There have been two big discussions on social media in the past week or so; the execution of Marcellus Williams, who was almost certainly innocent of the crime he was convicted of, by the state of Missouri and whether retail workers need to be nice to their customers. Both merit further scrutiny and both can be boiled down to one basic idea. We need to be better to each other. Societally, the prevailing thought seems to be that we owe each other nothing. We don’t need to be pleasant in public, in fact, down right hostility is fine because no one is obligated to behave kindly. We don’t have to grant a stay of execution for a man who even the prosecutors who tried his case now believe was innocent. We owe nothing to anyone at any point for any reason. I call bullshit.
Let’s start out easy. Do retail workers, or any of us really, need to be kind, thoughtful, or helpful to those around them? It’s not a question of obligation. No; no one is required to be “nice” or have pleasant interactions. No one can force you to smile or even have a non-angry expression on your face. But, isn’t it easier if you do? Isn’t your life demonstrably better if you don’t view every other person in the world as an inconvenience to be tolerated? I saw a video that called this discussion respectability politics. I guess that could be true, but really, it’s about social norms and humanity. We never know what others are going through so why not give people the benefit of the doubt, most of the time.
This brings me to the second discussion. Marcellus Williams didn’t deserve to die. No one deserves to die at the hands of the state. The governor of Missouri, the Missouri Supreme Court, and the Supreme Court of the United States all declined to grant his request for a stay of execution. He wasn’t asking to vacate his conviction or for clemency. He simply wanted a little more time so the facts and new evidence could be checked for accuracy before they murdered an innocent man. Everyone with the power to stop his execution declined to do so. They all decided it didn’t matter. They had no obligation to be thoughtful or kind. And, as has happened many times before in this country, Missouri executed an innocent man. The death penalty solves nothing. The death of a criminal isn’t going to change his or her previous actions. It’s not going to bring back a family’s loved ones. It’s simply punitive and performance so that those who claim to be “tough on crime” have something to show off. It is not Christian or pro-life. There is nothing in the Bible or Jesus’ teachings that says we’re allowed to murder anyone. An eye for an eye doesn’t mean killing people and we all know it. In fact, one of the Ten Commandments is “Thou shalt not kill.” It doesn’t have a caveat for criminals.
We all need other people. Even someone who doesn’t leave their house relies on gig workers to buy their groceries. Society, all societies everywhere, are predicated on the notion of community. Community isn’t just our friends or family, it’s everyone. Community, as an adjective, only happens when we lend a helping hand, when we see each other’s humanity. You literally never know when the worst day of your life could come and I can promise that you hope that your community rallies to lift you up, in ways big and small, to keep you from crumbling.
We all possess the power of kindness. When we choose to be selfish, to assume the worst, we end up alone which ends up perpetuating our theory that people are terrible. We end up executing an innocent man. Let’s not literally and metaphorically continue this cycle of atrocious behavior.
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