It's Not About Walter

 

 

Today, I learned a lot about myself after learning about Walter J. Palmer, a dentist who is sorry for having illegally hunted a well-known and liked lion named Cecil.  This post is an unfiltered thought process that I am sharing with you (regardless of your in/out group status). 

 

From all that I could gather, it seems that many people are upset with Walter for killing an animal that was loved and connected to many human animals.  The upset is so much that his dental practice is taking a hit.  Apparently many of his former patients have claimed to no longer use his services.   His website and other digital connections have been bombarded and shut down.  Seems like a cyber-mob has been cast upon him based on his actions. 

 

I have two thoughts about this.

1. Like many posts later in the day, I wonder what it might be like if we were to have this kind of passion behind the continuous killings of mostly black men in the U.S.  I suppose that is a different subject all together as it is easy to pinpoint Walter as one person for this violence, whereas the shootings of the many black folks were not done by one person alone, but by a large and complex institution.  This seems to make it difficult to know where to put the blame.  Should all cops be blamed for the murders?  Of course not, even though some people seem to believe so.  Should the police officer in question be held accountable (as in the recent case where Officer Tensing shot and killed Sam Dubose, see below)?  Of course, but that in of itself is short sighted.  The larger institution and culture needs to shift, otherwise, as the past has shown, this will continue. 

 

 

2. Staying focused on Walter's enacted violence, I can't help but to feel saddened that people are seeking some sort of revenge on him for illegally hunting and killing a well-known and liked animal.  I feel sad because of two larger points are not in the conscious dialogue that I have read thus far. 

 

a)      It saddens me to see that many folks are focused on the point that this was an “illegal” hunt/kill. I don't think that illegally hunting and killing a well-known and liked animal is the problem.  Any hunting and killing of nonhuman animals is the problem.  Whether this was done legally or illegally should not be the question, although I can understand that we must work within the policies and laws.  However, like Hebrew National states in their commercials, isn't there a higher power with a set of laws that we might consider?  If it were legal to hunt people for sport or food, would that make it ok?  I don't think so. 

b)      I also saddened by the response of folks online.  Many people who are offended by Walter’s choice to hunt illegally (even if he states that it was by accident), are outraged, as they should be.  However, this outrage, for many, has turned into statements of wanting him to be hunted and killed.  Some posts on FB has stated that they would like to see his life ruined since he illegally hunted and killed Cecil the lion.  This kind of reaction is normal, and yet makes me sad.

It appears to me that compassion is what Walter was lacking, and in turn, many of us are lacking in compassion when considering his fate.  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said that darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.  In this case, I think that compassion is what we need to consider while still holding Walter accountable for his actions.  Of course, I can’t really hold him accountable for anything, but I can be accountable for my own thoughts and actions.  And like the many people online who are ranting and raving, I wonder if there is a chance for them to show some compassion and not join Walter in his journey of destruction, rather perhaps feel for what it might be like for him to endure this mistake.  I do hope that he learns from it, yet I think he needs that chance to be able to learn from it.  If it were up to some of the folks who posted online today, he would not have a chance as he would have been beheaded.

 

In/Out Group Thinking

So I couldn’t stop thinking about the bigger picture here.  How is hunting for nonhuman animals somehow justified?  How do we justify wanting Walter’s head as a trophy?  How do we find ourselves supporting one cause over another?  What kind of thinking makes us able to do this?  

 

In and Out group thinking is what allows us to do this.  We generally unconsciously consider in and out group statuses as it relates to us. 

In this case, Walter viewed Cecil the lion as part of an out group, thus allowing him to enact violence on him without much compassion or empathy and with joy and excitement.  Walter’s haters have decided that he is part of their out group, and thus can easily wish him harm without remorse and with vigor.

In group and out group thinking is powerful and pervasive.  When I consider all the choices I make, I realize each choice has been filtered through my unconscious barometer of in/out group testing.  The posts I choose to read, the ones that I “like” or “share,” the people I call friends, the homeless people I am willing to make eye contact with on the subway are all filtered as safe or unsafe through my in/out group lens. 

I suppose in many ways, Walter is part of my out group.  I don’t know him, and probably never will.  It is safe to hate him, just like he supposedly thought it was safe to hunt Cecil.   However, I think my response to what he did really isn’t about him.  It’s about my response to people who I consider as part of my out group.  Walter may have seen Cecil as part of his out group and thereby felt justified to cause so much harm.  Am I willing to do that with the many members of my out group?  I sincerely hope not.

 

Thank you for reading my thoughts.  Please let me know if you have any questions or if you have any triggered thoughts yourself.