To the Editor:

A man was shot recently. A man working on his job while some useless, blood sucking being (I won’t even call him human) goes on his merry way with some paltry sum of money.

What is a man’s life worth? This has saddened me more than anything I’ve heard lately. I could not sleep, so I’m writing this. I’m an outsider in Selma, but this is how I see it.

Selma, wake up and smell the coffee. Don’t let them tell you crime isn’t rampant. That’s for the census takers. Useless, worthless pieces of humanity are robbing and terrorizing people every night. This is their “job.” Sleep all day, commit crime all night.

At this very moment, I would be willing to bet Martin Luther King is rolling in his grave.

What an honorable man, a man to emulate, a man willing to give up his life for freedom, equality and a better life.

Selma, shame on you for letting things get the way they are!

The very person we should look up to, Martin Luther King, would be so very ashamed of this state of affairs. The ones I am talking about know who you are. The hard working citizens of Selma are ashamed of you, too!

Whatever happened to working hard and raising your children properly and not raising another generation of deadbeats that don’t give anything back to humanity?

Did Selma just quit? Did everybody just run off someplace else and give up? People need to get involved and get to work saving this beautiful city.

Bring it back to the glory of MLK’s day. All you thugs need to copycat MLK, a decent family man who had the morals and a vision for humanity. Don’t copy some gangsta rapper. What legacy will they leave?

Be decent, turn over a new leaf. Think of others. Don’t be a Me person. Get a job!

Believe me, if you have the desire to work, you can find a job. I did. So can you. Children need role models – be one.

Everybody in Selma has a duty to Martin Luther King and all of the others who stood up in 1965 and said, “Hey everybody, take a listen to this!”

Selma, above all other cities, should be a role model for us all, African Americans and whites alike. This gimme, gimme, gimme attitude has to stop.

I don’t know how this whole situation could be solved. I wish I knew. I suppose it starts with people getting together and using their voices. Help people get off welfare. Government child care would be a godsend. Then mothers that can’t work now would be able to. Maybe a “weaning” off of welfare would help. Don’t take it away immediately.

Keep helping them until they get on their feet and can stand alone. Instead of social workers, they need financial advisors that teach them to become self-sufficient.

Self-sufficiency equals self-worth. Pull-up-your-boot-straps-attitude.

That equals a solid family and a “can do attitude.”

I don’t know the answer, I wish I did. I do know that Selma is a beautiful, historical city. Don’t let it turn into something else. I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired of this sad state of affairs.

I am an outsider here, but I would love to see Selma do a turn-around before it’s too late.

Marie Dooling