Real-Life Helpers

It’s the black of night during a new moon—not in the city where there’s no longer any pure darkness, but in the country away from streetlights. Or maybe it’s a demonstration of what dark looks like down in a huge cave when the guide turns off the lights for a moment. In any case, when the world looks too black to bear—so dark there’s no direction, when evil lurks all around fortified by power, an old fear of the dark re-emerges. Many are feeling that sensation now as organizations meant to assist us or the planet are being challenged…when the Constitution of the United States is being denigrated and its justice systems tested and retested. Where do you go for help when there’s no safe place? Mister Rogers advised us to look for the helpers. Or we can be them.

Last week I mentioned the nonfiction book KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON by David Grann. The corruption and sociopathic crime he reveals are almost unbearable—mostly because the horror of multiple murders born out of hate and avarice by multiple criminals, many of whom were never held accountable, happened and continued. The same themes of greed for money and power plus utter disregard for human lives are still operable. But after I closed the book, I realized all was not hopeless nor is it ever. There are always helpers.

When white men married Osage women only to poison them and murdered family patriarchs or even babies by poison, gunshot, or explosives so they could assume the oil-rich Osage inheritance, at first most principled lawmen couldn’t find a way to respond effectively. Those who were honest were murdered. White legal “guardians” who were assigned to assist the tribe members with the handling of their wealth simply stole it. The corruption was too widespread and was being done by too many under the direction of a man who was a genius at deflecting blame from himself. With false charm, he could convince the unwary that he was a hero—as some still do today—and he could intimidate the rest. But at last there was one man who had been raised by a relentlessly focused lawman he emulated. Tom White dared to accept the assignment of proving the crimes against the Osage people. He suffered greatly as he picked his way through dirty politics, but he prevailed. The FBI that formed around him wasn’t innocent but it functioned enough to bring praise to J. Edgar Hoover who accepted credit and a lifelong position of power.

Even as I despaired at the swamp of evil that nearly drowned the native Osage peoples who had inadvertently become rich because of their reservation land, I couldn’t help cheering for the true heroes who did what they could to give the rightful owners both dignity and independence. The Osage regretted the not-so-good fortune that drew the worst of human vices to them. But, as I learned from Tom White, one person can make a difference. All it takes is courage, intelligence, and an indomitable determination to succeed. If any of us can summon even one of those ingredients, we can work together to be a force and resurrect our ideals.