Sometimes, the hero is a very “ordinary person” who is just going about her or his business. It would not occur to him that she or he is doing anything unusual or exceptional. The people of the town of Le Chambon were like that. Standing up to the might of Hitler’s army, they saved thousands of Jews; and they have often expressed puzzlement over the idea that they did anything extraordinary, while the rest of us are trying to figure out which part of the word “extraordinary” do these people not understand.
Well, there is someone whom I regard as something of a hero. His name is Keith John Sampson, a janitor and a student at Indiana University-Purdue University in Indiana (IUPUI). Of course, it would never occur to him to put himself in the same league as the people of Le Chambon. And I do not mean to put him that league either. But heroes come in a multitude of gradations.
Sampson is a 50 year old white man who busied himself during his break by doing something rather unusual by today’s standards: he read during his break. And if that were not enough, he even read substantive material during his break. His reading material included Todd Tucker’s book Notre Dame Versus the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Klu Klux Klan. This is not the sort of reading that one might typically imagine anyone doing unless that person is a history major. And Sampson is not a history major, although he is a student.
I have already posted an essay regarding the debacle that came about as a result of that: see IUPUI.
At any rate, there are some rather ugly moments in American history; and to learn about the details of those moments in order to become a better person is to do something rather commendable. This would be rather like the German who studied German history from World War I to World War II in order to understand how Germany slipped into one of the most evil moments ever to take place in history; and the German did this with the hope of making sure that such a thing never happened again.
So this is one reason why I regard Sampson as a hero. But here is another more poignant reason. In response to someone who read my essay about Sampson and wrote “I hope he is a racist now”, Mr. Sampson had this to say by way of a response:
NO! You hope wrong. Why would I become a racist because of the incompetence of a bureucratic office? That is silly. Besides, the first person to reproach me, over my reading the history book, was an obtuse AFSCME Union official. Dale Basey is a ignorant foolish white man. Should I hate whites? Of course not.
I do have a deep distrust of mindless bureucratic idiots who would use a union or the A.A.O. to show their ignorance by ignoring my Constitutional Rights. But I do detest the Klan still and I would proudly stand with any Black person, Jewish person or any other minority if the Klan ever showed up at IUPUI.
Chancellor Banz, who will not acknowledge the wrong to me, is white and the IUPUI Media office is run by whites and they are still attempting to smear me by claiming it was not the book but my actions that were the problem. What? I quess if I had been reading a comic book that would have still been offensive to the un-educated Nakea Vinson and the IUPUI media office.
No, I will NOT become hateful because of the asinine actions of a few. After all hate and ignorance comes in all colors. So if you hoping I’ll join the hateful Klan keep hoping cause I believe that we are all human beings and no one race is better than another.
Quite simply, Keith Sampson’s response is majestic and beautiful. His response reveals a depth of moral excellence that I find all too rare nowadays.
For you see, Mr. Sampson could just as easily have responded anonymously and said all sorts of hateful things. Or, in any case, he could have identified himself, and then have gone on to wallow in anger and bitterness. He could have become so caught up in disappointment that his grip on principles of the right loosened.
Sampson never even came close to suggesting that the KKK was right after all in thinking that: “Blacks are so bereft of intellectual ability that they do not even possess commonsense”. As I say in my letter to IUPUI Chancellor Charles Bantz: Mr. Sampson could not, as a white persosn, have been behaving in a more politically correct manner short of giving blacks the shirt off his back than reading a book about how the Fighting Irish was a thorn in the side of the Indiana Klu Klux Klan. And the fact of the matter is that many a person has had horrendously inappropriate thoughts, although the wrong which they have experienced was far less egregious. Mr. Sampson was accused of being morally insensitive to the moral pain of blacks. In my earlier essay on this, I suggest that it is very likely that the person who made the accusation could not read.
So this is the other reason why I regard Keith John Sampson as a hero. There is no better indication of what a person’s true moral mettle than that the individual does the right thing by others even when she or he is in serious moral pain. And Sampson has proven himself to be a man of enormous character. He stands as a vivid example of what Black America says it wants from White America, namely an abiding moral commitment on the part of Whites to doing the right thing on behalf of Blacks.
It is my hope that Chancellor Charles R. Bantz of IUPUI will be equally courageous. Sampson has provided Chancellor Bantz with what I have referred to in my letter to the Chancellor as a morally beautiful opportunity. Will Chancellor Bantz squander it? Or, will he rise to the occasion? Will the Chancellor be more interested in placating Blacks who have effectively eviscerated the charge of racism by using that charge merely as a means of leverage? Or, will he turn the moment into one of the most extraordinary learning experiences that have even taken place on a university campus?
It is very rare that fate hands us such an extraordinary opportunity to make such a difference by drawing attention to and underlining a moral ideal of excellence that has been marvelously showcased in the life of an “ordinary citizen” of the community”. This can be done without accusing anyone of maliciousness.
Chancellor Bantz would no doubt like to leave his mark as head of a major university. Well, here is his chance. The question is whether he will fumble because liberalism has insisted that the only role that whites can play in overcoming racism is call other whites racist. Or, will he throw an extraordinary moral pass by showing that the seeds for a better tomorrow have sprouted among the constituents of the IUPUI community. We have cowardice in the first instance and courage in the second. Mr. Keith John Sampson has the courage not to be racist and to do what is right even when he has been palpably mistreated by blacks. Will Chancellor Charles Bantz match Mr. Sampson’s courage in a way that is suitable to the vast means that the Chancellor has at his disposal? One thing is for sure: time will surely tell !
Note: The Affirmative Action Officer, Lillian Charleston, is retiring. Is this mere coincidence or does it reflect the recognition that she made a horrendous mistake in the Sampson matter?
