By now you’ve probably heard that over the weekend a group of well-armed, self-described “patriots” decided to occupy a wildlife interpretive center near Burns, Oregon as a way of protesting federal land management policies in general and, in particular, the prosecution of two ranchers who–taking wildfire mitigation practices into their own hands–set fire to several dozen acres of protected wilderness area. The protestors–all of whom (as far as anyone knows) are White men–have vowed to occupy the building for “as long as it takes” (whatever “it” is), and to use their considerable arsenal of firearms, if necessary (the definition of “necessary” being extremely subjective and open to interpretation in this case). So far, there has been no confrontation between law enforcement and the folks who have occupied the wildlife refuge’s interpretive center.
I have been following this story with an interest that probably borders on obsession, not because I have strong opinions about land use policies on Federal land, but because the case has cast racial inequality in the United States in stark contrast, especially coming (as it does) just a few days after prosecutors in Ohio refused to press charges against police officers involved in the shooting death of Tamir Rice, a 12 year old African American kid with a pellet gun, who was shot mere seconds after a White police officer showed up at the park where Tamir was playing.
Naturally, there are big differences between the two cases, but still, it’s hard not to avoid the fact that American law-enforcement officers showed no restraint in the case of a child with a non-lethal weapon, but are exercising extreme caution in a situation when the perpetrators are White, armed, and have threatened to use violence. Which is crazy-making–not that law enforcement are taking their time and acting with prudence in Oregon, but that similar caution was thrown to the wind in the case of Tamir Rice (and Eric Garner, and Michael Brown, and Freddie Gray, and hundreds of other Black people who die every year while interacting with American Law Enforcement personnel).
As I watch the story unfold, my sanity is sustained by the humor with which so many Americans are responding to the situation in Oregon. So far I’ve only seen one professional comedian (Larry Wilmore) address the topic, but social media are awash with satire. It is as if Twitter and Facebook have given a platform for the collective American Jester, who uses humor as a means of speaking truth to power, and it has been entirely therapeutic to laugh while considering issues of such serious consequence.
For example, users of Twitter have invented the (admittedly borderline offensive) hashtags #YallQaeda, #VanillaISIS and #YeeHawed to use in reference to the gun-toting, wildlife-sanctuary-occupying, self-described members of a well-regulated militia. For more examples of the humor that is preserving my sanity, follow this link.
So my New Year’s resolution is to keep laughing, and in the laughter to discover new ways to seek peace, to work for justice, and to live in the Kingdom of God.
Peace, Ben