Baltimore: Charmless City

Baltimore, Maryland Skyline from the Inner Harbor (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Here's where we stand from the latest American city to burst into flames, caused by a young African-American male who paid the price for messing with a police officer who allegedly did something stupid.  This time, it was Baltimore, Maryland.

(1)  Six police officers are charged in connection with the death of Freddie Grey, who after being arrested, had died of spinal injuries while in custody.

(2)  Since the incident, protests in Baltimore and elsewhere had been relatively peaceful until they turned violent last week.  Hundreds of demonstrators were arrested, some businesses were destroyed and/or looted.  A 10 p.m.-5 a.m. curfew was imposed on the city, and a state of emergency was declared by Maryland Governor Larry Hogan, allowing National Guard troops to patrol the streets.

You could compare all of this to what happened in Ferguson, Missouri a few months ago, but the issues are slightly different here.  Baltimore has had a history of racial violence, stemming from the apparent lack of opportunities that has caused hopelessness and frustration among African-American residents.  (Heck, that happens in every city.)  Yet who's running the show?  African-Americans from Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake on down.  How could they not have seen this happening?

(3) There is a widely-viewed video of an African-American mother forcefully hitting her teenaged son for attempting to participate in one of the demonstrations.  Most everyone applauded the mother, because they seemed to think that's the way parents should react if their kids were caught doing something like this.

Uh, let's see.  Ray Rice and Floyd Mayweather have been accused of beating up their significant others.  Adrian Peterson has been accused of using a switch on one of his sons.  So let's not make this woman Parent of the Year, OK?

(4)  The Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago White Sox, because of the unrest, played a baseball game at Camden Yards that was closed to spectators.  Elsewhere in the city, tourism is down and some conventions were canceled.

Considering the other times of crisis in American history (World War II and 9/11/01 come to mind), you wonder why nobody else had ever thought of teams playing in empty stadiums before.  While we agree that playing games sometimes has to take a back seat to real life, there's no need to be heavy-handed and patronizing about it.  So what's going to happen to the Preakness Stakes?  An empty Pimlico race track, anyone?

As for skipping Fort McHenry or any eatery that serves crab cakes, seeing images on TV of violence on the city streets tends to change one's travel plans, don't you think? 

(5)  After the charges against the six police officers were announced, the tone of the demonstrations changed to mostly peaceful and positive.  Because of that, the city of Baltimore has dropped its overnight curfew.

Ah, but what will happen when the trial begins?  If recent history is any guide, most (if not all) of those officers will be exonerated due to lack of evidence and laws that favor them and not the victim.  Then Baltimore will be on edge again.

The cycle continues.  Who's the next city to buckle under the weight of police mistakes and lack of opportunities for its citizens?