Chaos and
Anarchy in Charm City
Commentary
by Sanford D. Horn
April 27,
2015
Charm City
isn’t so charming these days. As of 6:30 this evening the Baltimore Orioles
game against the Chicago White Sox at Camden Yards had been postponed – and not
because of inclement weather – but because of civil unrest not seen in the city
since 1968.
Baltimore is
rife with rioting, looting, destruction of public and private property that has
overflowed from an impoverished portion of the western part of the city to the
downtown tourist-heavy Inner Harbor/Oriole Park area. This includes throwing
rocks, bottles, and bricks at police officers as well as setting patrol cars
ablaze. At least 15 Baltimore police officers have been injured some with
broken bones as a result of the attacks by rioting thugs.
It should be
noted that the three biggest gangs in Baltimore put the police on notice that
they have united for the purposes of “taking out” law enforcement, and the men
and women in blue are taking that threat seriously.
While the
advent of the rioting and violence can be ascribed to the April 19 death of
25-year-old Freddie Gray, possibly at the hands of police – and still under investigation,
there is no excuse for this recalcitrant behavior. Under the guise of supposed peaceful
protesting, the thug-laden crowd had nothing but criminal behavior in mind and
deed.
Police-attributed
deaths of black suspects have been in the news with added attention since the
death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO. The Justice Department ruled police
were not criminally responsible for Brown’s death. Yet, Ferguson, as part of
Baltimore is today, is reminiscent of Watts, Oakland, and Newark of the 1960s.
Gray, who
ran from police, unprovoked, was eventually captured, loaded in a police van,
and placed in custody on April 12. Due to a still under investigation severed
spinal cord, Gray died on April 19. Gray supposedly fled police because of a
history involved with drugs and was in a drug-infested neighborhood at the time
of his encounter with police. The six officers who had Gray in custody have
been suspended with pay.
Due to the
intractable behavior of the thugs burning down their own neighborhoods and
looting a local mall – Mondawmin, numerous businesses closed their doors and
the University of Maryland, Baltimore suspended all campus activities early in
the afternoon. Not only does this criminal activity not solve any of the
problems, it both creates more problems and costs the protesters any sympathy
they may have accrued due to the questionable death of Gray.
Adding fuel
to the fire, the mayor of the city must certainly claim a great portion of the
responsibility for spurring on the miscreants. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake,
who I knew when she was just Rawlings and a member of the City Council (for
which I once ran when I lived there), should either be recalled or impeached
for inciting the spreading riot.
“We also give
those who wished to destroy, space to do that,” said Rawlings-Blake, in
commenting on the activities of protesters and the expected spillover. She
later denied ever saying those words and chastised the media for reporting that
she had. (http://fusion.net/story/126587/the-odd-tactic-of-giving-baltimore-protesters-space-to-destroy-property/)
That has to
be one of the most irresponsible statements a person could make. By not condemning
the rioting and rioters, Rawlings-Blake did more than give tacit approval; she
practically endorsed it with her reckless comments. For this, she needs to be
relieved of her duties. She also needs to be taken to task for not instituting
a curfew immediately instead of one to commence tomorrow night, Tuesday, April 28.
The
postponement of the Orioles-White Sox game is not just a disappointment to
fans, but costly, to the tune of several million dollars lost in revenue for
street vendors outside the stadium, the vendors inside Camden Yards, the
surrounding restaurants and bars, as well as local hoteliers who count on
post-game check-ins, and the numerous people who rely upon tips for a large portion
of their incomes.
I lived in
Baltimore at one time, and there are some marvelous parts of the city – the Inner
Harbor, Fells Point, Charles Street, and Lexington Market are perhaps most
notable, and there are also some parts of the city that make hell resemble the
Garden of Eden. The empty, dilapidated so-called housing units and storefronts
should be razed and the gang members jailed.
Taxpayer
money should not be used to rebuild these neighborhoods and rental units should
not be erected. The residents should rebuild and police their own neighborhoods
with enterprise zones as envisioned by the late Jack Kemp, Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development under Ronald Reagan.
Kemp, also a
former Congressman and Buffalo Bills quarterback, believed that ownership was
the key to success. People take pride in owning their home, car, business, etc.
People historically do not take appropriate care of rental property and
enterprise zones are designed to give people opportunities with the
responsibility of turning those opportunities into success with as little
government involvement as possible.
As for the
burned out businesses, local or national chains such as the CVS, they should
not be rebuilt in these neighborhoods. Locals have destroyed their own
neighborhoods and must suffer the consequences. Why would any business want to
invest in such a neighborhood? Police have backed away from the immediate
action perhaps for their own safety, perhaps under orders.
A member of
the Baltimore City Council claims a lack of opportunities and racism is why the
tumult has occurred. Where’s the racism in a city run by a black mayor, a black
city council president, a majority black city council, and a black police chief
with a minority majority police force? The reality is, opportunities are not
created when people burn down their own neighborhoods and rob their own stores.
Opportunities are not created when students choose to shun the education given
to them in schools by dedicated teachers. I know; I taught in the Baltimore
Public Schools at one time. Ironically, the Baltimore public schools will be
closed tomorrow, Tuesday, April 28 – yet one more day when the education of the
city’s children is surrendered to violence and thugery.
Poor
leadership by those in charge of Baltimore and a paucity of education of the
young people in Baltimore lead to an unhealthy future for Charm City. The
firestorm in this city was easily predicted, but begs the question of why do
such riots and destruction of property and criminal activity keep occurring in
majority black locales? Where are the role models outside of gangs and the rap
music industry? More Clarence Thomases and Ben Carsons are needed. More Alveda
Kings and Deneen Borellis are needed. More Allen Wests and Tim Scotts are
needed. Don't know who they are? Look them up.
These
malevolent thugs are simply committing acts of mayhem for mayhem’s purpose.
Until law and order is restored; until discipline is instituted in the homes
and the schools; until animalistic behavior is reined in, Baltimore will cease
to be Charm City and sadly be dubbed Harm City. It’s time for serious change
and it starts in the homes, churches, schools, and grass roots neighborhoods
where youths, adults, and law enforcement can dialogue peacefully.
Sanford D. Horn is a writer and
educator living in Westfield, IN. In the late 1990s he lived in Baltimore,
taught in the Baltimore City Public Schools, and ran for the City Council –
unsuccessfully.
