Monday, November 30, 2009

Pridgen's Act of Kindness




The Reverend Darius Pridgen invited Brian Milligan and his family to his church yesterday. Milligan is the young white teen beaten by three black teens for no apparent reason except his color. Milligan dates a young black girl. Syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts has even called for the defendants to be charged with a hate crime.

In a great act of kindness, Pridgen and his congregation handed Milligan a check for $600 and gave him a standing ovation. Milligan seems like a good young guy. He just wants the defendants to tell him why they attacked him. He has no memory of the attack. When asked why they attacked Milligan, one of the defendants told detectives, "because we felt like it." I hope this statement gets them the maximum sentence.

I give Pridgen credit for speaking out on controversial issues like this one. Weeks ago, he called on his congregation to help find the attackers. Milligan's father believed this helped in the investigation. Random acts of violence like this should never be tolerated. However, Pridgen deserves credit for trying to make something positive come out of the situation.

Congregation opens its heart to beating victim*

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