EQUALITY=OPPORTUNITY + EFFORT (it don't just happen)

Equality is not what it's cracked up to be.  As I have become an old person I have formed some very different ideas about some things which I have heard and mostly believed.  One is that we are all equal and therefor should all be treated the same.  Wrong.  We are not equal and even the Bible recognizes as humans there will always be different.

This newly recognized truth was made abundantly clear  as I watched the Sunday news broadcast yesterday.  In the morning the national news reported on a young man graduating High School somewhere in the northern part of the country.  This young, articulate and handsome African American man had been accepted to eight (8) Ivy League Colleges and University's and the University of Alabama.  During his interview he explained why he had chosen to take the opportunity to attend UA instead of the more highly ranked academic institutions.  With a polish that rivaled the most experienced broadcast expert, the young man explained when he had considered all the scholarship and aid ramifications involved and total academic opportunities he had chosen UA..  He reasoned that since he intended to later attend Med School and would need additional money for those years he had decided the University of Alabama was the best for him long term.  What a great feeling I had after this interview.  Smart young man, head firmly on and loaded with ambition and drive to succeed.

On the afternoon news my outlook was somewhat dampened to say the least.  My friend Ed Taylor,  Decatur Police Chief was announcing the arrest of four young men who had in two days caused the worse, the widest and most violent crime spree Decatur has probably ever seen.  Two of the young men were not even out of High School and the others under 20 years of age.  Armed robberies, malicious destruction of property, stealing and even murder was associated with this group.  The bunch had held an entire section of town in fear for nearly 72 hours.

Now my point about equality.  There is not a snow balls chance in Hell the young man going to the University of Alabama is equal to the four arrested.  We may all be born equal in the sight of God but want we do with that life determines whether we gain any equality status with others in our community and world.

Education as a whole and so many other sources has perpetuated this fraud on this nation and it is ruining us today.  We are not all equal.  An individual earns equality by his actions and no other way.  Race is not a factor, the size of your house or make of you car is not a factor, the school you attended nor the size of you bank account has any bearing on whether or not you are equal to anyone.

In reality we humans have a natural instinct telling us those around us deserving of equality.  I know so many personally and many many more by reputation who by banking standards probably would not be considered well off, but who in reality are certainly equal to any man or woman who ever lived.  I know them by every color, religion, political party and alumni association.  The ones who enjoy equality, in a civilized world, are the ones who have followed what I am going to call the Roby Formula to Equality.   I'm sure this has been figured out before but I am not very widely read and I think I will just claim the product of my genius until someone tells me to stop.

The formula is simple, "EQUALITY=OPPORTUNITY + EFFORT.  That's it, simple really but I have thought a lot about it over the last day and I believe it's truth to be universal.

I know some will argue the OPPORTUNITY component is unfair, but for my purpose it makes not a bit of difference.  I'm not saying one has to achieve riches or acclaim, I'm simply saying that to acquire equality with all the good part of the human race you must take the opportunity you have and apply your effort to it and by so doing, take your place a an equal to anyone else.  We will all be different in accomplishments and what we achieve but more important we will all have achieved equality.

Without successfully following this equation it really makes no difference what you achieve, you are not an equal to those who have followed the formula regardless of their place in life.