A Surprising Encounter

By Liz Giffin, Book-In-Common Team Reporter

A sign from a day of protest along the Esplanade.

Last week, while protesting the I.C.E raids, I was approached by an angry young man. He

barked at me: “What are you even doing here? We’re going to have a dictator. That would be Good.”

Whoa! I knew he was trying to provoke me. I knew I shouldn’t rise to the bait. 

But in my heart I also knew: He’s one of the disaffected, one of the young men who have seen their status in society decline over the past thirty years. One who may feel he has been left behind as women and minorities have moved forward.

So in a calm voice, I told him, “We’re here because we don’t like seeing people pulled off the street, sent to detention, not given their day in court.”

“The court system sucks,” he retorted. “They should just get rid of it.”

“But what would you put in its place?” I replied.

The look he gave me was like a deer in the headlights. He seemed surprised that I’d want his Opinion. He just looked at me, offering no response.

“The system may be flawed but nobody’s come up with anything better,” I offered.

He pondered that. Then his demeanor changed. We began talking about different things: the value of the dollar (a history he knew a lot about) and what kind of education he’d received and whether it prepared him for good job opportunities.

It was going nicely until he noticed that someone nearby had their phone turned on and was

videotaping him. It unsettled him. He abruptly stopped, said goodbye to me and was on his way.

I don’t know if under any other circumstances that young man would ever have approached me, a 68 year old white woman, to talk politics. But I think we both learned something. Maybe to not make assumptions. Maybe to look beyond the stereotypes. 

Maybe a connection is possible if we let down our guard and see “the other” as just another human being trying to make sense of this world.