To the editor:
Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. famously said: “A riot is the language of the unheard.”
I want to expand upon this quote by saying if you have anyone anywhere whose position in society is less than anyone else’s, the manner by which they go to resolve their grievances will increase in ways unacceptable to society in proportion to how low their position is in society.
Oppression is not the tool of the powerful, but of the helpless. Delegating yourself superior in position to anyone else, if your identity becomes dependent upon the subjugation of others, then you will emotionally lose touch with certain options to address or resolve matters.
The untouchable can only resort to extreme and inhumanly unthinkable measures.
Humility and seeing even the most distant connection between people you share this earth with grants you capacity to resolve even the most unthinkably challenging conflicts and crises. Virtues are the tools of those capable of accessing them due to humility. And they are not depletable, but rather grow in strength and power with use.
I have shared my ideas as to changes which can be implemented by our next sheriff regardless of who that may be. Be it the one candidate on the ballot or some unlikely write-in that has nothing but experience of injustice and an overwhelming desire to break the cycle of criminality for those in their custody.
Compassion, support, along with every other virtue and appreciation for being a part of society means working to return the values to those in the criminal justice system to those same virtues is how I foresee real change and progress being made.
Treat a human being like a human being, and at all times remind them why making choices that better this world is the only path out of the overgrown and wild chaos of the path they have set themselves down. This should be the mission of anyone who takes the responsibility to bring into their care those who have wandered off the path of the law.
If I was elected sheriff, this is what I would strive for.
-Henry Johnson, Alexandria
