I don't know how you handle it, but each time I've been stopped by law enforcement, I've made it a point to be accommodating, to do what he or she requests without arguing or resisting.
After all, what's the benefit in failing to do as I'm instructed? Of course, I was raised that way in a military family where my father, the lieutenant colonel, didn't tolerate disrespect for authority.
I've also learned after a half-century of driving that doing anything less, deviating from simple civility, or actively resisting when I see blue lights behind me is foolishly and needlessly asking for trouble. I'll wait to fight any resulting issues in a courtroom if need be.
But I'm also not an African American and cannot possibly understand the treatment they too often have received when stopped. On the other hand, I wonder why some people of every race choose to become combative with officers, many of whom also are minorities.
So I found it interesting to read what Black pastor and mental health caseworker Darnell Hill recently had to say in a Kaiser Health News story published in this newspaper.
Addressing primarily Black teenage males with his advice, Hill says that when stopped by police African Americans should speak in short sentences and be clear. Be direct, but not rude. More of his advice from the story: "Stay calm even if you're shaking inside. Never put your hands in your pockets. Make sure people can always see your hands. Try not to hunch your shoulders. Listen to their directions. ... Don't make any sudden moves. Watch your body language. ... Don't clap your hands. Listen. Know the law. But don't say too much. Make eye contact."
Hill's advice applies to all of us. I've learned that showing respect, whether in street clothes or a uniform, is likely the greatest defuser of potentially tragic outcomes. A simple regard for each other.
The only way to rid our police forces of those who don't belong is for the far greater number of well-intentioned, decent officers to rid the bad apples in their ranks. Forget the secrecy code in blue when they witness wrongdoing.
Think of the outcome had the three Minneapolis officers on the scene of George Floyd's agonizing and prolonged death joined to pull away the officer who killed Floyd in time to save his life. By doing nothing, the lives of those officers, also charged in Floyd's killing, are forever altered. If only they had acted on their consciences.
Legislators and Buffalo
On the subject of emails, here's another from avid reader Karl Hansen about the Legislative Council's recent politicized decision not to support Gov. Asa Hutchinson (and the state's Department of Environmental Quality) in a proposed permanent moratorium on future medium and large hog factories in the environmentally fragile and karst-riddled Buffalo National River watershed:
"There's a thing niggling at the back of my mind and I think you might know more about it and its possible application to this Buffalo Watershed business than I do," Hansen writes.
"There's a stipulation regarding the enactment of 'Special Legislation' principally beneficial to a certain sector or solicited by a certain sector. Is there any possibility that the Arkansas Farm Bureau could be legally ruled a beneficiary of the actions of the Legislative Council, and thereby defined as the beneficiary?
"After all, they are on record in [a recent] Saturday's Democrat-Gazette where Steve Eddington (stated to be a spokesman for the Farm Bureau) in the article speaks of the Farm Bureau's gratitude to the council. He then expands on their viewpoints.
"Failing that, could the proposed regulation be more narrowly written so as to rule out any application of the rules to other watersheds without a separate bill naming any others that may later apply for coverage? In better terms, can't they make it apply specifically to the Buffalo National River watershed and that be the reason for preserving in its pristine condition?
"I've watched David Pryor interview your late Uncle John Paul Hammerschmidt twice on PBS and there is not a shadow of a doubt how much John Paul loved the river and how hard he fought for it, having taken some hellacious political risks to push its designation in 1972. We need to honor that effort, dedication and the man himself in its preservation."
Away from Facebook
There's a new sheriff, well, make that social media in town during this presidential election year, and it's claiming to be an objective and fair-minded political alternative to the increasingly conflicted and controversial Facebook.
Apparently many folks who say they are tired of the rapidly expanding conditions and selective editing imposed by Facebook's upper echelon already have joined this new site called Parler.
Directions: Go to your cell phone's appstore and download Parler, then follow logical directions. Simple enough.
Now go out into the world and treat everyone you meet exactly like you want them to treat you.
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Mike Masterson is a longtime Arkansas journalist, was editor of three Arkansas dailies and headed the master's journalism program at Ohio State University. Email him at mmasterson@arkansasonline.com.