I’ve traveled extensively in America. I’ve driven across country four times and visited every state except Hawaii. I’m always amazed that all of this – the different landscapes and temperatures, the different attitudes and accents, are all part of one nation. I’ve traveled overseas, but I really enjoy seeing America first, like the billboards used to say. I can leave the near and familiar and wander among the strange and distant and still be on my home turf.

And I’m not the only one. There was a story in the paper last week about another wandering Vermonter, George Singleton, from down around Brattleboro. In a state full of white people, George Singleton is an African-American with dreadlocks. As I said, it’s our difference that makes us interesting. Mr. Singleton is a doer of good deeds. Six years ago, he was among the founders of a group that encourages teen-aged gang members to take up organic gardening. Needless, to say, Mr. Singleton is not one to shy away from a challenge. Now, we don’t have too many teen-aged gang members in Vermont and by saying that I don’t mean to imply any moral superiority as compared to other areas of the country. We just manifest our craziness in other ways, like cow tipping.

The point is, if George Singleton wants to work with teen-aged gang members, he’s got to take it on the road, and so he does. Last February, he was coming home from Los Angeles by the southern route, which as any cross-country traveler knows, is the way to go in winter. The route took Mr. Singleton through Oklahoma and an experienced traveler can also tell you that a black man with dreadlocks, driving through Oklahoma in a car with Vermont tags may as well have a neon sign that says, “Pull me over and search my car.” Sure enough, that’s what the Oklahoma Highway Patrol did. And when the trooper searched the car, he found two bags of herbs. As I said, George Singleton is an organic gardener; it should be no surprise he carries herbs. The trooper decided the bags were full of marijuana and placed Mr. Singleton under arrest. Tests were conducted and showed the bags contained rosemary and mullein, common herbs one might expect a gardener to have.

Case closed, right? Wrong. The state of Oklahoma charged George Singleton with driving under the influence and he is now on trial. If convicted, he could be sentenced to a year in jail and a thousand-dollar fine. The problem is, when he was arrested, George Singleton didn’t have any intoxicating substances in his system. The only thing the state has going is the trooper says Mr. Singleton was speeding when he was pulled over. Now I don’t know about you, but if I was a black guy, driving through Oklahoma with Vermont plates — hell, I’d be speeding, too.

The police and the prosecutors in Oklahoma are not stupid. They know this case is going to be thrown out of court. They know they’ll get bad publicity, just like I’m giving them now. I think they know all this and still they proceed because it’s worth it to them to send the message that if you’re African-American, you are not wanted in Oklahoma and that if you come to Oklahoma, you’ll be harassed and bullied and your civil rights will mean nothing. But that won’t work, because I’ve been to Oklahoma and I like Oklahoma and I know many fine people there whose views are not represented by one or two buttheads with more power than brains.

If there is anyone under the influence, it is these misguided police and prosecutors, drunk with misplaced authority, an authority which stands meaningless in the face of George Singleton, a doer of good deeds, a man who helps troubled teenagers, a gardener planting seeds for a better America.