Comeback Town: Retired Mountain Brook surgeon says indifference must end; time for action

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I was born and raised in Birmingham.

I currently live in Mountain Brook.

Some of you may jump to conclusions about people who live in Mountain Brook.

But I want to make it clear that me and many of my neighbors care about Birmingham, would like to make a difference, but feel powerless.

I have been thinking about two things recently:

1) The mass shootings in 5-Points South and...

We care about Birmingham, of course. But since we are not directly affected, and do not feel at risk, we just pass it off in casual conversation.

But things are changing rapidly, and it is time to re-think our indifference.

It prompted me to wonder if, and how, local citizens could help. Getting the right people involved has resulted in dramatic changes before, witness the restoration of UAB Football and the Woodlawn Dream Center.

Crime in general, and murders in particular have become a regular diet in our great city. Most of us who live outside the city-limits view it as a tragic occurrence, but it is not really on our radar.

That is because we do not (yet) feel directly affected. We feel safe and sound in our little suburb and do not really feel at risk. I am as guilty as anyone else. But we have all walked the streets of the Southside with our wives, children and grandchildren hundreds of times.

When someone asks us where we are from, we say Birmingham, even though only 17% of those in the Metro area truly are. This is not a "Birmingham problem", it is an "all of us problem".

Many may now restrict going into Birmingham. Soon applications to our UAB University and Medical School may be affected. I trained in my profession at UAB from 1966 through 1975. Students, employees, nurses, professors, doctors...all of us felt safe on the streets back then. It has changed now. And I would ask those students/professionals this: do you still feel safe in our streets?

Solutions escape us, but at the very least, we could and should mobilize our thoughts toward thinking about it in a more personal way. The "City", "Our City", cannot do this alone or else they would have solved the problem already.

Getting our citizens more motivated to voice opinions and ideas would be a good starting point. Solutions are tough to find, and there may not be one at all. But rather than giving up, it is time that we express ourselves. We care about greater-Birmingham, not just our small vestibules.

There is nothing to gain, and no progress can be made, by simply blaming someone else (the Mayor or police e.g.), but certain things are more obvious:

Open Carry Law : In Alabama now, a person over 19 can carry a gun without a permit. This impedes the police activity. The visible presence of a gun is no longer a premise of unlawful behavior.

Lack of Prosecutions: There is a growing reluctance to prosecute criminals. Reasons may include prison overcrowding resulting in early release without bail. But criminal activity must be deterred by fear of consequences.

Politics and Emotion of Race: This is both a cultural and criminal problem, but when someone tells us that mass shootings are only a cultural problem, it destroys the motivation for citizens to become involved.

I am a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment and a proud gun owner. But Open-Carry is absurd. Most, if not all, Chiefs of Police agree. Reversing the "Open-Carry" law will be hard, because so many think of it as a 2nd Amendment issue.

Motivating prosecutors to become more active and optimistic about getting the criminals off our streets may be difficult but must happen.

And until we can openly discuss the disparity of crimes by race, progress will be difficult. It is more than simply a "cultural problem". Correcting a cultural issue will take time. Solving a criminal issue should be faster.

We all have viewed Birmingham as "our city" and we must remain attentive and vigilant to the effects that crime is having on all of us.

There are many other factors, of course, that should be addressed. The school system, educating our inner city kids, the poor economics of certain areas, and the continued need for the election of honest brokers to lead us forward. By working together, we can make all of this happen.

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