A Response to A Violent Macon
Just recently we received the news report that Macon Ga. is in the top five cities for homicides based on the percentage per 100k in population. Each day I read the media my heart becomes more and more saddened and burdened by the increase in gun violence in America and particularly in my city. In most cases, someone wanted something that belonged to someone else. Rather than work for it, they tried to take it. In other cases, someone got angry enough to solve their problem by murder. Still, in other cases, some became so angry at people and their lot in life, that the only way to get even is to kill numerous people. Then there are the cases where contention with law enforcement came into play with the result being another untimely death. All these, no matter the circumstances, are gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. My heart goes out to our coroner, Leon Jones. He is having to constantly view dead bodies week after week. One week he came on the news and said to the community that our violence is so great that the GBI can't investigate the deaths fast enough to bury the victims promptly. The underlying causes of the violence are the culmination of some long-term practices by our community. In writing this article I’m only pointing to the practices over time that has us where we are today. I will state this. Truly coming to grips with what got us here is heartbreaking. What is going to be worse is that if we say “He’s right,” yet don’t do anything. I’m afraid that our city will continue to head in the wrong direction. I wrote this article in haste but it’s been within me for a while.
The first problem lies with our churches. It is time that judgment begins in the household of God.
· Our churches have done a very poor job of living out the gospel and teaching our people how to live together in this world. We who boast about having the Spirit of the living God within us have done a very poor job of working together as a God family to build the kingdom and to influence our city.
· Our churches particularly in the African American community do very little to…
o Drive home the necessity of the nuclear family. We even think it’s funny to talk about baby’s momma and baby’s daddy. The statistics speak for themselves. Over 70 percent of all babies born in the African American community are born to single parents. The church is supposed to represent God's standard for how we should live and is supposed to be the pillar and ground of the truth. It has yet to come out in unison against the practice of continuing this pattern of single parenting. The nuclear family is God’s design. The department of justice will verify that almost 70% of all homicides are done by me from fatherless homes.
· Our churches both black and white have acquiesced to the cry of our culture instead of the call of our God. Presently we have no clear voice of reasoning among churches because we who have the answer are so blinded by our differences that we have yet come to realize that our differences are really our strength. God gave us our differences. Together we could make some changes. Since we both are prejudiced, our city keeps degrading at a now alarming rate. Jesus said that we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world but it seems that we’ve lost our saltiness. Of course, you know the rest of that scripture passage.
The second problem lies with the breakdown of our family structure. - one of the problems often noted is the anger of the perpetrators of violence. I do not wish to speak negatively against single women. I am sure that they do the very best they can, however, the facts are here for us if we're willing to articulate them. The absence of fathers in the home over a period has led to the increased violence we see today. Various foundations and researchers keep citing the value of the nuclear family in preventing violent conduct. In families where there are no fathers, boys do not learn to submit to authority. These alpha males have to be put in check and often it takes another man to put a young man in check in his formative years and then guide him in a way that is right. Within the home, kids are supposed to learn…
· Right & wrong – there are some things that are just wrong. Kids are supposed to learn that at home.
· Respect for other people – respect for other people begins with common courtesy. My mom and dad use to say when you walk into a room speak. Our children do not know basic common courtesy which should be taught in the home. They do not know what is decent and indecent. One reason is that they are born to parents who themselves do not know common courtesy or decency. Today it seems that everything goes. Some things are simply not decent. One reason why our young men do not obey the law or choose to take other folks stuff is that they’ve not learned to respect other people’s things.
· Personal responsibility – In the home kids learn to take care of their property. They learn how to work and reap the benefits of their labor. We live in a “give me” world where I “ought to have” whether I worked for it or not. Why do they rob and steal? They have not been taught personal responsibility which starts in the home.
· Civic responsibility – we all have a duty to keep our neighborhoods safe and our city clean. When our city does well, our lives improve right along with the city.
The third problem lies with our education system – Believe it or not, the Bibb County School system as well as school systems throughout America are one of the largest contributors to this problem of violence. I can say this as a recently retired educator. I write this with a record of consistently having well over a 90 percent pass rates on state assessments for the subject I taught. Even with the success, I experienced overall it could have been even better. Let me explain.
· Our school system teaches our children that they don’t have to be responsible. For example, some schools are against giving a child a zero if he or she doesn't do their work. Nowhere in our real world does this work. The Bible states if a man doesn't work neither let him eat. In another place, it says there is profit in labor. In our school systems, we have children being passed along because if they fail it won't look good for the school. The school is more concerned about how it looks than the products it's turning out. Kids can pass with decent grades apart from learning anything.
· Our school system lacks a strong structure. I have had students who were carelessly absent for numerous days and there are no consequences unlike in the real world. Administrations want teachers to do something for the kids even though their attendance is sporadic. That is a family issue that should be enforced by school policy.
· Our school system lacks discipline – When kids do not get discipline at home and come into an environment and do things unacceptable for that environment there ought to be serious consequences. Over time kids are taught that there are no real consequences for their actions. Consequently in their minds, nothing is going to happen if I kill somebody.
· Our school systems do not teach the value of failure. Years ago some top educators and education consultants coined the phrase, "if our children fail we've failed." That phrase took off like wildfire. It sounded good but is no good. I do believe that a teacher should do the very best that he or she can to make a student successful. The goal of teaching is learning. Grades are only a small reflection of the learning that should have taken place. One component of learning is personal responsibility. Failing is often the door to success. At least failure teaches that you have to bring something to the table in order to learn. In our school system learning is not the primary focus though we say it is. Passing is the focus.
· Our school system does not teach the value of following rules. I don't even know why the school system has any rules. The rules are primarily for the teachers because they can control to some degree the teachers as they hold the paycheck strings. Kids don't have to follow rules and neither do their parents. Once out of school and into the community at large where we have laws our kids become outlaws.
· Our school system “seems” to profit from failure. – This is my personal observation but I believe that it has merit. School districts get tons of money for various reasons to help failing schools. With all the money that has been poured into Bibb County, our schools ought to be at the top of the performing list. Why isn't it? Once a school system hits peak performance obtaining government funding becomes more difficult. The question that must be answered is where does all the money go? It goes to vendors, consultants, administration fees, and others who work together to get funding, even though that funding may not necessarily equate to better learning.
The fourth problem lies with our leaders – Our leaders do not have a clue as to how to deal with any problem. Most of what I see from our leaders locally and nationally is that they know how to say what needs to be said to get elected. Once getting in they have no idea how to make changes. If they had a good idea of how to deal with it, they don't have the fortitude to make the right decisions to do so. The kind of changes we need will take leaders with guts. If we had pastors with faith (we replace guts with faith) then we would come together regardless of what some in their congregation might think. We would take biblical steps to help the leaders in our city lead well. Our pastors (I am one) have little faith and no courage to step forward to do what is right. Our political leaders only make matters worse by their ideologies that divide. For example, some of our political leaders and preachers boldly state that "Black lives matter." That is a bald-faced lie!!! All of these black people getting killed out here at such an alarming rate yet there is no outcry. When one gets killed by a white policeman then we’re ready to march. The vast majority of all our homicides are black-on-black crimes and it does not seem to matter. We’ve had fifty homicides in Macon with the vast majority being African American. Add that to the countless killings across America with little outcry and you tell me really if “Black lives matter.” Our leaders are really “political pimps” who campaign on issues but deliver on nothing. They are so party-lined and concerned with their own values that they can pontificate about issues and stay in power while never delivering any change. Some stay in power because of their race, yet do very little for their race. Others stay in power because of race and do all they can to keep the power with their race. In all of that what is happening to the human race in Macon Georgia?
This is my view, Rev. Lawrence A. Robinson. I know that I am right!!
