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The Benefit (and Privilege) of the Doubt
Let me start by saying that I am no better than Nick Sandmann, at least as far as who I was at his age and who I could have become in my adult life had I remained closed off in my thinking. Mr. Sandmann and all of his classmates have the same chance that I did to learn and grow after an opportunity in which they were mercifully afforded that which so many men and women of color are far too often denied- the benefit of the doubt.
The events that unfolded last week in the nation’s capital between these high school boys from Covington Catholic High School, the Native American elder Nathan Phillips, and a group of protesters known as the Black Hebrew Israelites was, to say the least, complicated and unfortunate. There was enough guilt to go around, enough misunderstanding on all sides, but with a reaction that once again shows how deeply polarized and inconsistent we are in who we demonize and how we judge the behavior and motives of others.
Before I get to the heart of this entry, let me make some declarations of facts/truths that I believe are for the most part universally accepted in the aftermath of this event, based on video evidence:
(1) The boys from Covington Catholic High School were waiting for their buses in a very open and public space where people of all different walks of life and viewpoints are freely allowed to be present and express themselves and their freedom of speech.
(2) Many of the boys from this high school were wearing MAGA hats, which are widely controversial and seen by many people as inciting and by many Americans as racist and divisive. Simply by wearing these hats, the boys of this school were choosing to take a side and make a bold and widely controversial statement to anyone and everyone they came in contact with that day.
(3) The Black Hebrew Israelites said some incredibly horrifying and offensive things to these boys and at times were very hostile and intimidating in their posturing and language. No adults should speak to young people the way this group chose to speak, and whatever important message they hoped to convey to these boys was lost in their derogatory and hateful words. The situation did eventually become a powder keg as a result in part of what this group was saying.
(4) The boys began doing school spirit chants that could easily be misunderstood as reactionary aggression and intimidation to the BHI group, with even one student removing his shirt and making some debatably racial monikers towards the BHI group. Many people in the area claim to have heard some of the boys chanting “Build the wall”, which in this circumstance would be so off-topic with no other purpose than to evoke racial dividing lines between the predominately white group of boys and the people of color they were encountering.
(5) Nathan Phillips and a few other members of a local Native American tribe were nearby and inserted themselves into the middle of the controversy for what Nathan says was an attempt to ease tensions and distract from the growing instability around the situation.
(6) Nick Sandmann came face to face with Nathan Phillips, who was pounding a drum and reciting a ritualistic chant meant to calm tensions and speak peace over the groups. Nick claims he didn’t move because he wanted to stand his ground and not escalate any more of the situation. Nathan Phillips said he was boxed in and unwilling to budge for similar reasons.
(7) Nick had a very controversial smile on his face, seen by many as defiant and intimidating. Nick claims he was smiling innocently and quietly praying for tensions to calm down. Nathan claims the smile was nefarious.
(8) The faculty, staff, and chaperones of Covington Catholic High School completely and miserably failed at keeping their students away from controversy or managing tensions in a way that de-escalated the situation.
(9) The boys of this high school have been caught on other videos from this same day and event saying very offensive things about women and rape in a very defiant and brash nature.
(10) This Catholic school has come under fire in the past for racial and cultural controversies, with many students of color and several LGBTQ students acknowledging intense bullying and unwelcome nature of the school culture toward ethnic minorities. Photos have even surfaced of students wearing black face make-up at school sporting events.
(11) No one was completely innocent in this confrontation, though some were probably misunderstood more than others.
From here, people of all different political persuasions and backgrounds go in opposite directions on their summations of who is MOSTLY to blame, and who has been MOSTLY unfairly characterized.
This is where I want to focus in on the main problem of this story, particularly as it deals with those of us who claim to be people of faith. Regardless of where we fall on who is to blame, who is right, who is wrong, or however we want to categorize the people of this story, we cannot escape the fact that many of our brothers and sisters in the faith worked much harder and spoke much more loudly in defense of these high school students than typically is afforded to other groups of people, particularly minority groups, who are victims of stereotypes, mistakes in identity, false accusations, or mis-characterizations that result in far worse outcomes such as incarceration or death.
Here are some other hard facts/truths we cannot ignore in situations like these:
(1) Indigenous peoples have been mistreated since the beginning of our nation’s history, having been displaced, abused, killed, and stripped of both land and wealth. They have historically been ignored, overlooked, and mistreated even as recently as the past few years with the building of a pipeline near Standing Rock.
(2) Black and brown people are disproportionately incarcerated in our nation for similar crimes committed by Caucasian/white offenders, who receive much lighter sentences.
(3) Black and brown people have a long history in our nation of being oppressed, profiled, and targeted simply because of the way they look and the color of their skin.
(4) Black and brown people have a long history of being victims of police brutality, unjustified shootings, and mistreatment without due process and the right to defend themselves and their character.
Whether we acknowledge these truths/facts or not does not change the reality of them for far too many people in our nation. This reality has a place in the conversation with these high school boys and the other two groups they encountered, however imperfectly. These boys have been afforded a chance to defend themselves in a way that far too often other people are not given. They have been made out to be victims, even by those who acknowledge their guilt.
In fact, one of the arguments that has been used to defend these boys is the rationale that 'they are young, still developing, and aren’t fully aware of the consequences to their actions'. Yet Tamir Rice, the 12-year-old African American boy killed by Cleveland police who mistook his toy pistol for a gun, was never afforded the same freedom to defend himself and salvage what people thought of him. And long before and after Tamir, other people of color have experienced this same mistreatment and unjust silencing.
When Nick Sandmann is handed a prime TV slot on the NBC Today Show to conduct an interview (with softball questions) that curbs the narrative around him in a way that absolves him of his guilt and where no apology is needed, the double standards that exist in this nation are on full display. Overnight, Nick becomes the victim. The white man is yet again misunderstood and ultimately exonerated. But how many police dash cam videos of unarmed black men being shot by police officers are needed to equal one video of a Nick Sandmann that “may show a different perspective”? How many chances will Nick and his friends get throughout the course of their lives that many of my fellow Americans of color will never ever receive?
If you are reading this from the perspective of a white man or woman, perhaps you feel your fists clenching and heartbeat speeding up as you feel a natural tendency to reject and fight back against what I’m saying. After all, you’ve never directly played a part in the suffering of people of color. You’re a good person. You believe in hard work, good character, and taking care of those around you. Why should you feel targeted and made to feel guilty?
Yet I would imagine, and correct me if I’m wrong, that at some point in your life you were offered the benefit of the doubt. Maybe you made a bad choice in high school. Maybe you trespassed with your friends somewhere you shouldn’t have been. Maybe you had a little too much to drink on the drive home from the Super Bowl party with your friends. Maybe you cheated on a test. At some point, someone looked at you and determined that this was not the sum of who you are and not what would define you. It was allowed to exist as a moment, a moment to learn from and a moment to grow from.
But here is the problem- Tamir Rice was in the wrong place at the wrong time, Michael Brown may have stolen some cigarillos from a convenient store and is alleged to possibly have "been aggressive", Eric Garner was selling tax-free cigarettes and never threatened violence, and Sandra Bland mysteriously died in a jail cell under police custody, to name only a few examples. All of these people had their lives taken from them. It was unjust. It was abrupt. There was no second chance. No benefit of the doubt. No TV interview with Savanah Guthrie.
What about the migrant children who have died in U.S. custody in the past few months, either after attempting to enter the country or from mistreatment and malnourishment in the migrant camps our nation put them in after arriving?
Were not all of these people also human beings who deserved due process and a chance to defend their humanity?
We can get lost in the endless debates of who started it and who did what, but the reality is that the character of black and brown people in this nation is much more quickly and easily destroyed than those of us who are white. We can deny that because it makes us uncomfortable. Yet even the fact that our discomfort offers us the ability and freedom to shut out these stories is, in itself, our privilege.
The benefit of the doubt, the long-standing place of privilege for the very few in our nation. Maybe we don’t relate to being judged unfairly, but as people of faith we need to learn to listen and understand it, especially where injustice takes place.
Charles Bukowski once said that “the only time most people think about injustice is when it happens to them.”
In the case of Nick Sandmann, I believe many Caucasian Americans felt attacked because they identified with Nick and his friends- White people, seemingly innocent and well-meaning, Trump supporters, conservatives, good people, churchgoers, young and naive, feeling cornered, oblivious to the reasons people around them are enraged at their insularity.
Luckily, much of America was right there ready to give them the benefit of the doubt. Sure, not everyone defended them and many people still harbor rage and blame at their group, justifiably. Many people will never forgive or understand their perspective. Yet they are still alive. They got to go home. They will graduate high school and many of them will find success in whatever it is they pursue, grateful for their second and third and fourth chances.
And from the graves of so many who were never granted the same chances and opportunities, their cries for freedom and justice are drowned out by the noise from the benefit of the doubt, which remains a place of privilege and prestige for those who want to “make America great again” by dividing up those who recognize that maybe it never was.