Ponderings

Greg Freeman was a gifted St. Louis journalist who was instrumental in helping me understand this city that I now call home. Perhaps the most jarring of his articles for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in the years I was reading along was his description of teaching his son to drive. As my own daughter nears her sixteenth birthday, I have often found myself pondering his advice.

Greg pointed out that the important lessons for his young son at the wheel had less to do with how he handled the wheel and more to do with where he kept his hands if an officer approached his car. He described with painful detail the role of black fathers in helping their sons avoid unpleasant entanglements with law officers. It is an occasion, he advised, for old school polite. I admit that my daughters driving lessons have focused more on staying between the lines on the road. ‘Begin with the basics,’ is my justification. But truthfully, my daughter and Greg’s son face distinctly different challenges. Although both are smart middle class kids, one is a white female and one a black male. Greg’s article pointed out that, like it or not, the wise young driver understands that there is a difference.

When my prophet friend showed me the video of Rev. Lennox Yearwood’s arrest during the Petraeus Hearing on Capitol Hill last week, I remembered Greg’s column. Rev. Yearwood, a black man about the age that Greg would be if he were here, had been pulled out of the admission line and was being quietly held along the sideline. When Rev. Yearwood began to demand to know why he had been singled out, his voice assertive but his body non-combative, the officers literally took him down to the floor with with force that necessitated a trip to the hospital. Troubling though the video was, I was curious that the pastor did not offer verbal deference to the law officers. I found myself wondering if he had missed his father’s driving lessons.

My friend came to see me again this week, even more troubled than last. It had happened again, he reported, this time to a university kid in Florida. Senator John Kerry was entertaining questions after a speech at the University of Florida and one eager young journalism student allegedly pushed his way to the front of the line. The events that followed were recorded on video cameras and were quickly put online. In fairness to the event organizers and law officers, the video shows that Meyer’s question was shaping up more like a persuasive speech than an honest question. According to my mother’s driving lessons, it would be fair to characterize Meyer’s behavior as bad form. Not outright belligerent, but certainly not deferential.
But Meyer must have had at least some driving lessons because though his tone continued to be demanding, he kept both hands raised high in the air in the sign of surrender. His posture not withstanding, his voice was clearly not welcome by the officers. As the officers surrounded him, steering him away from the microphone and toward the back of the room, he could be heard asking “Why can’t I ask a question?”. Although he was moving with the police away from the stage, his verbal insistence continued. Correct body language, bad mouth. Soon he was pinned to the ground by four armed officers and then, while pinned and pleading for mercy, tasered (read: electric shock). The screams on the video are chilling.

The veil of white privilege has rent and I realize that a wise mother would offer her daughter more comprehensive driving lessons, lessons that include keeping your hands in clear view and your mouth shut. She is pretty feisty and extremely verbal, I need to make sure she understands the liability of back talk. Though I find little solace in the “misery loves company” new world order in which all of our children need driving lessons, I am grateful to Greg for the wisdom shared that endures.

Still, I have to wonder if we ought not to change the rules of the road.