JOHN BRUMMETT: Words to heed

As we struggle for words, perhaps we could cling with wounded hearts to those of Montrell Jackson.

And we could reject with decency's disgust those of Donald Trump.


Jackson, a 32-year-old African American, was among the Baton Rouge police officers shot dead Sunday morning as he provided brave and essential public service.

Hours later, we learned of a Facebook post that Jackson, father of a 1-year-old son, had made July 8. That was three days after the shooting death of a black man in Baton Rouge at the hands of police. It was one day after the assassination of five police officers in Dallas.

Jackson intended the post for private views by Facebook friends, but someone produced a screenshot, thank goodness, for our sake and posterity's.

The young black police officer wrote:

"I swear to God I love this city, but I wonder if this city loves me. In uniform I get nasty, hateful looks, and out of uniform some consider me a threat. I've experienced so much in my short life and these last three days have tested me to the core.

"When people you know begin to question your integrity, you real-ize they don't really know you at all. Look at my actions. They speak loud and clear.

"Finally, I personally want to send prayers out to everyone directly affected by this tragedy. These are trying times. Please don't let hate infect your heart. This city must and will get better.

"I'm working in these streets so any protesters, officers, friends, family, or whoever, if you see me and need a hug or want to say a prayer, I got you."

The post was perfection.

It came from the special authority and insight of a young black man facing prejudice as a civilian because of his race while also facing hatred because of the institution of which he was part.

It called to mind what former President Bill Clinton had told Arkansas Democrats in Little Rock on Friday night, to applause: "We need police reform, but we also need the police."

By saying Baton Rouge "must and will" get better, Jackson made more emphatically the point President Barack Obama had sought to make in his memorial address last week in Dallas. It was that America is better than what these few crazies and haters are doing.

When Jackson wrote that he'd offer a hug or a prayer, he pointedly said he would offer that empathy to any and all in need--protesters, police officers, everybody.

Protesters aren't generally haters. Police officers aren't generally racist thugs. The rest of us aren't generally bad people, but scared and despairing people.

Montrell Jackson left words of frustration, insight and then comfort and encouragement for all of us. The tragic insanity is that he had to get shot and killed for those words to be widely heard.

The only way I can imagine to go forward positively and effectively is in the spirit of Montrell Jackson.

For contrast and outrage, consider the words of Trump. They were tweeted moments after President Obama addressed this latest shooting and said--yet again--something filled with frustration. Obama asked that no one try to reap political advantage by making incendiary remarks.

So the presumptive Republican presidential nominee went straightaway to try to reap political advantage with incendiary remarks, putting on Twitter: "President Obama just had a news conference, but he doesn't have a clue. Our country is a divided crime scene, and it will only get worse."

In fewer than 140 characters, the presumptive Republican nominee exploited the Baton Rouge massacre politically. Rather than saying we "must and will" get better, as Montrell Jackson wrote, Trump declared, almost as if hopeful, that the situation "will only get worse."

There was a time when a Republican presidential candidate invoked "morning in America." This Republican presidential candidate invokes deeper darkness in America.

The Republican Party is Trump's now. So convention planners were hustling to update with handy Baton Rouge references Monday night's previously established theme: "Make America safe again."

What would Trump do to keep a gone-crazy ex-Marine in Kansas City from traveling to Baton Rouge to kill policemen?

What if anything would Trump do to assess and possibly reform police practices? What if anything would he do to ease the distrust between the black community and law enforcement?

We don't know.

No one has an easy solution. But there are a few ground-level ideas, the latest and best of which is to let Montrell Jackson's words get heeded and Donald Trump's ignored.

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John Brummett, whose column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, was inducted into the Arkansas Writers' Hall of Fame in 2014. Email him at jbrummett@arkansasonline.com. Read his @johnbrummett Twitter feed.

Editorial on 07/19/2016

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