Pubdate: Tue, 06 Jan 2004 Source: Ledger-Enquirer (GA) Copyright: 2004 Ledger-Enquirer Contact: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/mld/enquirer/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/237 Author: Kaffie Sledge NEED TO RELEASE PRESSURE Some readers have called me on the carpet for the line in the Dec. 23 column about the "Crying Out Together to Become One Rally" at the Government Center Dec. 22. I wrote, "There also needs to be talk of justice, a topic not mentioned Monday." The rally was the third in a series of rallies that took place after the death of Kenneth B. Walker, an unarmed man who was fatally shot by a Muscogee County sheriff's deputy after authorities said Walker failed to comply with commands to show his hands. Walker and three other men were in a gray GMC Yukon when it was stopped the night of Dec. 10 as part of a drug investigation. Those readers are correct -- justice was mentioned. What I might have more accurately said was that it wasn't discussed in any detail. Even though justice might have been the reason for the rally, people like me came away feeling as though a lot of tip-toeing had been done on that occasion. My statement was more critique than finger-pointing. Given the circumstances, I think many people may be doing the best they know how. But experience teaches us that a giver's best is not always good enough for the intended receiver. A person who is really hurting may feel that people don't care enough about what is hurting them, or even understand why they are hurting. At the same time, people may be doing their best to show support and concern. So I am again suggesting that we need to have a town grief session. We need to come together on the steps of the Government Center and spill our guts on this matter. Emotions are like air in a balloon -- if held in on one side, the other side gets out of proportion. And just as with a balloon, it is not more pressure, but the release of pressure, that gets things back into shape. The pressure is still on the entire community. In fact, the pressure seems likely to continue to build as everyone waits for the investigations to be completed and the findings released. Meanwhile, people can blame too much media coverage and outside interference from Al Sharpton on what might take place if... the findings aren't right... or people take matters into their own hands. If all is well in our community, there is nothing an outsider can "stir up." We would never, for instance, accuse an auditor of stirring things up at a bank. If there are issues that need to be addressed, we need to address them -- not try to keep anyone from discovering them. Sometimes people think keeping "stuff" in is the best way to keep things under control. But that approach can have the same result as trying to keep water from rushing out of a hose. The water invariably finds -- or makes -- a way out. The way for Columbus to get past the Walker shooting is to invite all to look and see. The city has not recovered from the black eye it received by default. The country came looking and pointing fingers when the Taylor County "white" prom came to town. The community can't afford to think people aren't waiting and watching and remembering. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom