Dear Mr. Walter Williams,

In your recent column, Are Guns the Real Problem? you called out the loss of "traditions, customs, and moral values" in American society as the cause for gun violence and the recent tragedy at Newtown.  You lamented the loss of abstinence as a form of sex-education, support for abortions, and the undermining of absolute parental control over their children's lives.  Certainly, shooting school-children is not a traditional value or custom.  However, I want to remind you of some things that are that you seem to have conveniently forgotten.

• Segregation.  This should hit pretty close to home, Mr. Williams, since you have lived through the Civil Rights era.  The idea that people should stick with their own "kind" and that integration would damage the moral fabric of America is a very traditional value and its overturn certainly resulted in increased crime.  After all, homogeneous societies always have a tendency towards having less strife and conflict.  The mixing of different cultures and races is a sure-fire way to increase violence.

• Religious tyranny.  This one comes in many forms, some of which you seem to condone.  Our country was founded on the concept of freedom of religion, but on a smaller scale, religious tyranny has been traditionally valued.  From families that disown or abuse children who stray from their beliefs to pastors that burn the Quran in an attempt to incite violence in the Middle East, the utter dominance of a certain religious belief is definitely a traditional value that lives on, despite going somewhat out of style.  Under this traditional value, a child would be required to seek parental permission for anything (an abortion is out of the question, of course) because parents are the God-given authorities in their children's lives and always act in their best interests.

• Male dominance.  This one is still strongly valued by many.  When Women's Suffrage became a major issue, both men and women feared the destruction of the family.  They feared that women would become over-empowered and no longer need men to instruct them and protect them from evil influences.  They also feared male unemployment as the workforce was flooded with work-greedy women.  Considering the current state of the family, I guess they were right.  Without the arrival of women's rights, I bet we wouldn't have to teach about abortion in our schools at all!

The thing that frustrates me the most about your article is how purposely blind you make yourself to the harm that "traditions, customs, and moral values" did to you, your ancestors, and the people around you.  Certainly, there are societal problems that cause gun violence and some of those societal problems have been caused by shifts in values.  But those shifts in values served a purpose.  If you want to hold the old ways up on a pedestal, you had better be ready to return to segregation, religious intolerance, and women in the kitchen.  Back then, kids could bring their guns to school and not worry about being shot.  Is it worth it?

I think not.

Sincerely, a proud American citizen who believes that good values don't have to be traditional