Brittney Griner, the statuesque basketball player from Houston, Texas, is in the news as her trial for drug possession begins in Russia.  I do not care to speculate as to the reasons Griner chose to break Russian law by packing vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage.  I would think that anyone traveling outside the United States would be conscious of the fact that many other countries, like our own, have strict drug laws.  Unlike the United States, many other countries enforce their drug laws without reference to race, ethnicity, creed, orientation, or any of the myriad factors that offenders use in America to get a slap on the wrist.  Possession of cannabis in Russia can carry a ten-year prison sentence, and that means ten years in prison, not a few months and then paroled for good behavior.

What I noticed in headlines about Griner today was her open letter to Joe Biden, pleading with him to use the power of the United States presidency to get her released.  I couldn't help being struck by the irony.

Last July, Griner was in the United States, protesting the National Anthem.  She did not take the floor when the anthem was played, and she announced her plans to protest all season against the National Anthem, saying, "Black people didn't have rights at that point. ... It's hard disrespecting a song that didn't even represent all Americans when it was first made."

Image: Brittney Griner by Lorie Shaull.  CC BY-SA 4.0.

I'm sure Griner meant to say "respecting" and not "disrespecting."  I am also sure she is unaware of John Casor, the first black person to be declared a slave for life in America, after his black owner, Anthony Johnson, sued to retain him once Casor's indentured servitude was up.  In any case, Griner's ignorance of black American history is nothing compared to her ignorance of political reality.

Griner tells Biden in her letter, "I voted for the first time in 2020 and I voted for you.  I believe in you.  I still have so much good to do with my freedom that you can help restore."  She also says, "It hurts thinking about how I usually celebrate this day because freedom means something completely different to me this year."

I should think freedom does mean something different to this unfortunate woman now that she has been imprisoned in a country where freedom is barely a word and a minor peccadillo can cost a decade of your life.  I can only ponder on the many hostages and detained Americans whom President Donald Trump brought home, and how differently Griner might be treated if Trump were in the White House today.

Pandra Selivanov is the author of The Pardon, a story of forgiveness based on the thief on the cross in the Bible.