It's A Quagmire, And It's A Big Problem

It’s A Quagmire And It’s A Big Problem

John Derryberry

It's quite the mess we have made of ourselves. As the verdict in the Rittenhouse case has made its rounds, reverberating through society, it's not so much the judgment itself or the fact that a single case in Wisconsin carries so much weight in our communities. So many celebrated the not guilty verdict, while so many others were left feeling the same-old, same-old from our justice system. It's a mess-- probably more than a mess. It's a gigantic quagmire of the current culture we live in. You either win or lose, and there is nothing in between. That is a dangerous place to be and a game our current leaders seem just fine playing.

If you happen to be viewing this from the angle that a young, 17-year-old kid is some sort of self-defense hero, you have come to the wrong place. He's no hero, and he took two people's lives. He was in a place he had no business being with a gun designed for killing. It's tragic what this kid was convinced of, the lies he was fed, and how he will be propped up by particular folks-- people looking to continue a narrative about the state of affairs in this country that is slanted, to say the least. How many leaders, adults, and people in a position of power failed us to the point that our nation's spirit rested on a 17-year-old kid? It's a calamity of errors and has me thinking, how different this all would have been if the kid was black. Whether you like this fact or not, there are a bunch of minorities around this kid's age in jail for a long time for doing the same or a lot less.

If you came here hoping I would say he's guilty, I also have some disappointing news for you. I have no clue whether that's the case. I wasn't a juror; I didn't see the evidence or read the Wisconsin law on self-defense. I saw and was horrified by the video I saw on media sites. It felt like a crime was committed, but our outrage shouldn't be at the jurors, if it was a poorly written law. It should be at the State of Wisconsin for writing a bad law. It should be at the judge who obviously had bias before, during, and after the case. Again, our outrage should be at leaders that far too often have left so many feeling helpless and angry. They hope to harness that rage but that will never solve problems. That's what I have been saying for years; anger rarely, if ever, resolves anything. It's dangerous to play with that type of raw emotion. It's how a 17-year-old kid picks up a gun and shoots three people. That energy has to go somewhere, and lately, it's been into violence.

I haven't stopped thinking about this verdict all weekend: what it means for the next protest; what it means for leaders who seem to enjoy stoking anger; what it means for racial and minority relations; and what it means for media outlets and the way they frame these types of stories. There will be a next, there is always a next, and the process leading to this outcome only added gasoline to the fire. The quagmire grew and deepened Friday and it was the exact opposite of what we needed. Lines have become blurred; we can't see past ourselves and no one across the media or political landscape seems to want to light a path out of this. Well, unless that path is strict adherence to their ideals. That's the exact opposite of democratic. I guess it stays this way until compassion and caring outweigh the anger. Maybe that's why the angry ones keep screaming louder and louder. They want to drown out anything that could help. Some people want to watch the world burn. Maybe those who don't should start, not by shouting back at them, but by cleaning up the mess. It's better than what we are doing now!