Response to a letter to the editor
The following is my response to the letter to the editor regarding my column on what causes rioting, looting and murder.
First, I don’t know the individuals that signed the letter. None of them know my view or history on racial justice. Here are some of the efforts I was involved in to end racial discrimination.
When I came to Calhoun First Baptist Church they had a policy of not allowing African-Americans to attend worship services. Atkins Henderson and I led the church to vote to change the policy to welcome all races. Bob Bridges, pastor of First Methodist Church, and I invited Dr. Alginon Perry, pastor of Friendship Baptist Church, to become a member of the Calhoun Ministerial Association (Calhoun Ministerial Association was one of the first integrated in the state). I also invited Dr. Perry to speak to our Brotherhood organization.
My children attended Calhoun Elementary school and one of their best teachers was an African-American lady. When we moved back to Calhoun my wife and I renewed our friendship with her.
When we moved to Moultrie, Georgia, my church had a policy barring AfricanAmericans from attending the worship services. I convinced them to adopt the policy of welcoming all races. When I opened New Foundations Psychological Services in Atlanta, one of my psychologists was an African-American, Dr. Lannie Pryor Brown, assistant professor of psychiatry at Morehouse College of Medicine. When I opened Calhoun Counseling Center, Dr. Brown came with me. She is one of the best psychologists I have had the opportunity to work with.
I assume they attacked me because I didn’t use the term Black Lives Matter. I believe Black lives and the lives of all human beings matter. I purposely left the Black Lives Matter terminology out of the column because the movement has been hijacked by radical, violent criminals.
I want to make it clear the majority of African-Americans demonstrating for social justice are not violent. They are sincere, but they cannot control the looting, burning and murder of the radical, violent element. Dr. Martin Luther King’s demonstrations produced change because they were nonviolent. He set the example protesters need to follow.
The increase of Black on Black killings is both sad and alarming. The recent killing of an 8-year-old girl in Atlanta indicates there are criminals who have no regard for human life. This reveals the problems in our inner cities go beyond racial injustice.
There are moral, socio-economic and educational issues that must be addressed if we are to be “One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all”