RICHARDSON: Please excuse the rant

Do you mind if I vent a little bit? I’m sure some will say, “Go ahead, you’re going to do it anyway,” and they would be right.

Last week I was doing a little research after reading an article in The New York Times about the unexplained uptick in murders across the country. In Milwaukee, a city of roughly 600,000 people, the homicide rate rose 76 percent over last year. In raw numbers, Brew Town had 59 murders in 2014, and this year it sits at 104. St. Louis had 85 last year and 136 this year. And those cities are not alone. These statistics are, as you’ll soon see, subject to quick change. I got to wondering, what does it look like locally?

I called up Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones, and he immediately told me Macon-Bibb has had 16 murders so far in 2015. Those words had hardly left his lips when later that night, 29-year-old Aquallo Davis Jr. became No. 17. He was gunned down outside Club Status. An argument that started inside the club spilled outside where off-duty deputies were patrolling, but that didn’t deter the killer or killers.

That fits a pattern that chiefs of police have seen in the rising murder rates across the country. People are having trivial, petty disagreements as they have always had, but now they are more likely to solve them with a gun. And they don’t seem to care whether they are caught. These petty slights arise out of almost anything — social media, a slip of the tongue, a perceived “dis.” Before you know it, people are face-to-face, pointing a gun at someone.

While I can’t tell you the profiles of the killers, not all are in custody, I can profile the victims. Of the 17 victims in Macon-Bibb this year:

13 were black men.

Two were black females.

Two were white.

Four were between 15-25 years of age.

Four were between 26-35 years of age.

Two were between 36-45 years of age.

Four were between 46-55 years of age.

One was over 56.

Two were infants.

How should the community respond? Police can’t stop murders from occurring with more deputies or stepped-up patrols. Most often there’s a relationship between killer and prey. Law enforcement needs all the help it can get, but in the long run, responsibility for making communities better comes down on three groups: parents, pastors and educators.

Law enforcement can walk through every neighborhood in Macon-Bibb, but when I walked with them in Unionville, I didn’t see a pastor, parent or educator walking with us. Granted, I didn’t attend the other walks Sheriff David Davis has sponsored. I know there are committed parents, pastors and teachers out there.

We have to ask ourselves the following questions:

Parents, ask yourself, what have I done today to make sure my children receive the best education available? Did I go to school? Did I check homework? Did I email or call the teacher?

Pastors, did you recognize children in your congregations who are doing well? Did you walk your neighborhood and invite the unchurched to attend? Did you tell them about the programs your church has for children? Did you attend a board of education meeting or start a tutoring or GED class in your church?

Educators, did you do everything in your power to reach that child who seems unreachable? Do you know who your who is — where they come from and under what conditions they live? How many parents did you call and how many did you visit?

We all have a part to play. If we don’t, the words of the Rev. Ronald Terry will continue to ring true. In 2009 he said, “We have raised a generation of young people that is lawless, godless and fearless.” How’s that working out for us as the next generation comes along?

But just as I’m ready to throw up my hands, a miracle occurs and a rainbow appears. Thursday, there was a drive-by shooting. Some believe it was connected to the Davis murder. More than two dozen bullets were shot through the windows and walls of a small first-floor apartment on Clinton Road. The intended target, it was reported, received a phone call to warn him. He left the scene without telling his in-laws and a child that they might be in danger. Minutes later, shots rang out. What could have been victims 18, 19 and 20 were spared by the grace of God.

Charles E. Richardson is The Telegraph’s editorial page editor. He can be reached at 478-744-4342 or via email at crichardson@macon.com.

This story was originally published September 6, 2015 at 12:00 AM with the headline "RICHARDSON: Please excuse the rant ."