Using Death To Fight Hatred

Millionaire George Stubbs, his wife, and their lawyer arrived early, sat in the courtroom waiting on the judge, along with the Coroner and the doctor who attends to his only son. Other relevant people and various newspaper representatives across the country were there too.

Half an hour later the court was in session.

Justice Paul Andrews said, “Welcome all to the inquest of George Stubbs Junior. My condolences to the family.”

“Thank you, your honor,” Mr. and Mrs. Stubbs said together.

“Before we continue, I was asked to read this letter that George Stubbs Jr. sends to the police, asking the judge to read at his inquest.“

“Dear Dad, if you are hearing this, that means you are at my Inquest. I decided to end my life,” Justice Andrews paused as the courtroom erupts in shock. He hits the gambol on the block and shouts, “This is an inquest, not a trial, now sit down!”

As the court returned to order, Mr. Stubbs lawyer asks, “Your honor, can I approach the bench?”

Justice Andrews nods and he walks over, whispered something to him.

“All media representatives please leave the courtroom,” Justice Andrews ordered.

The courtroom erupted again as they protest.

“Please, Mr. and Mrs. Stubbs would like their time of grief to be as private as possible. The deposition, post-mortem reports, and verdict records will be made available to the public in time. Thank you for coming.”

They left in protest.

Justice Andrews continues, “You taught me to hate blacks and homosexuals,” he pauses, his eyes on the Stubbs. Mrs. Stubbs's right-hand jumps to her left breast. ‘She knows,’ his instincts alert. Mr. Stubbs smiled. The judge's instincts say, ‘he doesn’t know.’

He continues, “I can’t live your life, and because of what you taught me, I know you won’t allow me to live mine. I love you Dad, and because of my love for you, I can’t go on being who I want to be. You said happiness is the secret to success. Not being who I am or want to be will deny me the happiness that will bring me success. You see dad, I am gay, and I fell in love with a black man who taught me that love has no color, race, or creed. But hatred has. He taught me how to love and how to use love to destroy hatred. I wished you would have taught me that.

I wished you had taught me love and how to love. If you had, I would have something to fight hatred with. I learned that when you fight hatred with hatred, nobody wins. I can’t seem to get rid of the hate inside of me, for myself and what I have become. So, by ending my life, I will put an end to all the hatred you taught me. I am using death to fight hatred. I am sorry. I love you both. Your son Junior.”

Mrs. Stubbs held both hands to her mouth, tears reeling down. Mr. Stubbs's eyes popped; his face turned red.

He turned to his wife and shouted, “This is your fault! You babied him and treated him like a girl!”

Shock attaches itself to the faces of everyone in the courtroom, grabbing silence.

Justice Andrews broke the silence and said, “No Mr. Stubbs, it’s not her fault, it’s yours. No one can tame hatred. Many of us feed our hatred. We give hate kindness. We give our hate love. We do all the things hate wants us to do, then it turns against us, by taking away the most precious thing we have. When we hate anyone or anything too much, we often become the object of our hatred. Your son hated himself because of what you taught him. He found love Mr. Stubbs, but it wasn’t enough to keep him alive, because of the hate you taught him. We must not teach our children hatred. It will backfire on us.”

One month later Mr. Stubbs killed himself. The media had a field day after the deposition was made available to the public.

Hatred makes a beautiful heart empty; it takes everything good from our heart. For some of us, the best and most beautiful part of us comes from our hearts.

Life is a test, and when it tests you for hatred, try your best to fail, because losing is winning.

I was born and raised in a country that is homophobic. But life has taught me, that when I meet someone, I check the heart first. If love is there, then nothing else matters. But this thought and attitude work only for the ones who know the value of love and want it.

Thank you for reading this piece. I hope you enjoyed it.