Baltimore is a tale of cities in the US

By Darryl Wellington

Tribune News Service

America cannot move forward without analyzing the meaning of what happened in Baltimore recently.

It was not irrational fear that gripped the city. It was a logical response to the irrationality of the events leading to Freddie Gray’s demise, beginning with his bizarre arrest for “avoiding eye contact.” Since 2011, Baltimore has settled more than 100 lawsuits involving unjustified police assaults, false imprisonment and arrests, costing the city and its taxpayers millions of dollars.

Misbehavior by police is yet another sore in a place already afflicted by unemployment, crime, disenfranchisement and reduced educational opportunities. The protests reflect the feeling that in Baltimore there is little justice for poor blacks. Like Ferguson, Mo., Baltimore shows the consequences of social neglect.

Many white residents abandoned the city between 1970 and 2000. Redlining and segregation in the early part of the 20th century, and white flight in the latter half, drastically reduced Baltimore’s tax base. Just as with Detroit, Baltimore has been devastated by the loss of manufacturing jobs.

Today, Baltimore is more than 60 percent black. For young black men in Baltimore between the ages of 20 and 24, the unemployment rates is an astonishingly high 37 percent. It’s a picture of economic despair.

There’s a lack of educational opportunity, worsened by the number of disadvantaged households. Approximately 35 percent of Baltimore’s children live below the poverty line, while 84 percent of the students in its public schools are eligible for free or reduced lunch.

King’s sentiment

The regrettable rioting in the city should be seen in the light of Martin Luther King’s sentiment: “Urban riots must now be recognized as durable social phenomena. They may be deplored, but they are there and should be understood.” King called riots “a distorted form of social protest” and “the language of the unheard.”

The message of Baltimore is that it is America’s responsibility to listen and take action. We must prioritize equal economic and educational opportunity and end police misconduct.

Wellington is a poet and journalist living in Santa Fe, N.M. He wrote this for Progressive Media Project; it is affiliated with The Progressive magazine.