of the Jean family, he said that he bore her no ill will. "I don't even want you to go to jail. I want the best for you, because I know that's exactly what Botham would want." A video of the powerful moment can be found below.

The image above and video below sparked strong reactions. Some felt that Brandt's actions were wonderfully Christian, an example of the ideal way for one human being to treat another under extremely trying circumstances. Many others had a range of reaction from agitation to fury. THE HUG was seen as yet another example of a black person meekly turning the other cheek. Never mind that the meek are supposed to inherit the earth and that to err is human, forgiveness is divine. Rather than living per directive of the good book that those who took the stand throughout the trial had sworn by to speak the truth and nothing but the truth so help them God, some would have preferred that Brandt grabbed a Bible and smacked Amber across the face with it. Forgiveness denied. Be off to prison on the road inevitably leading to Hell!

I do not think I would be as forgiving of somebody who took the life of one of my family members. I'm simply not that big of a person. Not as pure of heart as Brandt seems to be. I'm less forgiving of Amber Guyger than Brandt is and I have no relationship whatsoever with Botham Jean. The first I ever heard of him was the news that he had been killed. If Amber was acquitted of all charges, I would be pretty pissed off about it. Had that happened, I would have interpreted it as a blatant case of White privilege and Blue privilege. Another white cop gets away with killing an unarmed black person. Another case of Justice not being color blind.

But that is not what happened. Therefore I am unconcerned about Amber Guyer being forgiven and hugged by Botham Jean, just as I was unmoved by her tears on the stand. Maybe she didn't mean to kill, but kill is what she did. Her tears were unable to bring Botham back to life and so too was Brandt's hug. I have no disdain to express. Brandt and other members of the Jean family can and will grieve and accept the loss of Botham as they see fit. It isn't any of my business just because it happens to be something I witnessed on my computer screen. I'm not entitled to an opinion on how Brandth Jean should express his pain at the loss of a sibling simply because it's the social media story du jour. I'll stay in my own lane and be grateful I'm not in the same position as him.

As for an African American bailiff stroking Amber's hair, or the hug that was given to Amber by the judge after her fate was sealed, those actions struck me as somewhat unprofessional. As I stated on Twitter...




But in addition to their job titles they happen to be human beings, and if showing compassion to a woman who claimed to have made a fatal mistake and deeply regretted this is what they were moved to do - then that's what they were moved to do. Being kind when having every right to be indifferent or even cruel is neither sin nor crime. If you think it makes them weak or consider such acts of tenderness in light of the situation to be acts of Uncle Tommery, I hold nothing against you either. There is no right or wrong here. There is only the type of person each one of us is, and the choices to act how each of us sees fit.

If you don't have it in you to hug someone you hate for what they did, hopefully you're fortunate enough to be able to hug the ones you love for who they are.






And now for a video from my booktube channel Roy's Book Reviews...






Intriguing new development...
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