Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Rejecting Tamerlan for No Good Reason Couldn't have Helped

   Comes a story, in the day's newspaper, that makes me wonder if we if we antagonized Tamerlan Tsarnaev a few years ago and he responded by turning against us, and eventually killing and injuring many.

   Don't antagonize your friends and you won't have so many enemies, it might be said. Or, don't alienate those who are not your enemies and they will be less likely to turn into your enemies.
   Nothing can justify what the Tsarnaevs did. It was cold, brutal and inhumane. They are responsible, both for the act and for how they might have been reacting to the way they perceived they were being treated.
   But consider. Consider if just a little love might have made a whole lot of difference.
   The story in the paper told how boxers were being turned away from Golden Gloves because they were not U.S. citizens. I'm not saying they weren't legal to be here. You can have a resident card and still not be a citizen. Now, expecting them to be a citizen in order to fight for the U.S. in the Olympics is one thing. (Perhaps, just perhaps, as I'm not even sure about that.) But saying being a resident is not enough to box in Golden Gloves seems a little overly rejecting of someone, to me. They just want to box, just want to pursue a life while legally in America. Why tell them, "No, you aren't an American. We only play with fellow Americans. Go find another sandbox to play in."
   Tamerlan, then, Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
   We understand he was a pretty good boxer, even came to Salt Lake for a Golden Gloves fight in, what, 2009? And, didn't he win some kind of championship in New England?
   Tamerlan, Tamerlan the boxer.
   Well, he wanted to be a great boxer, wanted to pursue that, had a dream and we took it away from him, In years when they are selecting an Olympic team, they don't let you box in the Golden Gloves tournament. To make matters worse, in 2010 (right in the middle of when immigration was the biggest issue in all of America) they changed the rules. No more legal residents allowed, period. You had to be a full citizen. So, Tamerlan was barred from the 2010 Golden Gloves tournament. 
   Tamerlan, Tamerlan the rejected.
   He aspired to being a great boxer, It was his dream and life's ambition. And, it was being cut short because, although (I believe) he had paperwork to be a legal resident, he wasn't a full citizen.
   The story in the paper referred to another story, one published int he New York Times that said Tamerlan's life veered at that point. From the rejection in Golden Gloves, he veered toward the path of terrorism.
   Well, I don't know. I don't know but what Tamerlan wasn't already on the path to terrorism. Maybe he even would have arrived at the same point even without the boxing rejection.
   But, I do know it doesn't hurt to treat people right, when you can. Sometimes, it does make a difference. And, well, I can't see the harm in letting a legal resident fight in Golden Gloves. Turn a person away, and they might turn into something you don't want.   
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