
The Tragedy of Baltimore - laurex
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/magazine/baltimore-tragedy-crime.html
======
cromwellian
I grew up in Baltimore City, born in the 70s. Up until the drug war in the
80s, it was a multiracial working class city. I lived near "Pigtown" one of
the poorer areas, but I was never afraid to go out at night.

During the summer months when it was hot and humid, I'd sleep during the day,
and friends and I would sneak out and walk all over the city in the middle of
the night, we were only 11-12 years old.

Yes, we hung out on the stairs of our row houses, and on the corners of the
streets, and played radios loud, but by and large, violence was confined
mostly to bullying. In fact, we had often walked down Pratt street past Martin
Luther King Boulevard with no problem from the people living in the projects.

Things changed after the drug war started in the 80s. I started experiencing
shootings. Kids got shot at my school. I'd hear gunshots all during the night.
I even got caught up in a shootout at one point, which sounded like
firecrackers going off if it wasn't for the sounds of bullets ricocheting off
of the brick houses (thank god old Baltimore rowhouses had real brick facades)

Many of my childhood friends became drug addicts, crack houses sprung up
around my home. One of the friends I knew who I thought would graduate
highschool and college, who was smart and into electronics, ended up as the
neighborhood drug kingpin. Older neighbors and others who could, fled the city
for the suburbs. Homes were boarded out, and soon, it looked like Mad Max. Our
house sprouted bars on the windows.

If it hadn't been for my 300 baud vic-modem and Vic-20/C64, I wouldn't have
gotten off the streets. I mostly survived by vanishing into the online world,
and staying in libraries, and avoiding the streets.

To me, the war against crack cocaine is what leveled Baltimore. Not the drug
itself, if the government had treated it as a public health problem, things
might have turned out better. But the drug war only served to make drugs the
most lucrative, most important part of the local economy, and for the losers
in that economy, the dopamine it provided became an escape from despair.

~~~
yters
It's curious the difference in response to the current "opioid epidemic".
Where is the police crackdown in this case?

~~~
cromwellian
There's a huge differential in the way the criminal justice system handled
black people's drugs (crack), and cocaine (rich man's aspirin). A few rocks of
crack got you an arrest with jail time, repeat 3 times, and a fatherless home
is created with a new felon in the system. But white professionals who did
coke? Slap on the wrist unless they were possessing huge amounts.

I don't think it's a stretch to say that the criminal justice system is biased
against the poor, and exceptionally biased against poor minorities. Since
Baltimore demographics are heavily represented by minorities, it's no surprise
things happening differently there vs Appalachia.

~~~
roenxi
Aren't minorities the majority in Baltimore? I don't know what the difference
is between Baltimore City and whatever is Baltimore in practice, but the
statistics I've seen today [0] suggest that "minorities" are white people.

Honest question - how can the criminal justice system in Baltimore be biased
against 'black people's drugs' as a minority when they are numerically in the
majority? It is an interesting logistical challenge to discriminate against a
60% voting block in a democracy. Is criminal justice enforced by non-city
actors? (I'm not an American)

[0]
planning.baltimorecity.gov/sites/default/files/2a_City%20Profile%20-%203.30.16_0.pdf

~~~
cromwellian
This is playing semantics, when using the term 'minority', we're talking about
within the entire United States. Baltimore doesn't make federal drug laws,
Washington D.C. does.

Police are tasked with enforcing these laws which are HEAVILY biased towards
the kinds of drugs African Americans deal with.

Possession of 28 grams of crack cocaine yields a five-year mandatory minimum
sentence for a first offense; it takes 500 grams of powder cocaine to prompt
the same sentence.

------
patorjk
> She described how bewildering it had been to accompany a friend downtown,
> near the tourist-friendly Inner Harbor, one night a few months earlier. “The
> lighting was so bright. People had scooters. They had bikes. They had babies
> in strollers. And I said: ‘What city is this? This is not Baltimore City.’
> Because if you go up to Martin Luther King Boulevard” — the demarcation
> between downtown and the west side — “we’re all bolted in our homes, we’re
> locked down.” She paused for a moment to deliver her point. “All any of us
> want is equal protection,” she said.

This rings pretty true to me. The past few months I've taken walks around the
Inner Harbor, Fells Point, and Federal Hill in the mornings, and it has never
felt unsafe. When I've ventured into other parts of the city it's like I've
entered a different world. Also, as an aside, you can get a feel for how safe
various areas of the city are by checking out the Baltimore Homicides Map:

[https://homicides.news.baltimoresun.com/](https://homicides.news.baltimoresun.com/)

~~~
twodayslate
Could this be due to the inequalities or demographic differences between the
different neighborhoods?

[https://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-graphic-mapping-
inequalitie...](https://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-graphic-mapping-inequalities-
in-baltimores-neighborhoods-20150504-htmlstory.html)

[http://graphics.wsj.com/baltimore-
demographics/](http://graphics.wsj.com/baltimore-demographics/)

~~~
roenxi
Inequality has to a symptom of something deeper. It is simply unreasonable to
think that my neighbor being 100x as wealthy as me could inspire me to a life
of crime. Inequality is just as much a symptom of health as it is sickness in
the system - everyone is equal if there is no wealth and everybody is eating
dirt.

If "inequality" is a euphemism for social stratification it should be called
as such, or a pithy word found. Not being able to access wealth through hard
work is a huge problem.

------
cmrivers
I live in Baltimore City and have to agree that it's troubled. Another thing
that makes it difficult for the city to thrive is the abysmal schools. Middle
schools and high schools are not assigned by neighborhood, but instead by a
match system. In theory this offers opportunities for children in low-income
neighborhoods that would otherwise have a too-small tax base for their local
schools. In practice, it means nearly all city schools are horrible. "One-
third of Baltimore High Schools in 2016 had zero students proficient in math.
[0]" and "In fourth- and eighth-grade reading, only 13 percent of city
students are considered proficient or advanced. In fourth-grade math, 14
percent were proficient and in eighth-grade math 11 percent met the mark. [1]"

Even living in the nicer, lower-crime neighborhoods isn't enough for families
if the school options are untenable.

[0]
[https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bs-...](https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/readersrespond/bs-
ed-rr-student-test-scores-letter-20180410-story.html)

[1]
[https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/k-12/bs...](https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/k-12/bs-
md-nations-report-card-20180409-story.html)

~~~
throwaway6734
> Middle schools and high schools are not assigned by neighborhood.

Also live in bmore. I think this is only for select top high schools like poly
and is based on middle school grades and standardized test.

Agree tho that schools r shit.

~~~
cmrivers
All city high schools are assigned by choice/match. I think with middle
schools it varies. [https://www.baltimorecityschools.org/high-school-
choice](https://www.baltimorecityschools.org/high-school-choice)

~~~
eitally
FWIW, this is the same as San Francisco:
[https://www.kqed.org/news/11641238/how-the-san-francisco-
sch...](https://www.kqed.org/news/11641238/how-the-san-francisco-school-
lottery-works-and-how-it-doesnt-2)

~~~
wahern
San Francisco uses a lottery for every grade, beginning with pre-K. This
causes intense anxiety among many parents. But San Francisco doesn't struggle
with the same problems as Baltimore, certainly not to the same degree. In the
case of elementary school, other than the chance of not getting the closest
school, the anxiety is largely unwarranted, IMO. I'm not looking forward to
junior or, especially, high school, though. Unless we end up going the
Catholic school route, which is surprisingly cheap--significantly cheaper than
daycare.

Anecdote: A parent from our kid's preschool once told me they had a
conversation with the principal of one of our neighborhood elementary schools
and upon inquiring about the relatively early start time the principal told
him, or at least insinuated, that the start time was designed to dissuade
cross-town parents from selecting the school, effectively gaming the lottery
system to favor neighborhood families.

------
dx87
Another problem with Baltimore is that the crime starts to leak out into the
surrounding counties, so the effective crime rate is actually higher than what
is reported for the city. Public transit was added that travels between
Baltimore and some malls in the surrounding counties, causing areas that
previously had little or no crime to experiencing an increase in break-ins and
a couple of murders. You end up with counties trying to shut down the bus and
train stations because the residents are tired of people from Baltimore riding
out of the city, robbing stores and homes, then hopping back on the train to
get away. It's obviously not everyone using the public transport, but it's
enough that I don't go to the same malls I used to.

~~~
gamblor956
Baltimore must have wonderful public transportation if criminals are able to
use it to make their getaways. In most places you'd need your own car for that
sort of escape...

~~~
web007
I can't speak to murders or other violent crime, but it was called the Loot
Rail because of the prevalence of shoplifting after the line was opened into
the suburbs.

~~~
lenticular
Was this documented statistically, or just something people perceived, along
with an increased presence of dark-skinned people?

~~~
web007
It's documented somewhere, but I can't find it with a few minutes of
searching. It's wildly racist and classist, but almost certainly true if you
ignore "per capita" or other qualifiers.

Higher numbers of people in a location lead to more crimes occurring in that
location, so "crime went up when the rail arrived" is almost a statistical
certainty. It doesn't address the fact that crime may increase by 10% while
the transit population goes up by 50%.

------
slowhand09
I used to like Baltimore. I'd take out-of-town company there. I'd take dates
to the comedy clubs, pubs, eateries. Years later I worked in Baltimore, also
at T. Rowe Price. 4 blocks up from the Inner Harbor, my friend was mugged at
an ATM two times in two weeks. I had friends who starting keeping guns in
their cars. We'd walk to the Harbor during the day. It felt safe then.
Evenings, not so much. The squeegee boyz started harassing you if you stopped
at a traffic light. "Give us money to wash your windows" they demanded. You'd
nod "no" and they'd start anyway. Soon you figured to pay them Not to wash
your windows. If they did wash them, they worse than bad. My friends and I
stopped going to any of the bars or restaurants downtown, venturing out only
in groups. Same with going to Orioles games, only in groups. My one friend is
selling the townhouse he's owned for 25 yrs. He lived elsewhere, kept it
rented, but had to renovate every 2 years when deadbeat tenants were finally
evicted. He figures he lost $95k in lost rent, legal fees, and renovation.
Thats doing the work himself. He figures he should have abandoned it 15yrs
ago. I only go to Baltimore now when absolutely necessary, like a visit to
Hopkins or such. I feel bad for the residents. And I feel bad for the police.
Regarding the extra protection the Inner Harbor and maybe the casino gets, the
taxes they pay are a huge part of what supports the city. One more thing - not
trying to start a political fight. Baltimore has only had 4 Republican mayors
in the last 100 years. Maybe something isn't working ideologically.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mayors_of_Baltimore](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mayors_of_Baltimore)

~~~
vbtemp
> Baltimore has only had 4 Republican mayors in the last 100 years. Maybe
> something isn't working ideologically.

I'll be downvoted to hell for saying this, but what you point out is an
inconvenient truth. Nearly fifty years of blight and desolation, at what point
does the other party get a shot? In places like this the Democrats are just a
crooked patronage network.. both the source of and solution to their
resident's problems...

Look at Maryland in general, they elected possibly the most moderate and
centrist republican in the nation, and is generally respected across the
spectrum. I wonder what would happen if one of these types had a term in the
mayor's office.

I grew up near Baltimore and go through frequently. It's such a shame that
what should be such a historic and interesting is so blighted. There are so
many beautiful 19th-20th architectural gems that could provide it with so much
character and liveliness, not to mention and proud community

~~~
iguy
In many ways this resembles 3rd-world democracy. People vote for "their" party
on the basis of some historical or ethnic division, not on the basis of
policies or results. Voting against it would be seen almost as some kind of
treason.

And nowhere does this work well. What politician who doesn't fear being thrown
out of office by unhappy voters will work hard every day to help them? If the
party is guaranteed the vote, then instead they work every day at their own
personal advancement, either literally in cash, or in their position in the
party hierarchy. (Or at least, the only ones who survive in the system are
those who do this -- same result.)

------
thorwasdfasdf
I watched a documentary about Drug dealers and smugglers operating in
Baltimore. They interviewed one dealer who said, ever since Freddie Grays
incident and the riots, the city has been busy passing laws that make Crime
overall and selling drugs much easier. One of his favorite new laws said that
Police couldn't do undercover sting operations anymore. He said the drug
business is booming.

~~~
crankylinuxuser
Hmm. So would legalization stamp out most of the problems?

If possessing/using drugs weren't a crime, then people would have less to say
"I'm already breaking the law, fuck it"

You'd knock out most organized crime cause you cut their money from them.

If the city was willing to sell at cost (seriously, morphine and oxy isn't
expensive to make at all), it would also destroy that economy, and potentially
free some back in the hands of the people.

And at the bottom, it also looks to me is poverty and suffering, and people
using drugs to buy a short while not thinking about it.

~~~
5166cc9c39fa61
> If the city was willing to sell at cost (seriously, morphine and oxy isn't
> expensive to make at all), it would also destroy that economy, and
> potentially free some back in the hands of the people.

There is a proposal for heroin buyers clubs in British Columbia that has a lot
of support: [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/heroin-
buyer...](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/heroin-buyers-club-
safe-supply-1.5027479)

Legalization not only cuts down crime (from both drug dealers and drug
addicts), it prevents overdose deaths and reduces occurrences of medical
emergencies and hospitalizations. The city can also collect taxes on the
drugs.

~~~
DenisM
This was already tried in Switzerland, with promising results:
[https://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi...](https://psychnews.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.pn.2018.6b15)

Most notably, drug dealers lost financial incentive to hook new users up on
the drug, so no new users anymore.

~~~
NavyNuke
Edit: deleted

~~~
exolymph
I didn't downvote you and I hope that my comment comes across as more similar
to a vuln disclosure than a threat.

Your employer is listed in your HN profile. Assuming that you actually work
for that company, you should be careful making such comments, even if your
intent is completely benign.

When I was a reporter (I'm not anymore) I trawled HN comments for stories. It
is not inconceivable that some Gizmodo-esque rag might write "[Redacted]
Employee Making Racist Comments on Tech Forum" or whatever.

~~~
NavyNuke
Ah, I wasn't trying to be racist in my post. But I see now how that could be
read in a bad way.

~~~
exolymph
I figured, since I'm familiar with some of the stats too. Just be careful out
here on the internet :)

~~~
NavyNuke
I didn't realize police prosecute unfairly and was just looking at the
stats...a friend shared an article on the targeting/prosecution breakdown and
it wasn't favorable for young Blacks in the U.S.

------
peterwwillis
This article makes it out like the riots kick-started a new wave of violence.
But homicides there had been tracking among the highest in the nation (nee the
world) for a decade or more. The article won't give you a deep understanding
of the problems Baltimore has been facing, but it's a good recap if you were
already in the know.

By the way, that whole tangent about whether it should have been called
'unrest' or 'riots' is a false premise. Some of the people were lashing out
against the police and symbols of injustice. And then there was the public
housing old folks home that burnt to the ground. Or the old lady attacked by
an intruder trying to steal a TV. Or the pharmacies that got raided by gangs
to score cheap pills, and the subsequent mini-war after the plunge in black
market prices. Or the firefighters who were pummeled by bricks and concrete
while trying to put out the blazes. Some people were lashing out against a
corrupt system, and some just wanted to burn the city down. When my friends
were getting attacked in their homes and their cars destroyed on the street,
my sympathy for those particular participants evaporated.

But even considering all that, I strongly feel our society has completely
abandoned a vulnerable population, and fed the flames of conflict that arise
when people can barely survive.

------
almost_usual
>Baltimore City and St. Louis are the only cities in the country not part of a
surrounding county and not counties in and of themselves

>This fragmentation results in some stunning inefficiencies that have had a
profoundly negative impact on the quality of life for residents in the St.
Louis region. For example, not only do St. Louis County and City compete
against each other for economic development, so do the 90 different
municipalities. This results in massive corporate subsidies as municipalities
try to outdo each other in order to attract businesses.

[http://www.cphabaltimore.org/2019/03/a-merger-between-
baltim...](http://www.cphabaltimore.org/2019/03/a-merger-between-baltimore-
city-and-county/)

~~~
beamatronic
That’s not exactly true. In Virginia, cities are not “in” a county. Towns
might be, I am not sure.

~~~
i_am_proteus
While this is true, cities in Virginia have governing authority almost
identical to counties. Schools, roads, police, &c.

~~~
CydeWeys
Is this different from Baltimore City though?

~~~
jrochkind1
Yes, and no. In general in the most overview sense, Baltimore City has
governing authority of a county, it is effectively a county jurisdiction.

However, Baltimore City actually has LESS autonomy over a variety of things
than any other of the several cities I have previously lived in (even those
which were in counties) -- the state government in Annapolis controls so many
things that I'm used to being controlled much more at municipal level in other
cities I've lived in. From liquor licenses, to schools, to the police
department, many decisions are made at the state government legislative level.
(The Baltimore City council has pretty much NO authority over the police at
all -- it's all the state government in Annapolis).

I don't think this is necessarily related to Baltimore City being an
independent county-level jurisdiction (although it might be). I think there
are a variety of historical factors, stretching back to colonial times (when
the Maryland colonial elites were in Annapolis, and never intended Baltimore
to be a big city or power center at all, and viewed Baltimore's growth as a
threat to their power), to Civil War times (the majority of Maryland, and
Baltimore, (white of course) elites sympathized with the confederacy, but the
union federal government basically took control of the MD state government --
cause if Maryland went confederacy, DC would be surrounded -- and made sure
that confederate-sympathizing Baltimore had limited autonomy), to more recent
times (white flight, racism and white supremacy, white people don't believe
majority-Black Baltimore can be trusted to run itself).

------
mjfl
"They also gave rise to Martin O’Malley, a city councilman who was elected
mayor on an anti-crime platform in 1999. O’Malley set about implementing what
was then known as the New York model: zero tolerance for open-air drug
markets, data-centric “CompStat” meetings to track crime and hold police
commanders accountable and more resources for law enforcement paired with
tougher discipline for officers who abused their power. By the time O’Malley,
a Democrat, was elected governor of Maryland in 2006, crime rates, including
murders, had fallen across the board"

Geez, for how maligned it is, broken window policing seems to work - causally
so. In this case, put it in and murder rates go down, take it out and murder
rates go up.

~~~
Marazan
How did crime rates move in cities not using broken window theory policing?

~~~
lenticular
It moved downward at a similar rate. It had nothing to do with policing,
broken-window or otherwise.

------
Shivetya
Welcome to the follies of Democratic Party run cities. Where they control
about every end of the process for decades, where the party is completely
beholden to the Public Employee Unions, especially police but don't leave out
educators and fire. When the same unions have rules in the contracts to insure
good members can choose where not to work. where the politicians are only
concerned about ribbon cutting, reelection, and money to their personal
accounts and friends/relatives through PACs and government jobs.

Where looking out for political power of your party and self come before those
who vote for you.

------
galazzah
>>In hindsight, it’s hard to avoid the conclusion that the riot was probably
avoidable — if Batts had had more officers at his disposal, if his officers
had been better trained, if there hadn’t been the seeming overreaction to
Monday’s swirling rumors.

Or... If they didn't murder Freddy Gray.

~~~
leetcrew
that's kinda like saying WWI could have been prevented if archduke ferdinand
had taken a different route downtown. it might not have happened that day, but
the powder keg was already primed and there are a lot of ways to spark it.

~~~
rovolo
Sure, if you're looking at the specific event. But you could consider Freddie
Gray part of a trend. Maybe the keg wouldn't have caught fire if we hadn't
kept putting gunpowder in it?

~~~
leetcrew
I do consider Freddie Gray part of a trend, a trend that's been going on for a
long time in this city. All I'm saying is a keg that's been stuffed full of
powder for decades didn't go off _just_ because they killed one guy.

------
entwife
One helpful survival tactic in Baltimore is, if you are an outsider, make sure
to nod and say Hello to the porch sitters, the older folks sitting outside on
their steps chatting and keeping an eye on things. It gives one a friendly
feeling. And, I've been steered away from trouble several times by friendly
advice from the porch sitters.

------
jameane
I haven't been to Baltimore, but this book, Ghettoside, tells a story about
how the police in Watts and South Central LA, with their hands tied, tried to
balance policing, justice and community engagement. So much similarity to what
is happening in B'more. Good read.
[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/11434259/Ghettosid...](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/11434259/Ghettoside-
exclusive-extract-from-the-devastating-true-story-of-LA-crime-race-and-
intimidation.html)

------
maxxxxx
I lived near Baltimore until 2012. Back then they were on an upward path.
Pretty sad to hear that things have gone down again. It also shows how fragile
improvements are. they can get lost quickly.

------
qpotlpus
This is a remarkably balanced and powerful piece of journalism. Kudos to the
reporter and The NY Times here.

------
mymythisisthis
Something cultural happened in the 1980s, I think across N.America. From my
perspective, Atari and then, Nintendo killed playgrounds. Culture split into
urbran, grunge, and pop.

It was weird generation to be in. The Baby Boomers were all settling into
their careers (mid-career to retirement). Their children all hitting their
teens about the same time 80s/90s. The population was growing older, and
quickly. As the two main groups, Boomers, and Gen X, were both transitioning
to more mature roles; mid-level managers and teens.

The sense of utopia that younger people could feel in the 50s and 60s was
gone. People, as a whole, started to worry about retirement. As people get
older they get more conservative.

As the Boomers left school, the money was cut. The new buildings in the 1950s
had worn out. Their children now entering school now had their music programs
cut, and saw the cracks in the walls.

Everything was just grungy.

~~~
cr4ig_
What happened in the 1980s was the culmination of Baltimore's
deindustrialization. Baltimore had the misfortune of having every single one
of its major job-producing industries decimated by globalization and
consolidation. Manufacturing, steel, automobiles, shipbuilding were all killed
by globalization, containerization basically wiped out port jobs, and
consolidation of the insurance and banking industries wiped out Baltimore's
medium skill white-collar jobs (Baltimore used to be a regional
insurance/banking center). What was left of banking and insurance after
consolidation got wiped out by technology. I know a guy who got laid off
consecutively by three different banks before he finally gave up on the
banking industry in Baltimore.

And therein lies the solution to Baltimore's problems. If you were to somehow
provide 30-50,000 low-skill living-wage jobs and maybe an additional 10-15,000
medium-skill white-collar jobs, you could start to "fix" Baltimore. Because
the net effect of all those people having money to spend plus the halo effect
adding another 10-15,000 jobs (providing new services for all those working
people) would be so massive it would change the city. The problem is really
just that simple -- total lack of economic opportunity for a large fraction of
Baltimore's population who are lacking in skills or education.

Baltimore has "good bones" but intractable economic problems. And the root
problem is, how would you provide those jobs? If I had _that_ answer, I'd run
for emperor of Baltimore.

~~~
mymythisisthis
The only solution I can think of is a long term educational plan. Good edu
spending and strategy is the only stimulus that really pays off.

------
tomohawk
The tragedy of Baltimore is that it has been run by a single party since
forever. O'Malley is an exemplar of the kind of leadership the city has had:

[http://time.com/3841050/the-wires-david-simon-martin-
omalley...](http://time.com/3841050/the-wires-david-simon-martin-omalley-
baltimore-police/)

------
utefan001
Spaces (like wework) has 3 floors here. This area near Ravens Football stadium
is definitely getting better. But it is one of the areas that the city cares
about over other areas unfortunately.

[https://bit.ly/2XRl0fu](https://bit.ly/2XRl0fu) (google maps)

------
jrochkind1
Baltimore is totally routinely unsafe for a great many people who spend time
there.

I think it's important to remember that it's actually LEAST safe for the
people who have LEAST power. Mostly poor Black people, or people in poor Black
neighborhoods. As the article hints at, with people who live in poor Black
neighborhoods saying they are amazed that the tourist/professional inner
harbor is a "normal" place to walk around, while they're scared to go outside
where they live. MOST violence is between people who know each other, often
drug trade related. Those with the least social power have the LEAST ability
to protect themselves from routine violence.

Which isn't to say it's not also unsafe even for the powerful. It's like the
opposite of "trickle down" though. Trickle up. I think sometimes the powerful
can forget that however unsafe they feel, most poor people in poor
neighborhoods in Baltimore (and most poor neighborhoods are Black
neighborhoods) are EVEN LESS SAFE. The powerful can make it an "us and them"
thing, they think they need to defend themselves against the poor and Black,
who are criminals.

In fact, Baltimore has, for years, been run for the comfort and benefit of
people and groups that are already the most powerful. Like probably most
cities in the U.S., but Baltimore has it bad. It sometimes seems like the
comfort and safety of professional mostly white people is the only thing the
city government cares about. (It is a mystery to me why some kind of
accountability to the majority population doesn't seem to be necessary for
electoral victory by politicians).

That's what got us into this, it's not gonna get us out. You can't abandon
most of the city to a post-apocalyptic wasteland and not even think about
them, and not have it effect the powerful too. (Of course even if it didn't,
it would be morally repellent. But it doesn't work that way, chickens come
home to roost). This is why rich people in the third world generally live
behind walls with armed guards and don't go out in 'ordinary' neighborhoods --
Baltimore is a warning of how the whole U.S. will be if we keep going in third
world directions of distribution of wealth and power between the rich who have
it all and the poor who have nothing. Can't we figure out to treat everyone as
humans instead?

I don't think technocratic solutions are going to do it, it's not about who
has the best "anti-violence program", it's about integrating the
disenfranchised into the economy (jobs) and political power structures, so
their neighborhoods aren't like places where society has collapsed Mad Max
style. There's no way you can live in (OR next to) such a neighborhood and be
safe, and there's no way you can recover such a neighborhood with just the
application of an occupying police army, the problem is it's ALREADY a war
zone, it doesn't need more fighters (who in Baltimore are INCREDIBLY corrupt
and untrustworthy too. Seriously Mad Max over here).

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Golfkid2Gadfly
There is a painful but telling postscript to the excellent article about the
tragedy of crime in Baltimore and the ineffectiveness if not obliviousness of
the city's mayor to stop it. Last night, March 11, during the three hours
between 6 and 9 p.m. in Baltimore, four people were shot. This evening, March
12, within 24 hours of these shootings, Baltimore's Mayor, Catherine Pugh, is
hosting a birthday party for herself and asking attendees for $6,000 for her
re-election. What more is there to say!

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YinglingLight
1\. Many of the Freddie Gray protestors were not locals, they were bused in.

2\. Police took a hands-off approach after Freddie Gray, causing a predictable
increase in crime.

~~~
khm
You're full of shit. I was a Freddie Gray protestor and I lived in the city.
There wasn't a single bus from anywhere.

