“With liberty and justice for all” are great and noble words, but really, they are that –  words. Unless we’ve all agreed upon the meaning of these words – or any words, for that matter – they are meaningless. And unless we are willing to act upon these words, based on the agreed-upon meaning, then again, they are useless. Are you confused yet? Good.

Lately, I’ve been confused by the words spewed by Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and even our own president.

A young life was lost, and I agree, it was tragic. If there were any way to fix it, I would be all for it. Jesse and Al say this is a travesty, and that we should march into the city and stop our young black men from being killed. Agreed! We need to stop “people” from being killed.

Let’s work with real numbers here. The FBI reports these simple facts: 94 percent of black people killed in 2012 were killed by other black people. To be fair, 88 percent of white men killed in 2012 were killed by white people. As my friends on the left love to remind me, statistics don’t lie.

Al and Jesse want to march into the cities and hold vigils because that will supposedly make things better. Well, Al and Jesse, you been doing that for 50 years, and nothing has really changed. Your focus is in the wrong places. The inner cities that are ravaged with crime and poverty are the places you need to go.

You have a right to link arms and march down the street. That’s wonderful. But what is it doing for you, and how is it helping your cause?

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did it, and it was the right action for the right time. You need to close your mouth and take action. March into the cities where, as you put it, “our people are being persecuted and killed,” and take a stand. Have a 5,000-person march on Detroit over a few days and push the gangs out, paint some homes, feed some people.

Take action and do something constructive. Your outrage and conversation is all based around Trayvon Martin. But “justice for all” is exactly that. It’s for “all” of the kids in “your” communities who can’t read, can’t get a job, and just can’t seem to get ahead. Most of those in the inner cities are taught in schools by people of the same color, in cities governed by people of the same color. Who is doing more harm to whom?

Justice is for all. You should be just as outraged at those providing a substandard education to “your” people. And you should be outraged at those providing a handout rather than a hand-up.

It’s shocking how disingenuous you are and disappointing that the media allow you to get away with it.

All kids, and all people, deserve to be protected under the law, educated under the law, and treated as humans under the law. How about the young white football player who was beaten to death by a few black boys at school? Why was there no outrage from you or the media?

The white man who was beaten by six black men a year ago in Cincinnati died this week. What was his crime? Being white. And there are another 50-plus stories just like these. However, my issue is not the “black or white” thing. It’s the “people” thing.

All kids, all senior citizens, all people should feel safe and actually be safe walking the streets of this great country. This is not the America of the 1960s.

Even my black friends say, “Stop with the race talk already.” Al and Jesse, if you care about “your” people then go where “your” people are killing “your” people and work with them, because that’s where the majority of the killing is taking place. You need to help stop the hatred and violence, not keep it going.

Justice for all, to people like me, considered white by today’s standards (not so much in the 1970s), means I will work hard to stop the white-supremacy types who hide behind God and ignorance from causing and inflicting pain on those they think don’t belong. Why? Because I believe in justice for all – all colors and all origins.

We have come a long way. Help us to keep moving ahead. Don’t bring us back.

Joe Messina is host of The Real Side (TheRealSide.com), a nationally syndicated talk show that runs on AM-1220 KHTS radio and SCVTV [here]. He is also an elected member of the Hart School Board. His commentary normally publishes Mondays.