The Roughton Report

    I know that the tone of the title of this article may elicit some real controversy. I certainly do not want the make myself seem like an racist, which I am not. However, I do want to express my opinions on this sensitive subject.

    I have many close friends that are African Americans. They are polite and courteous and conscious of the feelings and beliefs of others. They do not seek to offend others. They work and provide for their families. They make a significant contributions to their community. They are law-abiding, productive members of society. However, this is not the case with a majority of black people in my community.

    When I moved into my community, some 27 years ago, it was a quiet, peaceful and active place to live. It was full of people from a very diverse cultural base. People here cared about their community, their property, their neighborhood and their neighbors.

    Approximately ten years ago, a new trend began to form. The people and community that I had come to love and respect was slowly moving away. In their place, new people began to arrive that did not share our since of community. They cared not for others, nor, it seems, did they have pride in themselves. They had no respect for the law, the property of others or even the privacy and comfort of anyone but themselves.

    They had a culture all their own. No outsiders were welcomed nor did they care that others did not want to have the peace of their homes invaded by their disregard for anything other than what they wanted. They speak disrespectfully to one another and to anyone that they come in contact with.

    Why is this? What has given these people the attitudes that prevail among them? I have some theories about that.

    Many decades ago, this country and its people held the black man in low esteem. We treated them badly and denied them the basic human rights granted to all men under the constitution. Once these deficiencies were addressed and the black race was given equality, the majority of them began to live with the pride and dignity they should always have had. But, there were a few that would not accept what was granted to them and move on to become an integral part of the society around them. These few were bitter and felt that because of the way their ancestors were treated, they were owed reparations that would end their need to earn their way in society. They felt that their people had served others long enough and that others should now serve them instead.

    Now, I don’t know about you but, I and everyone I have ever known have contributed to getting everything that we enjoy in life. None of us have just sat back and had everything in life handed to us. We have always had rules that ensured we would not encroach on the freedoms of others. If we did not obey these rules, we were punished and lost what we had worked for. We respected others and, in return, expected others to respect us.

    These malcontents have stirred up, among the laziest in the black community, this feeling of entitlement. The feeling that the rules don’t apply to them. That they can do whatever they want even if it encroaches on the rights of others. The idea that if they want something, they can take it.

    Beyond this, what can we do to regain some semblance of order? I don’t see much that we can do other than demand that the government stop enabling these people. Stop the programs that give them money when they don’t want to work. Stop giving them homes to live in unless they are willing to work to maintain them. Stop allowing them to run rampant in the streets with their blatant disregard for the rights of others. Enforce the laws of this land regardless of the race or the culture of these people. If they don’t want to be a part of this land of laws then we should invite them to leave or to suffer the consequences of their actions. Murderers should be killed, not housed or released. Crime will not stop if the consequences do not fit the crime.

    There is something to be said for the biblical justice system. If you stole, you lost the hand you stole with. If you murdered, you were killed. If you cheated others, you worked to repay them, with interest. If you disregarded the rights of others, you were banished. At least the punishment fit the crime. There was a simpler way to convict them also. If there were two or more witnesses to your crime that were of good reputation, you were guilty. If one man accused another without proof positive that the accused was guilty, he was exonerated and freed with no stigma attached. Simple? Yes, but effective.

    Some of you may be asking yourselves, “What has caused this man to write this article?” Well, the straw that broke the camel back was this:

    The State of Florida has a law that states that if a vehicle is using an amplified sound system (ie a radio) that can be heard more than 20 feet from the vehicle then the vehicle is in violation of the law. I understand that there are young men that want to play their music so that they and their friends can hear it standing outside their vehicle. I have no problem with that in moderation. I do have a problem when the people in question blast the stereo so loud that I can clearly hear it INSIDE my living room when the car is over 100 feet away from my home. I approached the vehicle and asked the occupant if he could lower the volume so that I would not have to hear it over my TV in my home. I was cursed and threatened. When I made a complaint to the Sheriff’s department, the officer did nothing but have them turn it down long enough for him to clear the area. No citation was issued and no penalty paid. To top it all off, the radio was turned right back to max volume as soon as the officer left.

    It is this attitude of no respect for others that has prompted my writing this opinion. If this offends you, I am truly sorry. That is not my intention. I merely wish to state my opinion as is guaranteed under the constitution. Truly, I wish that there was something other than moving that I could do to get the word out to these people that giving common courtesy and respect gets the same in return.