This is Viewpoints for Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015
Crying wolf?
For a person like Leonard Pitts Jr., who is constantly lamenting he doesn’t want to be treated differently because of the color of his skin, his column Wednesday sure educes the opposite. He mentions “unarmed African-Americans” being killed and wounded by “usually the police.” Really? I guess Pitts doesn’t take time to read the news out of Chicago, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, etc., etc., where every weekend dozens of young men of color are murdered, and not by the dreaded white cop. Add to that the countless persons of color killed and wounded in the crossfire, usually old ladies and children.
If Pitts thinks Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., would approve of the forked tongue dialogue coming out of today’s so-called black leaders and fake reverends, I feel sorry for him. If Pitts truly believes “Black Lives Matter,” he would be in the inner city telling the young people to quit killing each other. You can’t blame it on whitey and the po-po constantly without sounding like Chicken Little or the boy who cried wolf. Sooner or later, all you’ll get is yawns. Conservatives aren’t Pitts’ problem. He might want to educate himself on who runs the above listed cities. All lives do matter.
— Ron Renno
Forsyth
No respect on streets
Leonard Pitts’ heartfelt defense of the “Black Lives Matter” mantra was not altogether without merit. However, his essay was more philosophical than realistic. His sentiments simply do not match up with reality. All one has to do is to take a look at the local television news in Macon and it is immediately evident that there is an epidemic of black-on-black crime which often results in someone’s death. Very seldom does one see what should be the expected outrage by community leaders over the slaughter taking place in most urban settings each and every day. How can black lives matter in the face of these daily reminders that life is not respected on the streets of urban America?
If the “Black Lives Matter” movement is followed to its logical conclusion, we will become a nation, like many in underdeveloped countries, where law enforcement simply refuses to enter neighborhoods where their officers’ lives and reputations are subject to extinction. When this happens, those with the most guns will rule inner cities and law-abiding citizens will retreat to gated compounds where they will furnish their own, private security. Do we really want to go there? Perhaps we should be careful what we ask for.
— Charles M. (Toby) Hill
Warner Robins
The beat goes on
Four killed and 32 wounded on the streets this weekend in Obama’s adopted home- town, Chicago. A furious search is underway for a racist hurtful flag or police misbehavior that must have caused these unfortunate deaths. Mayor Rahm Emanuel promised to confiscate guns from law-abiding citizens to finally stop the carnage. Baltimore’s mayor recommended that Rahm randomly lock up a few police officers to show solidarity with the “street.” Use of existing federal laws to lock up repeat gun offenders is not a tactic that is under consideration.
— John Brogden
Warner Robins
Relive the past
An old saying, if you forget the past you may have to relive the past. The Confederate flag had to be removed because it’s a reminder we were a nation that condoned slavery. The Confederate generals of Stone Mountain should be removed because it reminds people of our Civil War. Now someone wants the name of a school changed because it’s named after a Confederate general. If we hide and forget the War Between the States will we be forced to relive that war? The only way to right a wrong is to remember that wrong. Doesn’t the Bible show all the rights and wrongs of the past? Lest we forget our past we must show the symbols of the past. When we see the past we will never forget the good and the bad. Then we know what is good and what is bad. We can do what is good in God’s sight.
— Brian T. Reid Sr.
Gray
How to tell?
Now that some candidates for president are claiming God told them to run, how can we determine which one she actually told to run?
— Carl Pirkle
Byron
This story was originally published September 2, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015 ."