“Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” Isn’t that the title of a book written by Dr. Seuss? When you first read that book or had it read to you, were you expecting to live through a pandemic that put 20 percent of the country on unemployment?

Did you think you would be required to wear a mask to buy an ice cream cone or a beverage? And did you ever think business owners and their friends would someday stand guard in front of the stores on Main Street to protect themselves and the businesses from being damaged or even destroyed by protesters who may have gotten incited to leave the realm of peaceful demonstration?

In March of 1998 we watched from a second-story window over-looking the courthouse while the notorious KKK held one of their hate rallies on the steps of the Butler County courthouse. That was quite a spectacle, but it only drew about a hundred people to see the cowardly masked and robed men put on their silly show and keep their identities hidden from the public.

That predated social media, which is the primary tool which hate groups use to spread the word for the meetings, rallies, riots or whatever they want to call the trouble they try to start. Local people who seem to be oblivious to the danger of spreading rumors and lies help spread the word by posting information, even if they start with a phrase such as: I’m not sure or I heard from a friend or even there is a rumor.

This Sunday there was an event held in Butler that would have caused Dr. Seuss to lose his ability to rhyme and Mr. Rogers to swear. Some low-life on social media posted that there would be a riot — not a rally, but a riot — in Butler at 2:00. Of course he hid his identity and failed to show his face at the riot he was hoping to cause. Word of his stupidity spread quickly and forced law enforcement to enact measures to protect against a possible disaster.

So let’s pause here and put a time frame and reason to all of this. A man in Minnesota died in confrontation with a police officer in a brutal, public display of control and hatred. The man was black. He had apparently committed a minor crime. He did not appear to resist arrest or create a further crime. He remained black, which seemed to be the only thing that happened. Persons across the country are rightfully enraged.

They are demanding change and they are demanding it now. We agree with everything they are saying and everything they want. We don’t agree with hurting more innocent people or putting ordinary citizens at risk.

We stood in the middle of the street and watched what transpired on Sunday.

When the first guns appeared, it was scary. The sheriff and his men took note of the persons open-carrying and kept a vigilant eye. One man, probably in his late 20s or early 30s, was hell bent on causing trouble. He wielded a large stick meant to intimidate the growing crowd and he yelled a lot, but no one cared or took him seriously as he was a regular at being loud at community events and most figured he would be the first to run and hide if any violence started.

The crowd was mostly locals, although the internet rumors said differently. Maybe there were a few out-of -town folks, in fact one man was loudly declaring himself as being from Cleveland. But even though a local attorney posted that he may have seen a bus (how do you not know if you did or did not see a bus on a side street in Butler on a Sunday afternoon?) dropping off people on each block, that was all fantasy. We do believe without the law enforcement presence there would have been violence.

We also believe that without social media stirring the pot there would have been 10 people there instead of a couple hundred. Law enforcement did a great job. They kept their cool and arrested very few people when they had justifiable cause to fill every jail cell available.

The storefront guards?

We have to admit that was scary. How many of them could or would really pull the trigger? That’s a good question, but not one we ever want to learn the true answer. Their cause was just, but we will tell you so was the cause of however many of the protesters who were there for the right reason.

The problem is separating the true civil protesters from the haters. Black men and other men of color are still disrespected, discriminated against and held to a different standard everywhere in this country. In the year of the virus, COVID-19, it is terrible that we still see the color of a man’s skin before we see a human. We see someone different from us because of his skin even before we give him a chance to be a friend and a neighbor or co-worker. We all can and should be better.

We will stop short of congratulating or admiring what the store owners did on Sunday. Just because we have the right to have guns and the right to protect our property does not makes us trained or capable of being a militia. You called the troublemakers bluff on Sunday and you won.

Hopefully we aren’t going to let it get this dangerous again. Our law enforcement proved they are capable and willing to take care of the situation. Let them.

And social media gossips ... stop spreading rumors before you cause someone to get hurt or even killed just so you have something to post.