Fifty years ago, St. Catherine Street was the scene of an amazing point in America’s history — the civil rights movement.

National Guardsmen patrolled St. Catherine Street with rifles at the ready to protect Natchez’s black citizens who were protesting a world that treated them unfairly.

Sadly, 50 years after those brave men and women stood up for what was right, what was American and what had been held out of their reach for years, guns again rule on St. Catherine Street and other parts of Natchez.

Another Natchez resident was gunned down this week in an increasingly familiar storyline. Shots ring out and a young man from Natchez — most often black — falls dead.

This is not the American life folks such as Wharlest Jackson, George West and countless others fought to enjoy.

Sadly, it’s become the reality in parts of Natchez, where the value of human life can be counted in the minor cost of the shell cases hitting the pavement.

We’re deeply saddened by the continuing violence and urge the new mayor, board of aldermen and all of the local law enforcement to immediately put their heads together to find solutions to this problem.

Clearly, what we’re doing now isn’t working. The great civil rights leaders of the past generation would cringe to learn how little the youth of today appreciate the sacrifices of their forefathers.