The pen and the brick, a followup to my previous Happy Trails

In light of some of the feedback I received on my last Happy Trails (titled “A riot speaks a thousand words but one voice speaks millions“) published in the June 4 edition, I thought it best to add a follow up because I think I missed the mark with its point for some readers, which is what I get for writing half-asleep at 2 a.m. the night before (or morning of) production.

First, I do NOT condone or support the use of excessive police force. Nor do I condone or support rioting, looting, the destruction of property, or violence of any kind as a way to amplify one’s voice. Frankly, I don’t understand rioting and looting at all, especially in the case of George Floyd. The math simply doesn’t add up.

If people are upset and they burn down a Minneapolis police station in response, fine. While I DO NOT support that, I get it. But, for example, during the Chicago riots, my friend’s car and the door to his condo building were vandalized (spray painted and bashed in, respectively). Just like all the shops on Michigan Avenue, he—nor his car nor his door—had anything to do with the killing of George Floyd. In fact, like 99.99999999-and-so-on% of people out there, my friend didn’t know George Floyd or Derek Chauvin existed until a few weeks ago. But he paid part of the price for one man’s death and another’s flagrant actions. One has nothing to do with the other. Rioting and looting are not a way to be heard. In fact, for me personally, if you start to riot and loot, I’m going to call you a Viking and I’ll start to not listen to you. It’s, as the youth today say, “basic.”

I also don’t think humanity is as immature as a three-year-old, though given my above statement, I do think you could argue the case for some individuals!

My point with my last Happy Trails was first to assure Sun City residents that they had place in the Sun Day to have a voice. A place where readers/residents can be heard. While what you say may not make it into print, we do listen to EVERY thing that is said to us. Literally, EVERYTHING. Everything that comes into us by phone, email, or standard mail is read and considered, sometimes discussed, and certainly taken into print consideration. And if we can do something about “it,” we will. That’s a promise and that’s a guarantee. It’s how newspapers are supposed to operate.

Now, does that mean we’re on your side?

No. It does not. Because that would mean we’re bias, and while that may disappoint some, let me take a second to briefly explain why a newspaper picking sides (even the RIGHT side) is wrong.

Simply put, if you pick a side and only project that side, then you silence another and therefore lose knowledge and perhaps ultimately a lesson to be learned. A newspaper is also acting as judge and jury in matters such as this, and I don’t know about you, but more often than not, I don’t know what’s right. I’m not omnipotent. And I surely won’t have any clue if I don’t hear both/all sides of an argument, even when the “wrong” seems obvious. We have trials and people are considered innocent until proven guilty for this reason.

I’ve been a journalist for over twenty years. I have literally held every position you can hold in a news organization, and if there’s one thing (or two things, I guess) I’ve seen time and time again it’s that the truth, the REAL truth, is impregnable and will hold up to severe scrutiny. It’s also not malleable (the way some people describe it). And if you can manipulate it, you’re not getting the whole truth. And also people, if given the opportunity, will always hang themselves if they have something to be “hung” over, if you give them a chance to speak. There’s absolutely no reason to interfere with bias. If you step aside and present all sides equally, the truth will come out.

My main point with my previous Happy Trails was that when you take a voice away from someone or limit his/her ability to speak, he/she will begin to plot. The right to be heard is our most basic and important right as humans, as people, as Americans. People do not like when that is taken away in any form.

When I’m not heard, I pick up a pen. When someone else isn’t heard, they may pick up a brick. One may seem tempered while the other more rash but that doesn’t mean one is less damaging than the other.

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