Reach Out

Every one needs a hand to hold on to
Every one needs a hand to hold on to
Don't need to be no strong hand
Don't need to be no rich hand
Every one just needs a hand to hold on to

                                -- John Mellencamp
                                 or
                                    JCM
                                 or, maybe just
                                   J C

___________________________________

A couple nights ago the New Albany Common Council met in what seemed to be one of its particularly thin proceedings. No ordinances were under consideration. The administration had asked for nothing. Instead we were asked to weigh in on something The News and Tribune likes to refer to as, (and why not paraphrase?) "a meaningless, empty, expression". The empty rhetoric this time was directed at those in the state legislature who would commandeer the state constitution for political purposes (HJR-6); as bait, or shiny objects for those who would see danger, and thus political advantage, in the pursuit of  happiness by "others". Others may be refined, or defined, to include q-words, f-words and anything other than me- or we-words.

As I looked out into the gallery that night I was humbled by the hope the "others" had placed in us--their local government. As The Tribune is wont to say, the New Albany Common Council  weighing in on state or national issues is pointless, perhaps grandstanding, but certainly, ineffectual. But for the time the others spoke in our chamber, I, at least, glimpsed just a bit of representative democracy. For that brief time, I think,  people looked to us to hear their message of disaffection, their hope for inclusion in that which the majority takes for granted. They looked to us to speak for them, our friends, our neighbors, our un-acknowledged kin.

Most of the City Council did speak for the hopes of those who appealed to us. I am proud that our  Council took this step before it was simply part of a well-worn path. And those who did not advance the hopes of those in attendance should not be vilified. Acceptance and tolerance are hard-won in our society, and our world; empathy is a blessing not universally bestowed.

Hasn't everyone, at one time or another, felt outside of the mainstream, or felt that he or she won't fit into society's lines? House Joint Resolution -6, seeks to play upon the fears, prejudices, and intolerance of  of those among us who can, through ignorance or convenience, distance themselves from those whom they see as unlike them, and thus unworthy of the fruits of our earthly bounty. HJR-6 would seek, for political advantage, to make the road of life more difficult and lonely for the "others" among us, those not like us.

Councilman Phipps hit the nail on the head the other night when he said, " a hundred years from now we will be judged on what we did during our brief time here." I am proud to have spoken up for tolerance, and commend those others who also spoke up for it. As Mellencamp said, "everyone just needs a hand to hold on to." I'm proud to have extended a hand to hold on to, rather than presenting  a fist of rejection, and I commend the other Council members who also offered the hand of acceptance.

If one questions whether we should withdraw the helping hand of love, acceptance, and tolerance from the "others", I challenge you to find the "others" in this picture.