Now, ten days later Ramsey seems pretty close to being an afterthought in our minds: An internet sensation that peaked a little too soon. Sure, people still may be getting a laugh or two in at the YouTube video but interest seems to be waning now since the revelations.
This is truly a shame, seeing that we as a society are in desperate need of a hero. In a period of constant terror updates, mass attacks against humanity and economies crumbling, where is our beacon of hope? Where is our symbol of justice? In a world where we have become increasingly self centered and purposely oblivious to the plight of others, who else can we look to provide a reminder of righteousness?
While I’m not saying you’d be able to confuse Charles Ramsey with Clark Kent or Tony Stark any time soon, but for a brief moment he reminded us of what could be. You may not have agreed with the package that he came in, but you can’t say that what Ramsey did wasn’t heroic. Just like Larry Bird’s not walking back through those doors in Boston, we as a society need to stop thinking Superman’s coming back to Metropolis. Part of the reason we lack people of distinction is that we have a romanticized view of what heroism has to look like. People think someone has to be an All American, straight A choir boy to save the day. The problem is there’s only one Tim Tebow. To me, Charles Ramsey is empowering. If that brother can give a damn and save the day, why can’t I? Lest we forget most of our beloved superheroes started out as regular folks. You can keep waiting for a radioactive spider or lab explosion if you want, but the world needs heroes NOW.
As far as his past is concerned, it only adds to the greatness of his story. Here is a man who did wrong, faced the time for his crime and now by all accounts seems to have made a complete 180. Aren’t we a country based on redemption? As a country that more and more each day seems to want to label itself a Christian nation, shouldn’t we applaud this brother’s apparent salvation and change? It’s also important that these charges are almost ten years old. So what’s the problem? Is it because he doesn’t speak like he went to Harvard? Is it because his skin’s a few shades too dark?
Now I for one am not about to make Charles Ramsey my personal savior or try and get him canonized. But I do think we’d be much better off with a few more Charles Ramsey’s as our neighbor, whether people realize it or not. You know who did realize it? Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, the women who were able to escape the clutches of Ariel Castro with the help of Charles Ramsey. Would they have preferred someone a little more clean cut? Possibly, but after ten years it probably wasn’t that important any more. Hopefully it won’t take us as a society that long to stop looking up to the sky and start looking for the heroes (and villains) on the ground. More importantly, maybe we can start seeing that hero when we look in the mirror. Nevertheless, love him or hate him you should at least be able to agree that Charles Ramsey deserves some love. Superman may live in Metropolis, but it appears he may keep a summer home in Cleveland.