Paying a heavy price

I, as a black man, am spiritually and emotionally angry and tired of seeing criminal acts such what happened to Ahmaud Arbery (a young black man who was fatally shot while jogging in a Brunswick, Ga., neighborhood) occur against people of color, specifically against black people. As a child of the ’70s I saw moments and acts such as these occur regularly in the long-reaching shadows of the racist madness of the ’50s and ’60s. My generation argued and protested and fought for recognition and equality, with some paying a heavy price.

But I never dreamed this racist madness would carry until our present day. And today, I cry out and ask God, “When will this end?”

As I have three adult sons (and four adult daughters) and growing grandsons and granddaughters who are living in days such as these, I have a true fear that the madness and sin of racism could one day snap its ugly head toward them.

I am a Bible-believing, God-fearing man of God who just so happens to also be black, and I can only trust that a righteous and holy God will work through our justice system to bring justice to the family of this black man in Georgia, and to all of us who live in a society that has not yet come to understand—or care to understand— that because one’s skin is black (from lighter shades to darker shades) this does not mean he or she is a criminal or lesser human being.

I am tired, tired, tired. And I still cry out to him, “When will this end?” Justice for Ahmaud Arbery!

CLYDE HUGHLEY

Hot Springs