Monday, January 08, 2007
A Final Thought on the Death of Darrent Williams - Why We Care?
As any follower of the NFL or the Denver Broncos know, 24 year old Darrent Williams was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Denver on New Years Day (3am). A lot has already been said, but after listening to commentary there is one question I want to answer.
Both local and national commentators have raised the question, “Why so much attention to one young African-American man being shot in an apparent gang related shooting?” The comment is an attack at the celebrity culture and on the lack of attention to normal everyday violence in American cities. Now look, I yield to no one in my animosity at the “celebrity culture,” which makes heros of people who were it not for movies, television or sports would be working at Wal-Mart an not bothering any of us. Likewise I think we need a serious look at why so many people in the gang culture - white, black, Asian, and Hispanic - feel drawn to poor choices and a nihilistic culture. That having been said, I want to defend the current focus on Darrent and why it is appropriate.
In Colorado Springs on December 2, 2006 one of our police officers, Officer Ken Jordan was shot and killed during a DUI stop, in another example of a waste of human life (for both Officer Jordan and his assailant whose name I won’t repeat until he is convicted). Our city poured out sympathy for Officer Jordan, from teddybears at the locale of his death to a very well attended funeral. Yes, police officers are especially important to us, in defending us, both so are soldiers, and we have not seen this kind of showing for the deaths of our soldiers here in Colorado Springs.
Police officers, firemen, and teachers are beloved by a community. They “belong to us,” not in an ownership fashion, but in a sense of being part of what makes our community our community. As strangfe as it seems, the same is true of sports teams. The Denver Broncos belong to the Colorado community. When Darrent Williams was murdered part of what made the Colorado communities stronger died with him. We all lost something in his death. This is not a celebrity element, but is more along the lines of Officer Jordan.
The loss of Darrent Williams is the loss of one of our public servants, and so we lost something important to all of us. This has finally made me realise that at least some of the mourning for Princess Di back in 1997 was appropriate (it went into the idolatrous very quickly). Sports team do something very special in a community - they bring us together. I have been in the stands at old Mile High Stadium sitting next to Democrats, Republicans, atheists, Christians, rich, poor, black and white. You know what, for a short period of time none of those things matter. All that matters is that our community representatives do their best (which of course means winning). That is a special gift sports brings us. That us give thanks for this, and realise that we owe a lot more to the athletes for their gift of unifying the community than we perhaps realise. And to Darrent Williams, may you rest in peace and experience the love of God.
