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| -Land of the Free |
| Baltimore City Hall sit-in follows decades of festering ills |
| 2015-10-16 |
| [BIGSTORY.AP.ORG] Young, black residents of Baltimore hoped a public act of civil disobedience in the heart of local government would force their troubled city to deal with the decades-old problems of police misconduct, housing inequality and systemic disenfranchisement. If everybody in the country was civilly disobedient would that be a good thing? I don't think so. If I'm right--and the results aren't hard to call--then why is this bunch being civilly disobedient an acceptable thing? All they got from their overnight sit-in at City Hall were arrests and trespassing charges. Not even a thump on the head with a nightstick. Many on Thursday said they were frustrated and felt increasingly marginalized and under siege. By whom? By the police? By the city council? How about by their own feral children? "The politicians, they failed us today," said Kwame Rose, a 21-year-old activist who was one of the protest's organizers. Where do you go to get an activist's license? More than 30 activists disrupted a meeting Wednesday night where city officials were recommending the permanent hiring of interim Police Commissioner Kevin Davis. They demanded a voice in the process. Since the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who suffered a critical spinal injury in police custody, the police department and its leaders have taken the brunt of criticism for decades of government failures to address the city's woes. The cops have been walking on eggs since the Freddie incident. The murder rate's shot up something like 33 percent. None of the murders have been by policemen. Davis was appointed interim chief when his predecessor, Anthony Batts, was fired in the wake of violence after Gray's death and a sharp spike in homicides. Six cops thrown to the wolves. The mayor and the city council are on the side of the ferals. What'd they think was gonna happen? Batts was probably overjoyed to get out. Baltimore is a city with roughly 17,000 vacant homes concentrated in its poorest neighborhoods. People are leaving the city in droves because of high taxes and rising crime. That's where the empty houses come from. Better housing becomes available in other, less dangerous, neighborhoods. Its public schools are underfunded and underperforming, and its unemployment rate is far above the national average. Gangsters and drug addicts control many neighborhoods. You can't leave anything on your porch. It'll be gone by morning, swiped by the druggies. Over the years, recreation centers for young people have shuttered and job opportunities for those living in de facto segregated communities have remained scarce. No one "segregates" Baltimore anymore. There are black professionals living where they please. I count seven out of fifteen white faces on the city council. The mayor's black (incompetent, but black). City employees are almost exclusively black. The protesters gathered in the balcony of the council chambers chanted, "All night, all day, we will fight for Freddie Gray!" They refused to leave, insisting Davis meet with them and consent to a list of demands that included reducing the use of armored vehicles and riot gear during protests. They also called on Democratic Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to fire the housing commissioner, whose department was recently sued over allegations maintenance workers routinely sexually abuse women residents of a public housing complex. There are five housing commissioners. Each and every one of them is black. But their main concern was their lack of input in the police chief decision as the department faces a federal probe into allegations of excessive force, and remains at the center of the debate over how poor, black men are treated by the officers and public officials tasked with protecting them. From that point it descended into the usual drivel. Davis tried to defuse the situation. "I'd like to propose this to you, because we can accomplish a lot more at a table where we can all fit," he said. "You have our demands, you let all your supporters speak," someone in the balcony yelled back. "I will be more than happy to meet with your entire group," Davis said. "Now! This is the space where we can talk," someone yelled back. Davis eventually left. Yet even with the protest ongoing, he continued to strike a conciliatory tone, telling The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that civil disobedience was "part of the healing process." More like the ooze from a festering sore. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 "But their main concern was their lack of lack of input in the police cheif decision..." Pathetic. These "young black residents" have no concept of civic process and are so easily swayed by their tribal inclinations. They're constantly told by huckster politicians that the system is rigged. And yet those very same politicians continue to get elected into the very same system. Perpetual civil disobedience only serves one group. And it's not the ones participating in "sit-ins" that recieve the benifits. |
| Posted by: DepotGuy 2015-10-16 12:36 |
| #2 ... decades-old problems of police misconduct, housing inequality and systemic disenfranchisement. Not to mention a self chosen culture that promotes families without fathers, generational welfare as a substitute, and crime as legitimate avocation. Self inflicted wound. None of it will be solved till you look in the mirror and take responsibility for your own acts and choices. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2015-10-16 09:37 |
| #1 They are willing to try every trick in the book except voting for the other party. Shockingly they see very little change. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2015-10-16 09:09 |