This is Viewpoints for Sunday, June 19, 2016

When we needed it most

One week ago, 49 souls were stolen from Orlando, murdered in an unimaginable act of terror. Hundreds more were injured or witnessed unthinkable violence. Our city remains in a state of shock, our hearts broken as we grieve for the victims and their families. Everyone in our city is struggling to comprehend how Orlando, a place known around the world for joy and fun, is now also the site of the worst mass shooting in American history.

In Orlando’s darkest hour, our community has been uplifted by the love and support from across our country and around the world. For decades, the world has come to Orlando to have fun. This week, when we needed it most, the world came to Orlando’s aid. We heard Americans singing outside of the White House. We saw rainbow flags flying above Seattle’s Space Needle and iconic landmarks lit up from coast to coast, all to show Orlando that we weren’t alone. Tens of thousands gathered in London, chanting, “Orlando, we have your back.” We witnessed candles alight in honor of our victims in front of The Colosseum in Rome. We saw the Eiffel Tower lit up in the colors of the rainbow. So many of our victims are Hispanic, and we felt the love and strength of Latin America. Every day, we continue to watch unique and powerful displays of support from Germany, Sweden, India, Chile, Brazil, and on and on.

On behalf of everyone in Orlando, we want to thank our brothers and sisters from across America and around the world for standing with us, praying with us and mourning with us. Your shared strength and resolve has helped our city. If there is any good to be found in the darkness that has consumed our city, it is that the world has had the chance to see the other side of Orlando. Not our famous theme parks, but the growing city that still has a small-town feel. The place that in many ways is America’s new melting pot. The city where diversity and inclusion are a vital part of our way of life.

When the worst that humanity has to offer visited our city, the residents of Orlando showed they were more than capable of showing the world the best of humanity. My hope is that what happened in Orlando and our response to it compels others to find ways to work together to overcome hate, intolerance and injustice. Incredibly, we’ve already begun to hear from those who say that what has happened here and how our community has responded has sparked a change in their hearts.

My hope is that we will be remembered, not as the city where a horrible shooting took place, but as the city that showed others that love can conquer hate. And, my hope is that Orlando’s tragedy is remembered as the event that lead our country into a new era of embracing diversity, equality and fairness.

On behalf of everyone who calls Orlando home, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Missing something

I must be missing some things here on the great Wal-Mart discussion. Let me list what I think is going on:

▪ The new Wal-Mart grocery store is not a Super Wal-Mart, right?

▪ The new Wal-Mart grocery store is going to be built in Warner Robins?

▪ The new Wal-Mart will be bringing jobs and taxes to the area?

The City Council of Warner Robins is in charge of zone changes. What are all of the Centerville people doing filling the City Hall meeting room? You know the ones I mean — that angry old man said, “It isn’t needed.” Maybe not for gramps, but some of us may need it.

The drama queen crying over something made good TV but little else.

Why didn’t they protest when the Exxon station/convenience store opened on Houston Lake Road across from the post office or the motorcycle shop on U.S. 41 and Gunn Road? Not one of them were out there protesting when U.S. 41 went to four lanes. This is such a mystery to me. One woman said her children would be endangered. Teach them about using sidewalks — as if they walk to school anyway.

I think Mayor Toms should restrict the City Council meetings to Warner Robins citizens. Think of the protest if Warner Robins people filled the chambers of Centerville City Council. That was a joke. Why would anyone care what goes on there?

Good response

Thank you, Telegraph, for promptly printing Chancellor Huckaby’s letter “Setting the record straight,” responding to the published opinion piece charging the Board of Regents and the chancellor, with treating black and white universities differently by favoring white majority universities over HBCU’s in the process of selection of university presidents.

The June 5 letter making this accusation is nothing more than political correctness on steroids as society continues to be harmed by those who attribute differences, actual or perceived, to be the result of racism by those not of color because of past grievances while ignoring the positive changes during the past 50-plus years.

Of course they are treated differently in some instances, otherwise the HBCU’s would have been more prominently involved in recent system consolidation efforts evidently made by the University System of Georgia in carrying out its mission of overseeing public higher education in Georgia.

Survival

The number of mass murders worldwide is extremely low, except when our miserable politicians decide to get thousands killed in pointless wars. Again Vietnam was little more than an exasperating killing of our troops that served no purpose. And by any measure, we lost. If these folks, like our president and congressional members, observed Chicago, Philadelphia, Macon, Detroit and dozens more cities, they would see hundreds are killed monthly. Some wants us to think guns are the problem. Folks, it is the people with the assault weapons who are intent on mass murder who are the problem. And it will continue. If 10 of those people had been armed, lives could have been saved.

Please keep in mind that our multi-billion dollar CIA, FBI and law enforcement had this guy on a list of hundreds that might pull a trigger. They failed us. We might someday have a chip stored in the high-risk gunmen, but statistically we better be armed to survive.

This story was originally published June 18, 2016 at 7:00 PM with the headline "This is Viewpoints for Sunday, June 19, 2016."