End prejudice in law enforcement, yes, don't bury problems of socio-economic conditions leading to crime with better policing, yes, hold people accountable, yes.
End broken windows policing, no.
Here in New York City, City Council Speaker Mark-Viverito aims to end "broken windows" policing, since over 20 years of declining crime levels to record breaking lows proves it doesn't work .
I realize the more controversial and legally dubious stop and frisk policy was cut 75% last year without affecting crime rates due to legal action and court rulings, despite objections and warnings from the previous administration.
The difference is cutting needless stop and frisk is a good thing, whereas measures that directly affect enforcement against actual offenses are bad. The offenses include public urination, being in a park after dark, littering and unreasonable noise, subway fare beating.
Here is the Times biased reporting on the matter, heavily favoring the measure:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/28/nyregion/summonses-for-minor-crimes-ke...
Judge Lippman and Mayor de Blasio may think we don't have enough public urination and noise in the city, but that's not what I voted for.
End broken windows policing, no.
Here in New York City, City Council Speaker Mark-Viverito aims to end "broken windows" policing, since over 20 years of declining crime levels to record breaking lows proves it doesn't work .
I realize the more controversial and legally dubious stop and frisk policy was cut 75% last year without affecting crime rates due to legal action and court rulings, despite objections and warnings from the previous administration.
The difference is cutting needless stop and frisk is a good thing, whereas measures that directly affect enforcement against actual offenses are bad. The offenses include public urination, being in a park after dark, littering and unreasonable noise, subway fare beating.
Here is the Times biased reporting on the matter, heavily favoring the measure:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/28/nyregion/summonses-for-minor-crimes-ke...
Judge Lippman and Mayor de Blasio may think we don't have enough public urination and noise in the city, but that's not what I voted for.
1
Excellent as usual Mr. Kristof. I cited many of your earlier, related pieces here, https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ferguson-intifada-why-african-americans-a... , when I compared the Israeli structural oppression faced by Palestinians to what African Americans deal with in structural oppression in the U.S. You might just be the best white voice out there challenging self-satisfied white America to take responsibility here!! Could not agree more. Also, I am a big fan of Bill Maher but when you were on his show you were the only person who was 100% right on Islam...
To paraphrase "Violence is the language of the voiceless."
There is no other way to get the attention of the powers that be or what we used to call the ruling class. I'm not condoning violence, but it seems the only way the press will comment on a peaceful march is when it is in contrast to a violent one.
For a few years I lived in West Harlem where I was one of few whites, and at the time I was just as angry as my neighbors. We lived in a 27 story building that had one janitor to keep the whole building and its grounds clean. You know it wasn't because there's no way it could have been. People were demeaned by the authorities daily in many little ways. I can only say to all you self-righteous people condemning Baltimore residents that until you have lived in someone else's shoes, shut up.
There is no other way to get the attention of the powers that be or what we used to call the ruling class. I'm not condoning violence, but it seems the only way the press will comment on a peaceful march is when it is in contrast to a violent one.
For a few years I lived in West Harlem where I was one of few whites, and at the time I was just as angry as my neighbors. We lived in a 27 story building that had one janitor to keep the whole building and its grounds clean. You know it wasn't because there's no way it could have been. People were demeaned by the authorities daily in many little ways. I can only say to all you self-righteous people condemning Baltimore residents that until you have lived in someone else's shoes, shut up.
4
David Simon had penned articles about his city. You need to take some notes and remember what journalism is like.
Why aren't you on the ground figuring out the whys and whats?
Why aren't you on the ground figuring out the whys and whats?
3
i agree with Nick that: "The Real crisis isn't one night of young men in the street rioting". i think the real crisis is the total and utter failure of the American capitalist system. i would also posit that unless this becomes a conversation about the systemic failure of that capitalistic system and its tragic effects, these riots are just the tip of an iceberg that will sink the democratic experiment upon which the United States embarked upon so many years ago. i suggest we Americans put a lid on our hubris and look deep into the compassion and empathy in our souls before it is too late.
And it may serve the oligarchs well to realize that at some point the the guardians of their expansive property will come to understand that they to are merely a tool of the above mentioned oligarchs.
And it may serve the oligarchs well to realize that at some point the the guardians of their expansive property will come to understand that they to are merely a tool of the above mentioned oligarchs.
11
Some white people are not doing all that well, either. As long as there are neighborhoods without jobs or hope or role models, people and families will tend to be in trouble. Some will be white and some will be black. The percentage of whites and blacks who are doing poorly may be different, but this fact, however important, should not be at the center of policy.
6
You surface the critical intersection of race and class. Both, and the intersectional impacts, must be understood.
4
Nope, we don't need a "truth and reconciliation commission." What we need is to kick out the "thug" politicians - black and white - who keep our urban centers mired in dysfunction.
Why isn't anyone taking a closer look at Stephanie-Rawlings Blake? She vetoed body camera legislation on a baseless process issue that makes no sense, and over the past 3 years her police department has had to pay out nearly $6 million in damages to people who've been abused by their own public servants. And among people and blogs who cover such things, she typically tops the list of "America's Worst Mayors."
When people finally get so upset with her abysmal, incompetent, corrupt and criminal leadership that they snap, she responds by calling them the "thugs."
Meanwhile, the media and her fellow politicians look the other way and blame anyone but her, and suggest everything but a call for voters to turn her out of office. Why is that? Is it because she speaks well, dresses nice, and looks good? Are people afraid of calling out a future governor or senator?
This should be a no-brainer for citizens on both the economic top and bottom, and across the political spectrum from the left to the right. We can't afford incompetent, career grifters like Rawlings-Blake. And when people like Kristoff, Blow, Dyson, Clinton, O'Malley, etc - start to wax eloquent about poverty and opportunity, we need to shut it down. The answer is simple. Thug mayors don't work. Fixing this problem is easy.
Why isn't anyone taking a closer look at Stephanie-Rawlings Blake? She vetoed body camera legislation on a baseless process issue that makes no sense, and over the past 3 years her police department has had to pay out nearly $6 million in damages to people who've been abused by their own public servants. And among people and blogs who cover such things, she typically tops the list of "America's Worst Mayors."
When people finally get so upset with her abysmal, incompetent, corrupt and criminal leadership that they snap, she responds by calling them the "thugs."
Meanwhile, the media and her fellow politicians look the other way and blame anyone but her, and suggest everything but a call for voters to turn her out of office. Why is that? Is it because she speaks well, dresses nice, and looks good? Are people afraid of calling out a future governor or senator?
This should be a no-brainer for citizens on both the economic top and bottom, and across the political spectrum from the left to the right. We can't afford incompetent, career grifters like Rawlings-Blake. And when people like Kristoff, Blow, Dyson, Clinton, O'Malley, etc - start to wax eloquent about poverty and opportunity, we need to shut it down. The answer is simple. Thug mayors don't work. Fixing this problem is easy.
13
We need to look realistically at what our country has become. We just have too many unemployed people that will never become employable in their lifetime. Ther are any reasons for this but the main culprit is outsourcing to other countries. One of the worst actions President Nixon ever took was to open up Red China to the community of nations. Not that the Chinese people are not deserving of a good life but rather that they represent such a great threat to our old way of life just because of their sheer numbers.
A great irony in this recognition to this most populated communist country was the appointment of one of our most well known labor leaders, Leonard Woodcock as Ambassador to China. He oversaw the beginnings of the outsourcing of our manufacturing base to China. Of course. He was not the cause of this outsourcing but what a symbol for the loss to our labor force.
It seems there will be no reversal of this outsourcing for many years, if ever. At 83 years of age, I will not live to see the outcome of all this for us but I fear for our Country.
A great irony in this recognition to this most populated communist country was the appointment of one of our most well known labor leaders, Leonard Woodcock as Ambassador to China. He oversaw the beginnings of the outsourcing of our manufacturing base to China. Of course. He was not the cause of this outsourcing but what a symbol for the loss to our labor force.
It seems there will be no reversal of this outsourcing for many years, if ever. At 83 years of age, I will not live to see the outcome of all this for us but I fear for our Country.
9
I was riding the 4 train downtown a few months ago. I was fortunate enough to get a seat. A black lady pushing a stroller got on the train and stood next to me, she looked tired. I quietly offered her my seat. She said yes so I got up and she sat down. Suddenly I felt all eyes on me, and at least four black men were openly staring at me with what appeared to be astonishment. I felt really sad. I am a white woman with a five year old daughter. Little moments like this make me realize how much things still need to change.
21
I think Baltimore is the canary in the coal mine...lost opportunities are deepening across America. And our politicians are completely disconnected to working Americans including our President who has shown his allegiance to multinationals with pushing TPP. I read recently where Disney flew in H-B Visas and told their American workers they were laid off and before they left they had to train the H-1B Visas replacements, this is now commonplace here in America. Why is this legal ? TPP would accelerate this and if the politicians profess otherwise...they're lying. These nefarious trade agreements have further disenfranchised neighborhoods like in Baltimore. Manufacturing was a main employer for many in those Baltimore neighborhoods and guess what...outsourced, thank you Nafta. Other countries understand and protect their manufacturing to have a healthy and stable economy for their citizens. The only protection in America is one way street and it's our politicians protecting the multinationals. Multinationals have no loyalty to our country or any country. Our politician's loyality today is completely with the multinationals and their lobbyists. We need jobs for the people in Baltimore and a country who cares about its citizens. People with nothing to lose spiral downwards and out of control .... a canary in a coal mine, America.
8
Mr. Kristof's measured article resonates. Everyone is so preoccupied with their own hectic lives that they don't take the time to consider the long term consequences of chronic neglect of infrastructure, particularly in black neighborhoods.
Of course Draconian cuts to education and health care (including mental health care) by Republicans worsen an already bleak landscape for blacks. Add to that the rigid, right wing tendencies of many police officers who are not adequately screened or trained, to strike out agains the underprivileged, and you have the recipe for disaster.
Of course Draconian cuts to education and health care (including mental health care) by Republicans worsen an already bleak landscape for blacks. Add to that the rigid, right wing tendencies of many police officers who are not adequately screened or trained, to strike out agains the underprivileged, and you have the recipe for disaster.
6
Liberals like Kristof don't believe in individuals, only in groups. For liberals the world is nothing but census data. With this interpretation of society in place, they can then speak in place of the groups of people that they deny have any real choice or ability to determine their own destiny. It is Kristof's mission in life to travel the world speaking for others. To urge people to seize control of their own lives would be a tragic acceptance of an unjust world! The world must first be rectified! To suggest that a single person could improve his own life through staying in school, staying away from drugs, getting in college and finding a career--well, that's "blaming the victim." Charles Blow, for instance, has ruled out such discussions. The saddest consequence of this is that in supposedly speaking on behalf of those who have little hope in life or no voice, liberals are basically saying. I'll speak for you. Sit tight. Help is on the way. Justice, fairness, and a good life are in the hands of others. If you keep asking, someday they'll give it to you.
9
When you have been raised with the legacy of no appreciable legal rights, no economic opportunity, dreadful schooling, desperately poor housing, substandard food, and on top of all that poverty, being targeted by law-enforcement, then you come back and talk about how you're self improving.
None of us are an island unto ourselves; we are raised in context, and that context is our social setting. Racism, poverty, and being under assault by those who are supposed to protect you would lead any of us to revolution.
None of us are an island unto ourselves; we are raised in context, and that context is our social setting. Racism, poverty, and being under assault by those who are supposed to protect you would lead any of us to revolution.
19
Yes, racist cops exist, and justice is not always blind. But white racism has not caused these devastating statistics: 70% of African-american children are born to young, poor and single mothers, with no intact and stable family structure to support them economically, emotionally, and thus foster cognitive development for school success. These children, in turn, will perpetuate the cycle. This is a major contributing factor to income inequality. We have had over two generations of affirmative action, racial preferences, and poured money into the school system. But the problem will persist unless the cycle of out-of wedlock births decreases. No one prevents minorities from going to school every day, paying attention to the teaher, doing homework and studying for the test. It is not the schools that are failing the kids. It is the "parents" who fail the kids by not prioritizing the educational opportunities that schools have to offer. No one is forcing young teenage women to get pregnant and bring babies into the world that they have no means of supporting and are utterly incapable of raising.
17
Nick, i am an old man of 75, and i remember working in Lyndon Johnson's anti proverty program in the mid 60s, specifically the Job Corps, where urban youth of all colors, cultures and creeds were offered the opportunity to learn an employable skill in urban and rural camps devoted to that purpose. It was a marvelous response to the terrible race riots of those years, and I'm sure it is still paying dividends. I believe we need a much more vigorous program like the Job Corps now, a program that will address the problems of inadequate and inferior education and give young people hope that they can have a good and useful life. --Nigel Cushing, Seattle
10
Does this mean progressives agree that physically disciplining your child can be a good thing sometimes?
3
Unfortunately human behavior hasn't changed well, ever. Racism exits all over the world. Willful ignorance or lack of educational opportunity perpetuate poor thinking and some very bad behavior on he part of our citizens and the police. Society must have rules to function safely and the cops need better training. I think the bigger picture is we need to look at 50 years of very liberal/ progressive failed polices.
2
Part of what makes this a hard problem, in my opinion, is that many of those who are "more likely to end up in prison than college" actively participate in the disorder that keeps them marginalized. That, I think, is clear in "broken schools." The rioting described in Kristof's piece is another instance of this.
8
We live in a world of ever increasing technological sophistication and only those who have above average IQs will thrive in this world and in the future. Perhaps my view is too Darwinian but it could be that those people, of all races, who are trapped in these closed loops of poverty and violence simply do not have the ability to compete any longer now that the manufacturing base is gone. The power structure doesn't want to expand the welfare state to provide for these non-productive members of society so we may have this problem for a very long time.
5
"...our own complacency..." It goes beyond that. There is widespread denial of racism. There is widdespread blaming of the victims. (Expecting the victims of long-term racism and abuse to behave like sages and saints is utter nonsense.) There is also a thick blue wall of silence around the minority of perpetrators of police crime. There is also a culture of silence in the White pulpits of America. Priests rail against divorce, contraception, and abortion, and many never say a word against racism.
In other words, there is widespread racism, active and latent, and not just complacency.
In other words, there is widespread racism, active and latent, and not just complacency.
7
Feels like 1968 all over again. The riots changed nothing. No reason to think that the Baltimore riot will change anything either. If anything, the riot will only make things worse.
When I read commentators like Mr. Kristof and Mr. Blow, I notice that they remain silent about the victims of the riot - about the business owners who lost their businesses, and the employees who lost their jobs. These people are invisible in their eyes. Their losses are irrelevant.
Just like in 1968, many members of what's left of the middle class in Baltimore will flee to the suburbs, fearing for their safety and livelihoods. The tax base will take a hit. Burned out businesses will be boarded up, never to reopen. And Mr. Kristof and Mr. Blow will wonder why they have left. They just don't get it.
When I read commentators like Mr. Kristof and Mr. Blow, I notice that they remain silent about the victims of the riot - about the business owners who lost their businesses, and the employees who lost their jobs. These people are invisible in their eyes. Their losses are irrelevant.
Just like in 1968, many members of what's left of the middle class in Baltimore will flee to the suburbs, fearing for their safety and livelihoods. The tax base will take a hit. Burned out businesses will be boarded up, never to reopen. And Mr. Kristof and Mr. Blow will wonder why they have left. They just don't get it.
12
Who are the leaders of the cities? Detroit was run by democrats for years and nothing improved. Rather, many of them were found to be crooks. Look to the party in power in Baltimore, it sure isn't republican.
11
I disagree somewhat with your headline: "When Baltimore Burned". It would be more correct to write "Baltimore Was Burned". Accuracy counts, and that is what happened in Baltimore, no matter what reasons, or excuses, or wording is used. Criminals, yes they are criminals, burned many things and businesses in Baltimore. Including jobs. The cause of the "burning" is quite clear, no matter how you and the media tell the story.
9
As a Muslim African-American citizen and author of the book "We Fundamentalists"I am not surprise of the riot in Baltimore city by my young African-American brothers and sisters. Nor am I surprise of these so called Uncle Tom Black leaders therein who are truly out of tune of the needs of the people they suppose to serve, whom are nothing but incompetent bystanders to the social tragedies in the lives of the Black youth all around them!
That, "War on Terror" starts right here at home! Because despite having Obama in the "White House" that growing fact of poverty, massive unemployment, rising non-affordable housing, continuing miseducation in our schools, bias economic zoning, rampant drug abuse, uncontrollable alcoholism amongst black adults, deliberate mass-imprisonment of black juveniles and adults, growing social racial discrimination, acceptable police brutality, and killings of Black suspects as a social norm this cannot continue any longer!
"Running while Black is not a probable cause anymore!" This is that crying voice in our American streets towards our corrupt out of touch civic leadership and media conglomerates!
Yes, "Black lives Matter" which is that shouting rage of the Black youth in urban America confronting that chilling inconvenient but pragmatic truth about that American apartheid is still alive and the need of a Black Spring now! So, why should we stay silent about our pain, they`ll just continue to kill us and say we are enjoying it all! Enough
That, "War on Terror" starts right here at home! Because despite having Obama in the "White House" that growing fact of poverty, massive unemployment, rising non-affordable housing, continuing miseducation in our schools, bias economic zoning, rampant drug abuse, uncontrollable alcoholism amongst black adults, deliberate mass-imprisonment of black juveniles and adults, growing social racial discrimination, acceptable police brutality, and killings of Black suspects as a social norm this cannot continue any longer!
"Running while Black is not a probable cause anymore!" This is that crying voice in our American streets towards our corrupt out of touch civic leadership and media conglomerates!
Yes, "Black lives Matter" which is that shouting rage of the Black youth in urban America confronting that chilling inconvenient but pragmatic truth about that American apartheid is still alive and the need of a Black Spring now! So, why should we stay silent about our pain, they`ll just continue to kill us and say we are enjoying it all! Enough
2
We have to face the fact that the reason unemployment is so high among young black males is that we have created a generation full of young black men no one wants to hire because they make bad employees. One could persuasively argue that things got this way because of racism, but that does not make today’s black youths more employable. In Los Angeles, one-third of state prison inmates are now diagnosed with mental illnesses such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder. This makes them eligible for monthly Supplemental Security Income checks upon their release. The SSI checks are credited for a significant reduction in serious crimes. Diagnosing young offenders as mentally ill and issuing SSI checks would lower the crime and incarceration rates in black neighborhoods while buying us time to create a fairer society that pays livable wages to the bottom echelons of society. Focusing on race is not the way to go about creating a fair society. Poverty is often used to excuse criminality among African Americans, but while African Americans are disproportionately poor, there are nearly three times as many poor whites than poor blacks. The most recent Census Bureau poverty report shows that in 2013 there were 29.9 million white Americans living below poverty level and 11 million black Americans living below poverty level. We have to come up with a solution that works for all poor people.
4
There are countless poor , uneducated, and disenfranchised people around the globe who behave like perfectly rational human beings and do not partake in violence or crime in any way. Stop blaming idiocy on inequality.
13
So Mr. Kristof applauds Tonya Graham the Baltimore mom who told CBS News “That’s my only son, and at the end of the day I don’t want him to be a Freddie Gray." Mr. Kristof GOT IT WRONG. He should have recognized that this mother is really part of the problem not the solution. She should have said "That's my only son and I want to teach him how to be a righteous, trustworthy, law abiding citizen." There were certainly kids who did not riot even though they had the opportunity. There were clearly kids who know right from wrong. There are clearly parents who tech their kids to make decisions based on morality and what s right not.
4
Thank you Mr. Kristof for bringing the issue of lead poisoning into this conversation as part of the underlying causation which must be included to today's urban, and suburban, troubled scenario we find ourselves having to deal with.
Dr. Herbert Needleman of the University of Pittsburgh, arguably THE expert on lead-poisoning anywhere, with one statement best summed up the reasoning as to why the issue of lead-poisoning today gets no-where-near the attention it deserves - even after there's been much improvement in this area of toxic inhalation in recent decades - and the negative affects caused by it: "...it's seen as a black problem."
Dr. Herbert Needleman of the University of Pittsburgh, arguably THE expert on lead-poisoning anywhere, with one statement best summed up the reasoning as to why the issue of lead-poisoning today gets no-where-near the attention it deserves - even after there's been much improvement in this area of toxic inhalation in recent decades - and the negative affects caused by it: "...it's seen as a black problem."
2
This column is utter nonsense, in my view. It is irresponsible to tell people they are doing the wrong thing when you have no better solution to offer. Kristof and the "responsible black leaders" he mentions have nothing to offer when it comes to solving the problems of neighborhoods like Freddie Gray's. The situation of young black men in this country is as bad now as it has been in twenty years. Obama and other black leaders have done nothing to help these folks. Why should people listen to leaders who accomplish nothing for them?
Kristof and others ask these young folks to work within the system. But it is the system that has destroyed their town. Baltimore is a shadow of the city it used to be, not because of riots but because corporate executives and bankers have moved tens of thousands of decent blue collar jobs out of the city in order to make more money for themselves. They have done more damage to the city than all the riots that have ever taken place there put together, but instead of yelling at them, fools like Kristof yell at kids for burning down a CVS store. Don't complain about the violence of rioters when you have no realistic alternative to offer.
Kristof and others ask these young folks to work within the system. But it is the system that has destroyed their town. Baltimore is a shadow of the city it used to be, not because of riots but because corporate executives and bankers have moved tens of thousands of decent blue collar jobs out of the city in order to make more money for themselves. They have done more damage to the city than all the riots that have ever taken place there put together, but instead of yelling at them, fools like Kristof yell at kids for burning down a CVS store. Don't complain about the violence of rioters when you have no realistic alternative to offer.
"It is irresponsible to tell people they are doing the wrong thing when you have no better solution to offer."......I have read that the absentee rate in the inner city Baltimore schools is 49%. If in your opinion free public schooling isn't a better solution, then perhaps there is nothing better to offer.
9
If you search up the psychology of police misconduct, it becomes clear that the police themselves have plenty of knowledge and resources available to them to understand the motivations of officers responsible for violence against the people they are supposed to be helping and protecting. The article below shows how an officer gradually slips into unethical behavior. Police need to own up to this behavior, it's not anything new or frankly all that surprising. We humans seem to very easily forget our history which constantly repeats itself. Once we accept that people in authority have this tendency towards misconduct it should be possible to fight against it. Ethics education should be mandatory along side police firearms training.
Understanding the Psychology of Police Misconduct
By Brian D. Fitch, PhD, Lieutenant, Los Angeles, California, Sheriff’s Department
http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display...
Understanding the Psychology of Police Misconduct
By Brian D. Fitch, PhD, Lieutenant, Los Angeles, California, Sheriff’s Department
http://www.policechiefmagazine.org/magazine/index.cfm?fuseaction=display...
2
Truth and Reconciliation, yes. That will help in laying a future over the path of violence and neglect. But we also need people to understand the power that they squander when they do not demand those who would hold office to honestly address the issues of inequality and lack of opportunity that so many face in this country and they do not force action by casting their votes. The hopelessness that is expressed through broken windows and stolen shoes needs to be refocused on the ballot box.
2
What cities need is a SOLUTION. We keep talking back and forth, the same old arguments, and nothing changes. Peaceful demonstrations are not working. Burning and looting is not working. What do WE do to stop the violence - particularly the violence by police? The have authority over the citizens they are supposed to serve and protect and they are abusing that authority.
What kind of reinforcements help people to change? People who drive drunk have several inducements to change their behavior. 1. They could die. 2. They could be responsible for the death of others including children. 3. They are required to attend AA meetings. 4. They could lose their driver's license. 5. They could go to jail. Because of a series of changes in the law, there are serious consequences to driving drunk and people are not only more careful, we as a society are learning more about alcoholism and how to treat it.
So what changes do we need to make in the law? Like drunk driving, there have to be serious consequences. Anyone, including police officers, who break the law (assault and battery, attempted murder, murder) must pay the legal consequences (arrest, indictment, trial, sentencing, jail time). Because these consequences are not being felt by the police, they have no reason to change.
The big questions are: Who has the guts to indict a cop? Who has the guts to arrest a cop? What jury will convict a cop? That's the problem - fear - and no consequence means no change.
What kind of reinforcements help people to change? People who drive drunk have several inducements to change their behavior. 1. They could die. 2. They could be responsible for the death of others including children. 3. They are required to attend AA meetings. 4. They could lose their driver's license. 5. They could go to jail. Because of a series of changes in the law, there are serious consequences to driving drunk and people are not only more careful, we as a society are learning more about alcoholism and how to treat it.
So what changes do we need to make in the law? Like drunk driving, there have to be serious consequences. Anyone, including police officers, who break the law (assault and battery, attempted murder, murder) must pay the legal consequences (arrest, indictment, trial, sentencing, jail time). Because these consequences are not being felt by the police, they have no reason to change.
The big questions are: Who has the guts to indict a cop? Who has the guts to arrest a cop? What jury will convict a cop? That's the problem - fear - and no consequence means no change.
4
I would bet that there are some young black boys and girls who come out of the same environment and find success. Lets look at the positive examples and use them as role models for the other kids. Yes, lets ensure that there are programs to address their needs to develop into responsible adults, but lets not transfer all accountability to insensitive white people. Black intercity families have to be active participants in their own success stories.
5
Many commentators understandably point out that immigrants from some of the most devastated and poverty-stricken countries manage to rise in our society (sometimes only to see their family businesses burned and looted in inner city riots), while African-American inner city communities stagnate. A judgment about race and African-American culture and society lies behind these statements: if others can overcome great disadvantages, and African-American inner city dwellers do not, the fault must lie with African-Americans. There is a threefold problem with this argument. First, immigrants typically represent a thin slice of the most enterprising and adventurous members of impoverished communities, and the ones who may have the right combination of good fortune and resources to make their risks pay off. These are the survivors within the self-selected group who take the risks to migrate, as we see everyday in tragic headlines. Most members of their communities stay behind, and remain prey to the conditions that keep their communities in poverty. Second, there is a similar phenomenon in the African-American community. It's called the middle class: the many, many African Americans who through education, enterprise, movement, and good fortune have left inner cities. Finally, African-Americans in inner cities (and rural pockets) must deal with the living legacy of centuries of terror and exclusion that have shaped a culture -- immigrants escape that, that's why they leave.
3
It seems like this column wants the roar, but only a civilized roar--a delicate, this will not stand, please change now, we shall overcome someday, and all that. I don't think that's how the real world works. From the American Revolution to the civil rights movement to the Baltimore riots--revolution and social change has been and will continue to be fueled by bloody, violent, illicit and illegal protest--window breaking, looting, burning, stealing. Yes, crowbars. It's disingenuous not to acknowledge the necessity of the shocking law breaker to grease the wheels of change. Destroy the town to rebuild it with new values, new leaders, new laws.
1
"Equal protection of the law" is a joke considering it's the 1% vs the 99%.
However--theirs is more like "intellectual property" vs store front property--not as vulnerable--easy to loot--and protected by well hidden institutional layers.
Bloody violence is one (bad) thing; institutional violence (by omission and commission) can be far worse.
However--theirs is more like "intellectual property" vs store front property--not as vulnerable--easy to loot--and protected by well hidden institutional layers.
Bloody violence is one (bad) thing; institutional violence (by omission and commission) can be far worse.
1
I've learned a lesson: The Rule of Law is not only a dangerous myth (see Georgetown professor James Hasnas' Internet article to that effect), but the myth is also the root cause of police brutality, irrevocably disastrous schools, and grinding poverty in black communities and elsewhere in the U.S.
"We are a nation of laws, not men," lawyers and unthinking people like to parrot. The statement is true, for we could paper over the entire N. American continent with the laws that have been written by federal, state, county, city and special-district legislators, plus the rules and regulations issued by the multiplicity of agencies of those governmental bodies. All of those laws, rules and regs include enFORCEment provisions and policing agents (cops, FBI, IRS, CIA, TSA, etc., ad infinitum) authorized to use whatever violence is necessary to enforce the laws. The mythical system has broken down and cannot be fixed. Each new law is another straw on the dead camel's back. It is time for Americans to move away from force and violence and adopt voluntaryism, relying on education, persuasion, leadership, cooperation and good will instead of government force to accomplish all of their objectives and deal with their fellows. If this sounds utopian, remember, so did ending slavery and involuntary servitude when the Abolition Movement was launched in 1778 when 3/4s of the world's people were not free. Think outside the box of the violent status quo of forcibly controlling others
"We are a nation of laws, not men," lawyers and unthinking people like to parrot. The statement is true, for we could paper over the entire N. American continent with the laws that have been written by federal, state, county, city and special-district legislators, plus the rules and regulations issued by the multiplicity of agencies of those governmental bodies. All of those laws, rules and regs include enFORCEment provisions and policing agents (cops, FBI, IRS, CIA, TSA, etc., ad infinitum) authorized to use whatever violence is necessary to enforce the laws. The mythical system has broken down and cannot be fixed. Each new law is another straw on the dead camel's back. It is time for Americans to move away from force and violence and adopt voluntaryism, relying on education, persuasion, leadership, cooperation and good will instead of government force to accomplish all of their objectives and deal with their fellows. If this sounds utopian, remember, so did ending slavery and involuntary servitude when the Abolition Movement was launched in 1778 when 3/4s of the world's people were not free. Think outside the box of the violent status quo of forcibly controlling others
1
Mr. Kristoff: I, unlike you, have visited the elementary schools in the inner city of Baltimore. The teachers are dedicated, the children are challenged and motivated, order reigns in the classroom. The children learn, have field trips, go to art museums with their classes. There are chess clubs, and other activities. There is a new vocational high school which teaches fashion design, drafting, etc. These are NOT dismal schools, they are a safe haven for the youth. Contact the new Superintendent of Schools to really learn about education in the inner city, before you write your next column.
6
There is little question that both sides need to review what they do and how they handle various situations. The police preventing students from leaving school, ensuring they had to stay in an area suspected to be a flash point was stupid. Excusing riots and violence just makes me think those who do the excusing, pretending to be understanding, tolerant, and caring, really just think thats all we can expect from black people regardless of the situation. We have spent 50 years in a "war on poverty" and while we have the richest poor people in the world we also have many trapped where they feel helpless and where those who pretend to be helping are in fact keeping them down. It dose not have to be that way, as a quick look around should tell anyone who is honest that its the individual and their effort and ability that matter, not the shade of their skin or which side of the tracks they where born on.
Mr. Kristoff notes in his words the problem " the systematic long-term denial of equal opportunity to people based on their skin color and ZIP code."
Why don't we take the next logical step, as the democratic controlling forces never do? Who is responsible for 75%= out of wedlock births, blighted neighborhoods while Mr. Cummings the black mayor, minority heavy municipal government. Reverend this and holy that service groups are doing just fine.
Why it's those same people who don't allow school choice, jobs and education and social support but do allow gang control.
Why don't we take the next logical step, as the democratic controlling forces never do? Who is responsible for 75%= out of wedlock births, blighted neighborhoods while Mr. Cummings the black mayor, minority heavy municipal government. Reverend this and holy that service groups are doing just fine.
Why it's those same people who don't allow school choice, jobs and education and social support but do allow gang control.
3
Mr. Kristof hits the nail on the head. Once. Then fails to follow up and his house of logic collapses.
"In Gray’s neighborhood, one-third of adults lack a high school degree. A majority of those aged 16 to 64 are unemployed."
There it is, in a nutshell. Mr. Kristof: They are unemployed because they are uneducated!
That's not the fault of the rest of society, of the schools, the administration -- particularly not the police. There is a 45% truancy rate among the black male youth of West Baltimore. That's the fault of the parents, not the schools.
So long as the majority of poor blacks are raised -- or not raised -- in single parent, multi-child, undisciplined environment where the only adult male role models demonstrate "appropriate behavior" by abandoning their family -- there is nothing "we" can do. The change in that demographic's condition must come from within.
Just how often has Ms. Rawlings-Blake gone into neighborhood meetings and told the residents the reality, that it's up to them to change their condition, that outside money will do nothing if their children grow up unemployably uneducated?
"In Gray’s neighborhood, one-third of adults lack a high school degree. A majority of those aged 16 to 64 are unemployed."
There it is, in a nutshell. Mr. Kristof: They are unemployed because they are uneducated!
That's not the fault of the rest of society, of the schools, the administration -- particularly not the police. There is a 45% truancy rate among the black male youth of West Baltimore. That's the fault of the parents, not the schools.
So long as the majority of poor blacks are raised -- or not raised -- in single parent, multi-child, undisciplined environment where the only adult male role models demonstrate "appropriate behavior" by abandoning their family -- there is nothing "we" can do. The change in that demographic's condition must come from within.
Just how often has Ms. Rawlings-Blake gone into neighborhood meetings and told the residents the reality, that it's up to them to change their condition, that outside money will do nothing if their children grow up unemployably uneducated?
4
Toya Graham is no hero. She is not part of the solution. She is part of the problem. She is a single mom with six children. One son and five daughters. And her kids probably have five or six absent fathers. She can slap her son around but she can not control him. And chances are her daughters are going to follow her into single motherhood. Why? Because Hillary and company are telling them that if they do, theh village will help them raise their children. And the beat goes on.
If we want to fix Baltimore in a generation or two, we need to stop subsidizing unwed motherhood. We need to stop telling young women that if they have a kid, the state will help them out. We should end welfare altogether or alternatively provide assistance to poor people in a way that does not encourage them to behave badly. How? By implementing the Plan proposed by Charles Murray in "In Our Hands" or a version of it.
"In Our Hands" should be the bible for any Republican that wants to provide a cure for Baltimore and an alternative to the destructive policies that Hillary is sure to offer the nation.
If we want to fix Baltimore in a generation or two, we need to stop subsidizing unwed motherhood. We need to stop telling young women that if they have a kid, the state will help them out. We should end welfare altogether or alternatively provide assistance to poor people in a way that does not encourage them to behave badly. How? By implementing the Plan proposed by Charles Murray in "In Our Hands" or a version of it.
"In Our Hands" should be the bible for any Republican that wants to provide a cure for Baltimore and an alternative to the destructive policies that Hillary is sure to offer the nation.
4
I suppose if you're a big city copper you become conditioned to think that young blacks are potential suspects for crimes committed or suspected and to be feared for possibly being armed. They commit most of the crimes. Does not justify killing suspects but explains the behavior just as black thugs are somehow given a pass for looting and arson because, well, they are victims. News flash. White middle class is losing patience and tired of being blamed directly or indirectly for black problems that blacks perpetuate. White America is struggling to keep our heads above water - and we don't take hand outs. We keep plugging away day after day doing the best we can. Funny thing is it usually works.
4
The web of issues surrounding race and inequality are too broad and complex for any one commission to tackle in a meaningful way. It would need to be a network of commissions, not simply comprised of elected officials and local personalities. It would need to operate almost like a caucus. Schools, community centers, police stations, and other locations could host highly localized, highly specific conversations on a date. The President and the other celebrities suggested for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission could actually be useful by promoting such an event. Having them talk it over is useless. They're all rich and operate in a way different world than the rest of us. They do have our attention though and could help organize and promote a Day of Truth and Reconciliation for the whole nation to participate in and not just watch and tweet about.
Mr. Kristof has only a limited number of words to comment on a hugely complicated problem. And, as opposed to a set of commandments, this is simply commentary to which readers are free to agree or disagree. What strikes me about many of the reader responses is a lack of understanding, or even imagination, about living in a poverty-stricken community. They seem to assume a level playing field with ample time-outs to find that higher paying job with better benefits, to organize a drive to improve local education (and pay the taxes to make it happen), to compel their representatives to enforce legislation to rid the area of drug dealing and organized crime. It just may be that people living in the less-favored parts of a city like Baltimore lack the finances and the connections that their more affluent, educated neighbors take for granted. Hire a head-hunter for that job? Contact your friend on the school board? Involve your lawyer to extricate you from a legal problem? Undoubtedly there are even small things that can be done to improve the situation, as Ms. Graham so righteously and courageously demonstrated; however, the deck is stacked, the field is tilted, and for many people the time, effort and expense to achieve parity is truly daunting.
2
As long as they blame others for their plight and expect others (like Big Government) to solve their problems for them, they will be doomed to the same cycle of failure. If they want society to support them, they need to support society, just like everybody else. When progressives like Kristof try to single them out this way as having 'special needs' and being different from everyone else, they are suggesting that they are somehow less human than the rest of us. THAT kind of thinking is exactly what is holding them back.
6
As others have pointed out, Baltimore is a divided city not so much by race as by class. The 'haves,' with their decent jobs and functional families living in stable middle- and upper-middle-class neighborhoods, sharply contrast with the less fortunate languishing without much hope for anything better. Solutions? More job opportunities, rehabilitation of dysfunctional neighborhoods, drug treatment before incarceration.
African Americans are the canary in the coal mine of the American economy and our political and justice systems. These systems exist today to serve only the wealthy and powerful. As more and more Americans lose their wealth and power they too will find themselves getting this same treatment, regardless of their skin color.
3
Wonderful column.
I find it interesting how the media and white America in general will congratulate the mother captured on social media chastising her son as though they were witnessing a miracle.
Black mothers being concerned for the safety of their children, particularly their black sons, has its genesis in an America that has historically killed them with impunity. It did not just begin in this modern era police brutality and urban decay. She represents the norm, not the exception.
But for many white Americans, this mother is the exception, and it fits within their narrative that the real problem is cultural and not racism and those linked to the deindustrialization of America – no jobs, horrific schools, mass incarceration.
I find it interesting how the media and white America in general will congratulate the mother captured on social media chastising her son as though they were witnessing a miracle.
Black mothers being concerned for the safety of their children, particularly their black sons, has its genesis in an America that has historically killed them with impunity. It did not just begin in this modern era police brutality and urban decay. She represents the norm, not the exception.
But for many white Americans, this mother is the exception, and it fits within their narrative that the real problem is cultural and not racism and those linked to the deindustrialization of America – no jobs, horrific schools, mass incarceration.
5
I was sadden and shocked at the looting and rioting in Baltimore. I attended Morgan State University in Baltimore from 1996 to 1998. I lived in Howard County Maryland but I truly I love Maryland and I love Charm City and I do believe that the people will rise again and make Baltimore the beautiful City that it has always been.
1
As a teacher in the inner city who walks the walk, as opposed to talk the talk, I would like to say something to those who keep on attacking our inner city schools: VISIT. Come see what we REALLY do.
Mr. Kristof: Please, instead of simply repeating that our schools are 'failing," come see what we really do. You will find many *African American* teachers, many from the neighborhood, unsung and maligned heroes who literally give the clothes off their backs for "our" children. I'm white but I'm a minority in my school. So many devoted teachers--and you attack us from your perch. You talk about privileged white people, but you are unconsciously doign the exact same thing. Our children are not 'consigned' to subpar schools. Our children are the canaries in the gold mine. Their neighborhood, families, our nation's war on drugs -- many factors are letting them down. My children - each and every one - knows people who have been shot & killed. You want to know what privileged people wouldn't tolerate? That. Having each child constantly in PTSD and trauma, & then *constantly testing them with unproven corporate tests, constantly attacking the very adults who try to help them with their lives.
Come visit. Spend time in our schools-- more than an hour. I mean time. Head a class for a year. Walk in our shoes. Then get back to us.
Attacking our public schools is *exactly* how to speed up the destruction of our local neighborhoods and the future of our inner city kids.
Mr. Kristof: Please, instead of simply repeating that our schools are 'failing," come see what we really do. You will find many *African American* teachers, many from the neighborhood, unsung and maligned heroes who literally give the clothes off their backs for "our" children. I'm white but I'm a minority in my school. So many devoted teachers--and you attack us from your perch. You talk about privileged white people, but you are unconsciously doign the exact same thing. Our children are not 'consigned' to subpar schools. Our children are the canaries in the gold mine. Their neighborhood, families, our nation's war on drugs -- many factors are letting them down. My children - each and every one - knows people who have been shot & killed. You want to know what privileged people wouldn't tolerate? That. Having each child constantly in PTSD and trauma, & then *constantly testing them with unproven corporate tests, constantly attacking the very adults who try to help them with their lives.
Come visit. Spend time in our schools-- more than an hour. I mean time. Head a class for a year. Walk in our shoes. Then get back to us.
Attacking our public schools is *exactly* how to speed up the destruction of our local neighborhoods and the future of our inner city kids.
5
I worked in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in my country, Peru, in 2003; and I have supported the work of many others in the years since. The idea of a TRC on racial injustice is worth discussing and, I suspect, feasible. Canada created one, about to finalize its work, on institutionalized abuse against Indigenous children. The state of Maine established one, also on Indigenous children. The city of Greensboro had a truth commission on a horrific incident in 1979. US academia has produced many books and papers on truth commissions in other countries. This may well be an idea whose time has come.
1
This just makes no sense. Who is forcing the young people of Baltimore to drop out of school? Who is making the men conceive and then abandon their children -- often repeatedly? Why are immigrants, barely speaking English and newly arrived, working hard, starting businesses, getting ahead, or at least just making a living and being good citizens, while the young men of Baltimore deal drugs and guns, loot and make trouble? Sorry this is not 'lack of opportunity' or 'neglect.' Those words do NOT apply to the situation. This is just bad values and bad behavior, period. No amount of rhetoric and guilt-mongering can change the unvarnished truth. Believe me, there are plenty of people out there who see that truth and just do NOT buy the Times official line on this. They don't dare speak up because they don't have Kristof's bully pulpit.
7
I think Charles Blow's column is excellent counterpoint to Kristoff. Both columnists agree that the conditions and treatment of poor urban African Americans is intolerable. There are two among the many points that Blow makes that resonate, first you do not have to condone violence to understand it. And second every social and political revolutionary change in this country was accompanied by violence, for that is the thing that serves as a wake up call. That is true from our own beginnings as a nation from 1775-83, the Civil War to the civil rights struggles and burning cities of the 1960s. Yes, we must address the underlying problems but historically, without violence the people who have the ability to make change happen simply do nothing.
2
Before we plunge into efforts to create a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, why don't the mayors and police chiefs of all the major American cities meet to forge agreements that they will all undertake a uniform process for both training their police officers that it will henceforth not only be prohibited for them to kill unarmed black men, but also subject them to immediate termination and criminal prosecution if they do so. Guaranteed. In short, why aren't we having a national conversation around stopping these police murders of unarmed black men going forward. Why aren't police chiefs instructing their officers: don't do it anymore? Stop it?
1
Just remember that nonviolence works! Just like the nonviolent acts that began in 1776! There were no rockets glaring red, no bombs bursting in the air, and nobody was hurt or died!
2
We've been through this before. The riots of the 60s were over the same issues. But little has changed for poor urban dwellers. The question is - why? And the answer can ONLY be, 50 years on: we do not care enough as a society.
More cynically: the underclass doesn't vote, and the youth vote is absurdly small. So the power imbalance grows. The only hope, in my view, as unsexy as it sounds, is to get more than half of Americans to vote. Because until the poor truly have voices in high places, there is no hope. (A "Commission" in short is the last thing we need...)
More cynically: the underclass doesn't vote, and the youth vote is absurdly small. So the power imbalance grows. The only hope, in my view, as unsexy as it sounds, is to get more than half of Americans to vote. Because until the poor truly have voices in high places, there is no hope. (A "Commission" in short is the last thing we need...)
1
Freddie Gray was murdered by the arresting police officers. They have not been charged with murder, assault, nor negligent homicide. The protests began the day the video was shown. There was no coverage from the New York Times nor any other major media on the peaceful protests which began two weeks ago. Until the CVS store, cars and other buildings were burned on Monday night, the news media did not care about Freddie's death. They still don't.
All the media and people watching care about is the property that as destroyed. Freddie should not have died in police custody. His murder should have been the story, not the riots caused by angry people, bent on destruction. Most of the demonstrators were peaceful. The issues they protested are valid. Some police officers are murderers, thugs, and venal beings. Until the police forces across the country root them out, they will continue to murder African American men and women of color. As for the poverty of the black community, the injustice of the criminal justice system, the overall hopelessness in our society, this has been happening since slavery. The evidence of the blithe, smug indifference of many of the readers' comments ensures that we will continue to live in a racially polarized and divided society. America having lost interest in protecting its children has lost its soul and its heart. We are no longer a beacon of light to the rest of the world watching our casual indifference to murder.
All the media and people watching care about is the property that as destroyed. Freddie should not have died in police custody. His murder should have been the story, not the riots caused by angry people, bent on destruction. Most of the demonstrators were peaceful. The issues they protested are valid. Some police officers are murderers, thugs, and venal beings. Until the police forces across the country root them out, they will continue to murder African American men and women of color. As for the poverty of the black community, the injustice of the criminal justice system, the overall hopelessness in our society, this has been happening since slavery. The evidence of the blithe, smug indifference of many of the readers' comments ensures that we will continue to live in a racially polarized and divided society. America having lost interest in protecting its children has lost its soul and its heart. We are no longer a beacon of light to the rest of the world watching our casual indifference to murder.
3
Mr. Kristof's opening lines are exactly what a polarized society needs to hear. Too often, we assume that if someone condemns police violence, they are excusing rioters. Or, if someone calls rioters thugs, they must be ignoring police violence and the social and economic ills of inner city communities. It is possible, honestly and sincerely, to take the stand the President has taken that policing practices and social and economic problems are real and need to be addressed, but violence is certainly not the way to address them. What's so complicated about that? It's nearly fifty years since Lyndon Johnson empowered the Kerner Commission to look at the causes of the race riots in the 1960s and consider race in America. Maybe it's time for a "progress report".
1
This debate is about whether or not violence should be excused given the touchy subject of class/race. Violence should NEVER be excused. Innocent people are getting hurt and having their property damaged, and we are arguing about whether it was justified?
They scream "oppression." They scream "racist" at anyone who has the guts to speak out at the obvious laziness and sense of entitlement that is so prevalent in these inner city neighborhoods. Among people in these neighborhoods, the media (at least) shows that they smoke weed all day, commit violent crimes, and sell drugs to make a living. But what can we expect? Their idols (most of the time) are rap stars that glorify that kind of life. Rap music drives messages of the black man being a victim, that society is out to get them, and that it's some kind of status symbol to have as many baby mamas as possible while shrugging responsibility for those children. Then those children grow up in an unstable family environment, listening to rap music about an absent father, doing drugs, and beating women because they relate to it, and dropping out of school because education undervalued in our nation as a whole.
The solution to this multifaceted problem is complex, but it cannot be solved with violence. These inner city children need respectable idols and friend groups. They need to know that the way out of their situation is within their control through education, not violence.
They scream "oppression." They scream "racist" at anyone who has the guts to speak out at the obvious laziness and sense of entitlement that is so prevalent in these inner city neighborhoods. Among people in these neighborhoods, the media (at least) shows that they smoke weed all day, commit violent crimes, and sell drugs to make a living. But what can we expect? Their idols (most of the time) are rap stars that glorify that kind of life. Rap music drives messages of the black man being a victim, that society is out to get them, and that it's some kind of status symbol to have as many baby mamas as possible while shrugging responsibility for those children. Then those children grow up in an unstable family environment, listening to rap music about an absent father, doing drugs, and beating women because they relate to it, and dropping out of school because education undervalued in our nation as a whole.
The solution to this multifaceted problem is complex, but it cannot be solved with violence. These inner city children need respectable idols and friend groups. They need to know that the way out of their situation is within their control through education, not violence.
3
I continue to be disappointed by people who blame the victims. I would ask you if you have every driven across the country to see the depression in small towns? THERE ARE NO JOBS. The same thing is happening in our urban areas, so don't blame the victims of globalization. We need solutions not criticism of the people in order to heal. There have been studies that employers do not even interview people who have names they suspect are attached to minorities, so they are sometimes even blocked from the jobs that might be available. Let us come together to find a way to fight the unemployment and low wages in America.
2
I can only speak to NYC but the jobs are there. I think its the qualifications of the people and work ethic are the problem. I live 60 miles outside of NYC. In my town hundreds of people commute over an hour and a half each way everyday to NYC to work. Someone living in Harlem or the Bronx are a short subway ride away. In fact in NYC millions of hard working immigrants with English as a second language manage to find jobs in NYC.
Stop it with the "there are no jobs rant" at least in NYC its just not true.
The people you are referring to most likely don't possess the skills or the desire necessary to fill the jobs available.
Stop it with the "there are no jobs rant" at least in NYC its just not true.
The people you are referring to most likely don't possess the skills or the desire necessary to fill the jobs available.
1
I disagree that the oppressed blacks in Baltimore should protest peacefully. They should protest nonviolently but not peacefully. Nonviolent protest will not allow the status quo to continue in the way that police and city officials can live with. Nonviolent protest is intended to create tension, not peace, until power is taken from oppressors. As Dr. King and other nonviolent leaders have reminded us, those in power will never give it up on their own. It must be taken from them.
Segregated cities have segregated services or, in this case, disservices. Baltimore is a failed city which, as long as even an Afro-American female mayor defines its white, middle-and upper-middle class as the "real Baltimore," is going to continue to fail. Until this Mayor, with her segregated mindset, accepts that West Baltimore and East Baltimore are large parts of Baltimore, there is no hope for the residents of those areas, pieties and platitudes about violence or community notwithstanding.
Since President Eisenhower pointed out the 'industrial-military-governmental complex' that pretty much has militarized our society, our domestic police have become an extension of that kind of power that is focused on maintaining the status quo, and that includes the way the criminal justice system operates and racial inequities are sustained. There is the need for 'systemic change' in our policing and penal system. WE MUST LISTEN TO OUR BLACK BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND SUPPORT THEIR MOVEMENT FOR JUSTICE AND SOCIAL-ECONOMIC-EDUCATIONAL EQUALITY. Only such a movement will change our deplorable-immoral-inexcusable status quo.
2
I do not understand how you can write that "The rioting distracts from those inequities ...". I am no media expert, but I have never seen breathless reporting, concurrently and on all news channels, about a peaceful protest. There were no buildings burned when a police killed a man in an Ohio Walmart who had picked up an air rifle off a shelf, and I don't see any significant attention paid to that case.
I cannot see how one can draw the conclusion that violent protests are ineffective.
I cannot see how one can draw the conclusion that violent protests are ineffective.
2
Why hasn't anyone commented about the two Baltimore people I saw crying on Facebook, literally crying, saying, "We are not doing this! We are not burning our own city! The people doing this are not from here!" (and I am paraphrasing here.) Is anyone other than me interested in the fact that racism has gotten worse in the last six years? That agitators from "away" are making race relations worse than they have been Dr. Martin Luther King walked among us? What exactly is the role of 'our government' in this shameful situation? We all know that inequality is unacceptable and I venture to say that most non-African Americans would be more than happy to do anything possible they could do individually to remedy this. But 'most' of us aren't operating with the knowledge that whenever a volatile situation arises, forces outside of any local control step in to worsen a terrible problem. This isn't just about racism and inequality in American. It is also about changing the culture of America, and bringing Marxism and hopelessness to all of us-shared misery for every citizen of the country.. Thank you to our community-organizing leader. I believe we can put this squarely in his lap.
2
Nicholas Kristof refers to Toya Graham as "a Baltimore mom". When did this silly "mom" business start? It sounds so playful. Can't we call them "mothers" which they were in the past. That's why it's called Mothers Day just like Father's Day. Mom is what you call your mother. She's not your mom.
4
The problem is not complicated. Concentrated inner city poverty among minorities has always been a powder keg. Upward mobility and migration to the suburbs has always been the solution. And the key has always been better education and better jobs. Forget the police. Forget angry young people. And forget skin color, too. Earning power is what it's all about.
Education, earning power, better jobs, upward mobility, and migration: all are affected by skin color. As a white person, I know that my skin color is an advantage in all of these arenas, and in many others, as well. To stubbornly cling to denial of that fact, to say, "forget skin color," is to be part of the problem.
Culturally, blacks and whites tend to be different, and that's what gives rise to prejudice. I've met blacks who grew up mostly among whites, Nobody much cares about their skin color.
Discrimination is a horrible condition and Mr Kristof and many other commentators rightly point it out . But for me as an immigrant as I was discriminated all my life and despite all of this I would say being successful , I read and hear very few words about personal responsibility . Everything is framed in terms of "someone else is at fault " and this creates an attitude where I am discriminated and because of this entitled to everything without being responsible for anything . This is a very dangerous mentality that could became a cultural phenomenon . Society must do its best to address inequality but at the same time demand that people should be accountable for their behavior .
I think it has all along been intrinsic in both the whites and blacks that there is a superiority/inferiority , respectively, phenomenon between them. People will always start to snap at each other once the issue of race is brought up anywhere around the world. The Blacks will always be quick to act, whether physically, verbally or emotionally, once a bad thing is committed to a folk by a white. The White will also be quick to defend the action and reason how it was just like any other malice, or even 'how is racism so bad than others?' questions. I think an injustice should just be that, injustice, a racist cop, looting young men, thieves; all should be accorded justice accordingly.
What does our culture say about the squeaky wheel getting the grease? For a long time now it has been clear "something is brewing". Headlines have been softly screaming about the treatment of black males but have been ignored. The hope that came with a black president has been slowly eroded as we watched the verbal abuse and disrespect (politically and personally) he and his family have encountered. While I've admired his ability to stay mainly silent, it was just final proof that no matter what blacks achieve, they were not welcome to the table. So this article is excellent in pointing to the sense of hopelessness in many black communities. When humans feel under attack, they tend to resort to fight or flight. Flight didn't get Freddie very far; the fight response resulted in the kind of violence we have been seeing. I don't support the type of destruction we have been seeing but I understand it. I love the example of tycoons who feel attacked by losing tax loopholes (money and their possessions) while they step over the bodies of poor blacks and whites. There are serious racial problems facing the States, inequity being a big one. What is the next step to address them?
2
Truth and Reconciliation Commission? Forget about it, Mr. Kristof. The racial chasm is as wide as it has ever been, and white America does not want to hear about black dysfunction if it means also acknowledging its complicity in it. I am a 65 year-old African-American man who was raised in the segregated South. I attended a northern elite small liberal arts college and one of the country's top tier law schools. I was always a pioneer, full of hope for a residentially, educationally, historically, culturally, and religiously integrated America. It was foolish. My white college roommate and his wife moved to Alabama and joined an all-white country club -- no blacks allowed; and America elected its first black President and treated him with the utter disdain we know as racism. I live in what has now become a white neighborhood, and I am regarded by new neighbors with suspicion, and asked, "How far did you have to walk to reach this park to let your dog play here?" Must I translate that one for you? In short, hopelessness is not limited to the black underclass. I am ready to leave for a country where I can blend in. North Africa will do. I give up on my country; enough of this unrequited love.
60
There is a lot of moralizing on black people in these comments. Out one side of your mouth I hear things like "just work hard" and "single parents blah blah" while ignoring the realities that are caused by structures that reinforce poverty. Many of you would never consider sending your kids to public school in Baltimore, much less in whatever affluent community you live, so why do you actually think it's enough to just work hard?
Are you regularly accosted by police for doing nothing? Raised in a home caked in flaking lead paint? Did you take care of your siblings while your parents were at their 2nd jobs? Has anyone ever crossed the street when they saw you walking their way?
It's unbelievable how many educated readers seem to think early development and socialization only matter when it's their kids.
Are you regularly accosted by police for doing nothing? Raised in a home caked in flaking lead paint? Did you take care of your siblings while your parents were at their 2nd jobs? Has anyone ever crossed the street when they saw you walking their way?
It's unbelievable how many educated readers seem to think early development and socialization only matter when it's their kids.
3
The arm chair analyses and laments over the continuation of these problems are boring and unhelpful. If you are relatively privileged and safe, be a good and charitable person. Reach out and do what you can individual to individual. Teach your kids.
2
How is it that young black men cannot travel a few miles to work in the hotels, restaurants and other attractions in downtown areas of major cities but young Hispanic men can journey hundreds of miles for the same jobs! I k now NY better than Baltimore but the opportunities are probably similar. In NYC many hotel and restaurant jobs are even UNION positions offering many benefits!
4
Despite a few high profile cases, there's little evidence that middle class or wealthy blacks living in good neighborhoods have serious problems with the police. When's the last time you read about police brutality in the Baldwin Hills section of L.A.? If race were the key issue, wealthy blacks would be treated like poor blacks. That simply is not true. All the violent police confrontations occur in the poorest black areas. Police violence isn't much about color. It's about patrolling dangerous ares where the cops and the residents distrust each other through and through.
6
Mr Kristof doesn't mention that Inner City Parents and their Off-spring have to take responsibility for their lives and futures.
Every Parent (Father and Mother) has got to show the importance of education by being home every evening (Yes - talking, playing with the kids, and also studying and doing homework) and not being at the local club. And also limiting the TV time and instead playing ball and reading books WITH the kids. Show the kids that "hanging out" isn't social avenue of choice nightly.
Show the kids the importance of family, the value of "togetherness", the value of prayer and the value of work. These values never get old-fashioned.
All of us have to go back to our old customs of responsibility at home and at work. The Urban neighborhoods need parents that work full-time jobs (not living on give-aways of food stamps & Medicaid & rent subsidies & welfare etc., which in my humble opinion should be reserved for the 3-children single mother in need and not for able-bodied men who should be sent to work) and not hanging out all day. Let the children see Parents taking responsibility upon themselves and then the children will be responsible, when its demanded from them.
Throwing money at these neighborhoods and people does not give them "real" values -- just the opposite.
Every Parent (Father and Mother) has got to show the importance of education by being home every evening (Yes - talking, playing with the kids, and also studying and doing homework) and not being at the local club. And also limiting the TV time and instead playing ball and reading books WITH the kids. Show the kids that "hanging out" isn't social avenue of choice nightly.
Show the kids the importance of family, the value of "togetherness", the value of prayer and the value of work. These values never get old-fashioned.
All of us have to go back to our old customs of responsibility at home and at work. The Urban neighborhoods need parents that work full-time jobs (not living on give-aways of food stamps & Medicaid & rent subsidies & welfare etc., which in my humble opinion should be reserved for the 3-children single mother in need and not for able-bodied men who should be sent to work) and not hanging out all day. Let the children see Parents taking responsibility upon themselves and then the children will be responsible, when its demanded from them.
Throwing money at these neighborhoods and people does not give them "real" values -- just the opposite.
3
Treat people as you would like to be treated. Give people's kids schools that offer a decent education, safe places to live etc. Burning down the CVS was to me a sign of the feelings of hopelessness in the citizens of Baltimore. They felt so hopeless that the only way to make a statement was to destroy the place that dispenses their life saving medications. As a human being, as a mother, that makes me feel sad. I think racism is capable by all people. Common sense says that our poor neighborhoods are beyond unfair and unpleasant. We need to change that.
3
It's not just about racism. It's about the money the penal system brings in and all the jobs attached to the judicial system. Money for jails, hire more cops, lawyers and judges. Keep people poor and uneducated. Force them into breaking the law to survive and throw them in jail over and over again. Our government perpetuates this scenario on purpose because it's mostly about pouring money into the system. Keeping these people in poverty is what fuels the corruption of government. Follow the money.
1
I would just like to add that there is another factor which I find annoying when we are consulting about solutions. While I realize that there is a web of interconnecting factors, I think we divide the problem into too many small pieces. Of course for a few guys at a bar, this is the best we can do. But if we truly wanted to make headway someone would convene a reasonably representative and diverse group primarily frow within the Baltimore community (no politicians, amateur or proffessional allowed). At the door of that meeting every one would pause and whisper a prayer in a moment before entering.
They would ask God to cleanse their hearts of all that they have previously heard and thought, in order that they may sincerely try to listen to everyone's opinions with respect. To have an open mind that doesn't seek to glorify one's own opinion or those of friends, but to search for truth whereever it may lead.
They would ask God to cleanse their hearts of all that they have previously heard and thought, in order that they may sincerely try to listen to everyone's opinions with respect. To have an open mind that doesn't seek to glorify one's own opinion or those of friends, but to search for truth whereever it may lead.
It is intriguing that very few of these discussions touch on police violence. We seem to find solace in dwelling upon the aftermath or the result of police violence.
Why not discuss police culture, and the culture of violence, omertà and impunity among the police. Is it always necessary to kill and maim? Is it always necessary to laugh and joke and congratulate oneself after brutally abusing black males? Is it always necessary to lie and to obfuscate the reasons for an arrest? Why not discuss reining in sadistic cops? None of these things are touched upon yet they occur time and time again, as our police are usually given the benefit of the doubt.
Which city or county’s police department will we be defending next week or next month, because surely what happened in Ferguson and Staten Is., and Baltimore will surely happen again.
Why not discuss police culture, and the culture of violence, omertà and impunity among the police. Is it always necessary to kill and maim? Is it always necessary to laugh and joke and congratulate oneself after brutally abusing black males? Is it always necessary to lie and to obfuscate the reasons for an arrest? Why not discuss reining in sadistic cops? None of these things are touched upon yet they occur time and time again, as our police are usually given the benefit of the doubt.
Which city or county’s police department will we be defending next week or next month, because surely what happened in Ferguson and Staten Is., and Baltimore will surely happen again.
30
We had this same discussion in the late sixties and early seventies when America "discovered" poor conditions in inner cities. Since that time, there have been more laws, administrative set asides, court decisions, and corporate efforts to make equal opportunity a reality for all who strive to achieve it, and a huge number have. I walked a beat and drove a patrol car in several impoverished inner city areas many years ago, and I was also a homicide detective in the same environment. The pathologies I see today are the same as they were then, except the weapons are bigger and more powerful on both sides. I have also observed that most of these cities have been in the grip of one political party for at least fifty years. What lasting mprovements have been wrought in these core areas over this time? Why shouldn't alternative economic and educational strategies be tried, rather than perpetuating power by claiming ownership of a never ending "struggle"?
6
If a certain group is X times more likely to be arrested than another group for a given crime, isn't it possible that group is committing X times more of that crime?
7
Anything is possible, iespecially White denial of the obvious.
1
Sir, please come to my college town, or any college town, in America and see for yourself the amount of crime that happens among the student population, including theft, underage drinking, marijuana smoking, drug dealing, and the looting that occurs after basketball wins. If X group is not as likely to be arrested, it could be because they are committing less crime. Or it could be because the police are looking the other way.
1
Please, Mr. Kristof, it's always about something else, never the individual. Yes, is it enormously tougher to break the poverty cycle when you are living it? Of course, no one of good conscience should deny that obvious fact. But somewhere personal responsibility has to enter into the equation. School systems fail because there is not a strong parental presence and insistence on education. Children fail because there is not a guiding presence at home. Corrupt politicians are interested in only keeping their jobs not in the betterment of the community. The inner city culture promotes all the wrong values because it is always someone elses fault and therefore no one has to change. Tell me why would any business want to go into an environment that we are seeing in Baltimore? Nah, blame everyone else. We excuse you because you've had a tough life.
5
There's a difference between finding reasons for actions and condoning or excusing them. I don't see anything here that "excuses" rioters for violence. Some people may excuse them, but likewise plenty of people make excuses (or call them what you like) for the police. Obviously, EVERYONE needs to examine their own role in this ongoing issue.
1
Let me give you a specific example of the cluelessness of our leaders:
Some of our law enforcement officials use a questionnaire to access the likelihood of repeat criminal behavior, and one of the questions is this, actually stated as a leading question:
Do you agree/disagree/strongly/somewhat/unsure about this statement: "If a person is hungry it is ok to steal."
What the creators of this assigning question don't know is that it is a fundamental part of human nature to steal if a person is hungry, especially if that person doesn't see anything fair about their current situation. What a person believes about this is irrelevant. What people do is what matters.
I know what people do. I used to talk to a friend from Vietnam who told me of his experiences after the communists took over and his escape from the country. He told me of the conditions of the refugee camps where people were starving. He as adamant about the idea that anyone in those situations will steal to feed themselves or their families. Even people who he once believed to be good people turned to stealing and even at times murder to save their families. And when you grow up in a war zone, what is murder anyway? It is a way of life.
So elite judges of other people's behavior have no idea what they're talking about. We used to have a relatively equal society here in the US, and the ideas of law enforcement we have reflect that. It is no longer true. We're in deep, deep trouble as a nation.
Some of our law enforcement officials use a questionnaire to access the likelihood of repeat criminal behavior, and one of the questions is this, actually stated as a leading question:
Do you agree/disagree/strongly/somewhat/unsure about this statement: "If a person is hungry it is ok to steal."
What the creators of this assigning question don't know is that it is a fundamental part of human nature to steal if a person is hungry, especially if that person doesn't see anything fair about their current situation. What a person believes about this is irrelevant. What people do is what matters.
I know what people do. I used to talk to a friend from Vietnam who told me of his experiences after the communists took over and his escape from the country. He told me of the conditions of the refugee camps where people were starving. He as adamant about the idea that anyone in those situations will steal to feed themselves or their families. Even people who he once believed to be good people turned to stealing and even at times murder to save their families. And when you grow up in a war zone, what is murder anyway? It is a way of life.
So elite judges of other people's behavior have no idea what they're talking about. We used to have a relatively equal society here in the US, and the ideas of law enforcement we have reflect that. It is no longer true. We're in deep, deep trouble as a nation.
1
As statistics clearly show unarmed African Americans a 21 more likely to be shot than their white counterparts. Is it any wonder that Freddie Gray ran from the cop after looking at him?
After his brutal beating that resulted in his death, it is no wonder that his neighbourhood - one of the poorest in the country, with over 50% unemployment to boot - erupted in anger.
Had this often violent eruption not happened at all, Mr. Gray's death would have by now not been 'newsworthy' anymore. Especially the TV media but the print press as well would fill the airwaves and pages with non-stop reporting of the latest celebrity news and statements by more than two-dozen potential candidates for the highest office of the land.
Showing burning buildings and youngsters throwing stones at cops makes for 'good' entertainment 24/7, while a broken education system and the utter hopelessness of those living in what can only be called ghettos can not be filmed.
After his brutal beating that resulted in his death, it is no wonder that his neighbourhood - one of the poorest in the country, with over 50% unemployment to boot - erupted in anger.
Had this often violent eruption not happened at all, Mr. Gray's death would have by now not been 'newsworthy' anymore. Especially the TV media but the print press as well would fill the airwaves and pages with non-stop reporting of the latest celebrity news and statements by more than two-dozen potential candidates for the highest office of the land.
Showing burning buildings and youngsters throwing stones at cops makes for 'good' entertainment 24/7, while a broken education system and the utter hopelessness of those living in what can only be called ghettos can not be filmed.
2
Kristof loves to bash public schools. But let's be clear: most of the teachers in urban public schools (when they can hire and keep teachers; it's not an attractive job) are competent professionals trying very hard to give their students a good education. And they succeed whenever students show up, behave, and do the work. The reason we call those schools "broken" or "failing" has little to do with the schools and everything to do with the fact that the students, often, are dealing with circumstances outside of the schools that make it very difficult for them to be successful.
8
People who work so well together to riot have the potential to WORK TOGETHER to produce economic activity and progress. Why has that failed to happen in city after city after city?
The dialog needs to be open and honest, and the support needs to be holistic, objective, and fair.
The dialog needs to be open and honest, and the support needs to be holistic, objective, and fair.
1
I think that everybody who saw the Toya Graham tape Graham cheered for this mother who became an instant icon and hero for standing up and chasing her son out of the fray of the protesting in Baltimore. Unfortunately, we learned the other side of Toya's coin and that is she has 6 kids by multiple men. Why? There's more to the story and lessons hopefully to be learned.
4
I really don't hear many liberals excusing the violence. But I do see a complete breakdown of a country. I see elites that claim to care about the problem but who continue advocating policies and condemning the victims as thugs.
Perhaps they don't live in the same world as those who write the columns and make the speeches. The black leaders are very smart to push back against the violence, but the likelihood of peaceful protests making any difference in a world where money is speech and protestors have no money, I see it increasingly unlikely that the old ideas about protesting in a 'democracy' are just old ideas.
We don't have a democracy anymore. We've entered a new period, one in which most of us have never had to live before. And the message seems to be, "respect this property owned by your rulers."
Nobody gets it. Nobody.
In a world where money is speech, it seems a reasonable idea to reduce the money of your opponent to the level of your own to regain democratic fairness. If the rich fight with money, the poor will probably eventually fight by taking that money away, destroying it to equalize the power.
Welcome to the world where the victims of economic annexation are not just on a distant island or in a distant nation. The victims are all around us. The victims are the 99%.
Perhaps they don't live in the same world as those who write the columns and make the speeches. The black leaders are very smart to push back against the violence, but the likelihood of peaceful protests making any difference in a world where money is speech and protestors have no money, I see it increasingly unlikely that the old ideas about protesting in a 'democracy' are just old ideas.
We don't have a democracy anymore. We've entered a new period, one in which most of us have never had to live before. And the message seems to be, "respect this property owned by your rulers."
Nobody gets it. Nobody.
In a world where money is speech, it seems a reasonable idea to reduce the money of your opponent to the level of your own to regain democratic fairness. If the rich fight with money, the poor will probably eventually fight by taking that money away, destroying it to equalize the power.
Welcome to the world where the victims of economic annexation are not just on a distant island or in a distant nation. The victims are all around us. The victims are the 99%.
4
If you want to take a guess as to what the possibilities are as regards a solution to the underlying problems in Baltimore, harken back to the discourse following any of the other major "riots" in major US cities. The system is the problem. If the black and white populations (working class) could see that the same system i negatively impacts both groups.. Terrible schools, low paying, dead end jobs no job related benefits are color blind. This is a national problem that cuts across race and certainly class populations. The race issue, in my opinion, cuts to the moral fabric of the nation. It is much more difficult to exorcise from our national psyche .
2
I'm surprised at the comments on here. I thought there would be more outrage at the horrific treatment of Freddie Gray. What he must have endured to have his spine snapped is beyond my imagination. Do we find his death more palatable because he was poor? Would his death have been prevented if his parents were married? Would the police have left him alone if he had a high school diploma? A college degree? A Ph.D? No, I'm afraid none of this would have mattered in the heat of the moment.
3
Maybe we're just tired of hearing from the sort of people who use tragedies like these to promote themselves and to castigate others for no reason other than their own self-regard.
Logic of Marginalization 101
Marginalized people tend to be angry people. If a nation systematically marginalizes whole populations of its citizenry (and I don't mean urban African Americans only), then it should hardly be surprised if some of these folks behave marginalized.
The answer? Further marginalization, of course, and gated communites of over-privilege.
Marginalized people tend to be angry people. If a nation systematically marginalizes whole populations of its citizenry (and I don't mean urban African Americans only), then it should hardly be surprised if some of these folks behave marginalized.
The answer? Further marginalization, of course, and gated communites of over-privilege.
3
The American Revolution proved long ago that when injustice is committed by righteous men, the people justly revolt.
2
Black leaders and liberal politicians have, since the 50's and 60's, been loudly marching to the drum of civil rights, civil rights and more civil rights.
When it comes to civil responsibilities, however, all we've been getting from same said people is thundering silence.
The results of this have been crystal clear for many years now.
Only in America.
When it comes to civil responsibilities, however, all we've been getting from same said people is thundering silence.
The results of this have been crystal clear for many years now.
Only in America.
1
Jobs would cure many of the ills of Baltimore, unfortunately corporate America isn't hiring. Besides, that ship has sailed, and there are no more high paying jobs for high school graduates. There are lots of high paying jobs available up the road in Ft. Meade Maryland, jobs in cyber security. Unfortunately, the Baltimore city schools don't produce math/engineering/computer science graduates. Despite the fact that they spend over $17K/student in Baltimore.
If the oppressed African American population of Baltimore wants to break out of this cycle, they need to demand better instruction, and stay in school. Society needs to help, but a large part of this is personal responsibility.
If the oppressed African American population of Baltimore wants to break out of this cycle, they need to demand better instruction, and stay in school. Society needs to help, but a large part of this is personal responsibility.
1
Who is this WE? I do not want to be included in the WE. I do not ignore bad schools nor do I choose what the media covers. Someone ignores, and that is not all white people, but some people of all colors, people with power and privilege. The economic and social system may need to be reconsidered, for people of all colors who struggle to survive and make a better life for themselves. We all may need to reconsider our priorities in this society - shift focus from consumerism and choose to provide for our people instead of make the wealthy wealthier.
3
The fundamental failing in the black community is the breakdown in the family structure. Where were Freddie Gray's parents when he was out on the street selling dope? The police knew Freddie from numerous former encounters. That is not to forgive disproportionate force in apprehending him and beating him (if indeed that is what happened) when he was in police custody. But it is said as a corrective to the absolute silence of those who would blame every problem in the black community on someone else. How can any government repair what's really wrong in communities like Baltimore's? What would a "Truth and Reconciliation Commission" do but indulge in a lot of politically correct cliches, and prepare the way for several more wasteful government programs which will change nothing as long as there are no fathers at home and women have numerous children who are palmed off on grandmom? It is foolish to go on blaming everyone else for a community's problems when there is no family structure to help reform what's really wrong. Who fathered the children and then disappeared? The government can't do everything and asking it to do more and more will only yield more bureaucracy and more waste.
2
So, being a mentally challenged (he was affected by lead as a child) individual who sells dope on the street justifies murder of this individual. I don't believe in a truth and Reconciliation Commission either but we have to do something about opportunities in neighborhoods like this as they are in every city in the US. As a country, we refuse to address the problems just brand people thugs and justify whatever is coming to them. The rich make laws that protect their incomes at the expense of everyone, wall themselves into communities that protect them from seeing what is happening, then complain that it is an outrage that people riot.
Do any of these abusive cops have mother's like Toya Graham who can shame, slap and stun them? Her son is a 16 year old boy. The cops are supposed to be grown professional men.
Pot smoking Choom Gang Hawaiian punk Barry Obama was lucky that he grew up privileged and protected half white by biology and all white by culture. Barack was a "thug" in safe sheltered environment unlike the mean streets of Baltimore or Chicago. President Obama has a drone target kill list that left 16 year old American citizen Abdulrahman al-Awalaki dead. Wrong tone and message from the wrong person in the White House. Michelle Obama knows Chicago's cold mean streets.
Plutocrat entertainer professional athletes like Carmelo Anthony and Ray Lewis are not credible role models nor spokesmen on this issue.
The miracle is that there has not been a sustained violent Black African American rebellion and civil war. Blacks are far more morally and legally aggrieved than were the Founding Father's and George Washington or the civil warriors and Abraham Lincoln. Demonization of blacks as being innately uniquely lazy, immoral, ignorant, violent and criminal is rich with irony, hypocrisy and bigotry.
The March on Washington in 1963 and the Million Man March in 1995 accomplished what? Malcolm X dismissed the first as a futile walk between monuments to two dead white supremacists. The latter was ignored by Bill Clinton who doubled down in the war on drugs that led to black mass incarceration.
Pot smoking Choom Gang Hawaiian punk Barry Obama was lucky that he grew up privileged and protected half white by biology and all white by culture. Barack was a "thug" in safe sheltered environment unlike the mean streets of Baltimore or Chicago. President Obama has a drone target kill list that left 16 year old American citizen Abdulrahman al-Awalaki dead. Wrong tone and message from the wrong person in the White House. Michelle Obama knows Chicago's cold mean streets.
Plutocrat entertainer professional athletes like Carmelo Anthony and Ray Lewis are not credible role models nor spokesmen on this issue.
The miracle is that there has not been a sustained violent Black African American rebellion and civil war. Blacks are far more morally and legally aggrieved than were the Founding Father's and George Washington or the civil warriors and Abraham Lincoln. Demonization of blacks as being innately uniquely lazy, immoral, ignorant, violent and criminal is rich with irony, hypocrisy and bigotry.
The March on Washington in 1963 and the Million Man March in 1995 accomplished what? Malcolm X dismissed the first as a futile walk between monuments to two dead white supremacists. The latter was ignored by Bill Clinton who doubled down in the war on drugs that led to black mass incarceration.
4
“It’s about a system that is not addressing young people’s needs"
The Enlightened in search of a cure to the self inflected wound. What tonic can be taken to prevent that which has already occurred? Where is the fix outside of the root cause? How can we fix these poor people without their involvement in the repair?
Without liberal doses of shame, blame, responsibility and accountability . . . just more toxic liberal pixie excuse dust.
The Enlightened in search of a cure to the self inflected wound. What tonic can be taken to prevent that which has already occurred? Where is the fix outside of the root cause? How can we fix these poor people without their involvement in the repair?
Without liberal doses of shame, blame, responsibility and accountability . . . just more toxic liberal pixie excuse dust.
2
When people riot and burn down their own neighborhoods it is a symptom that goes much deeper than mere surface motive, whether it happens in the streets of Baltimore, Tsarist Russia, or Revolutionary France: it is the ground of alienation, hopelessness, and despair.
Until we are willing to go beyond addressing the symptoms and correct the root causes, our social malignancies will only continue to metastasize.
Until we are willing to go beyond addressing the symptoms and correct the root causes, our social malignancies will only continue to metastasize.
1
Exposing the plight of the black urban poor won't fuel change as long as the black urban poor are perceived as "them". There are urgent problems in many of our poor urban black neighborhoods; but there's also long standing social and economic desperation in many white rural areas that manifests itself in a culture of poverty, unemployment, drugs, alcohol, abuse, and single motherhood. And let's not overlook the plight of America's suburbs with their mixed racial and ethnic populations. White towns in Indiana are suffering with outbreaks of HIV because residents are sharing needles that are used to inject prescription opiates that are melted down.
Black inner city plight gets the media's attention because its problems are so concentrated. I submit that the black inner city plight is the canary in the coal mine; it is a harbinger of what has happened and will continue to happen as long as America remains captive to a mindset that embraces survival of the fittest and prosperity for the most worthy.
America has been a great experiment. She was founded on the premise that equality under the law and freedom from sovereign oppression could open doors for countless numbers of citizens. Americans must ask how well the experiment is working out if the law is not enforced equally by those designated to protect and serve; and, if sovereign oppression is merely replaced with an oppression that is economic and social.
Black inner city plight gets the media's attention because its problems are so concentrated. I submit that the black inner city plight is the canary in the coal mine; it is a harbinger of what has happened and will continue to happen as long as America remains captive to a mindset that embraces survival of the fittest and prosperity for the most worthy.
America has been a great experiment. She was founded on the premise that equality under the law and freedom from sovereign oppression could open doors for countless numbers of citizens. Americans must ask how well the experiment is working out if the law is not enforced equally by those designated to protect and serve; and, if sovereign oppression is merely replaced with an oppression that is economic and social.
2
I would welcome a commission on America's Criminal Industrial Complex. But to frame bad governance as a racial issue will just serve to assuage the guilt of whites while keeping their foot firming on the throats of blacks.
Civil and human rights are colorblind and all conversation away from our principle of 'and justice for all' are misguided.
The issue is "Us" not "Us vs Them".
Civil and human rights are colorblind and all conversation away from our principle of 'and justice for all' are misguided.
The issue is "Us" not "Us vs Them".
2
Poverty is hardly confined to black urban communities. It is a poison that affects the lives of many people who are not minorities. And it is increasing as the economy drives any gains from a recovery to the rich and very rich.
The illusion that people get what they deserve makes it hard to address inequality. Somehow Americans have acquired the idea that redistribution is unfair. There are kernels of truth in that belief, but without some systematic redistribution, we will be doomed to a society obsessed with keeping the lid on unrest born of misery.
The illusion that people get what they deserve makes it hard to address inequality. Somehow Americans have acquired the idea that redistribution is unfair. There are kernels of truth in that belief, but without some systematic redistribution, we will be doomed to a society obsessed with keeping the lid on unrest born of misery.
There are countless poor people around the globe who are perfectly rational human beings that do not partake in violence or crime in any way. Stop blaming idiocy on inequality.
1
Whenever police kill, there should be an arrest and a public trial before a jury of their peers. That's what the founders intended, that's what the community deserves. That prevents collusion among the police, the prosecutors, the courts and the politicians and the cover up which is the first response of our political class. From sea to shining sea, justice is being subverted in secret behind closed doors.
1
Police have a monopoly on the use of force so comparing how conservatives justify police violence while saying that liberals too often excuse rioters violence is a false equivalence and does nothing to underscore the great points that you made in the rest of the column.
Your idea of a Truth and Reconciliaion Commission is excellent but the impediment in the road to getting that done is the GOP and their domination of Congress and most state legislatures.
Your idea of a Truth and Reconciliaion Commission is excellent but the impediment in the road to getting that done is the GOP and their domination of Congress and most state legislatures.
2
We spend hundreds of billions of dollars each year fighting terrorism. The number of Americans killed by terrorists is about the same as the number killed by falling furniture.
Suppose we took a quarter of that figure and gave jobs to men between 16 and 35 in zip codes where violent crime rates are high.
Which investment would yield a better return in protecting Americans against violence?
Suppose we took a quarter of that figure and gave jobs to men between 16 and 35 in zip codes where violent crime rates are high.
Which investment would yield a better return in protecting Americans against violence?
3
If change is the goal,"protesters" should demand that individuals
1.get the best education and work skills possible
2. obey the law
3. don't have children before they can support them
4. don't take drugs
5. don't consider themselves victims because that gets them nowhere
1.get the best education and work skills possible
2. obey the law
3. don't have children before they can support them
4. don't take drugs
5. don't consider themselves victims because that gets them nowhere
4
We have money to spend on prisons. We have money to spend on defense. We have money to spend on all sorts of things that do not improve life but put money into the pockets of people who don't need more money. Yet we can't find money to spend on keeping young people out of the juvenile justice system or the adult prison system. We can't spend money on making sure that every child, no matter what their parents' income is, gets a shot at a decent education in a safe decent school. Then, when these same people grow up and cannot find jobs, or run into problems with the law, we blame them for our failure to give them a reasons to participate in the legitimate economy. We tell them how to live their lives, how they should spend their food stamps, how they should discipline their children, how their fathers are missing and so on. Fathers aren't there because mothers cannot get welfare if the father is in the home.
Why aren't we as hard on the lobbyists and businesses that insist upon tax cuts, on the very rich who claim that having pay more taxes is fascism? Shouldn't businesses be giving back to the communities they claim to care about? Shouldn't they be supporting education, better roads, a cleaner environment, a better health care system? Shouldn't America be giving all children, especially poor ones, visible reasons to see hard work paying off? Or are they supposed to take our word for it? I don't and I'm white. I've experienced first hand how little hard work pays.
Why aren't we as hard on the lobbyists and businesses that insist upon tax cuts, on the very rich who claim that having pay more taxes is fascism? Shouldn't businesses be giving back to the communities they claim to care about? Shouldn't they be supporting education, better roads, a cleaner environment, a better health care system? Shouldn't America be giving all children, especially poor ones, visible reasons to see hard work paying off? Or are they supposed to take our word for it? I don't and I'm white. I've experienced first hand how little hard work pays.
6
A recent study showed that only13% of 8th graders can read at an 8th grade level and 12% in math If they don't have an adequate education their options will always be limited. The CVS was looted and burned. There are people in the community that are out of a job because people exploit a terrible death to commit criminal acts. I believe some were legitimately upset but many were there for the expressed purpose of taking advantage
Why is it that many of our financially strapped cities are run by Democrats? Baltimore, st Loius,
Detroit , Newark, Chicago Oakland, Stockton, Birmingham
Finally why should busineses commit to coming if this keeps happening? Why should they invest if they see that happening over and over?
Intrerest free loans for minority businesses for 5 for minority owners; tax breaks for those who commit to come; banks would set up lines of credit to help with payroll, purchase new equip To me tgat would help a great
Why is it that many of our financially strapped cities are run by Democrats? Baltimore, st Loius,
Detroit , Newark, Chicago Oakland, Stockton, Birmingham
Finally why should busineses commit to coming if this keeps happening? Why should they invest if they see that happening over and over?
Intrerest free loans for minority businesses for 5 for minority owners; tax breaks for those who commit to come; banks would set up lines of credit to help with payroll, purchase new equip To me tgat would help a great
1
FBI's Uniform Crime Report 2004--2013 Homicdes Officers killed by race/ Offenders by race
2013
25 white officers killed 2 black officers
15 offebers were white 11 were black
2012
42 white officers were killed 6 black officers
30 offenders were white 16 were black
2011
68 white officers were killed 3 black officers
43 offenders were white 29 were black
Mr Kristof, if there were only 3 blacks officers killed but 29 black offenders doesn't indicate that a sizable number of white officers were killed by blacks?
2010
48 white officers killed 7 black officers
25 offenders were white, 35 were black
2009
42 wite officers killed 3 black
24 offenders were white 17 were vlack
2008
30 white officers killed 9 black officers
20 white offenders 21 were black
2007
47 white officers killed 8 black officers
35 white offenders 24 black
2006
38 white officers were killed 5 black officers
25 offenders were white 29 black offenders
2005
47 white officers killed 8 black officers
36 offenders were white 21 were black
2004
46 white officers killed 10 were black
20 offenders were white 30 were black
You and the New York Times constantly talk about blacks killed by white officers. Between 2002--2012 there were 465 white officers killed 67 black officers. In 2011 there 3 black officers killed but 29 offenders were black. In 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004 there were more black offendes than white offenders. What does that indicate?
2013
25 white officers killed 2 black officers
15 offebers were white 11 were black
2012
42 white officers were killed 6 black officers
30 offenders were white 16 were black
2011
68 white officers were killed 3 black officers
43 offenders were white 29 were black
Mr Kristof, if there were only 3 blacks officers killed but 29 black offenders doesn't indicate that a sizable number of white officers were killed by blacks?
2010
48 white officers killed 7 black officers
25 offenders were white, 35 were black
2009
42 wite officers killed 3 black
24 offenders were white 17 were vlack
2008
30 white officers killed 9 black officers
20 white offenders 21 were black
2007
47 white officers killed 8 black officers
35 white offenders 24 black
2006
38 white officers were killed 5 black officers
25 offenders were white 29 black offenders
2005
47 white officers killed 8 black officers
36 offenders were white 21 were black
2004
46 white officers killed 10 were black
20 offenders were white 30 were black
You and the New York Times constantly talk about blacks killed by white officers. Between 2002--2012 there were 465 white officers killed 67 black officers. In 2011 there 3 black officers killed but 29 offenders were black. In 2010, 2008, 2006, 2004 there were more black offendes than white offenders. What does that indicate?
2
What does that indicate? It indicates that blacks are good at killing cops.
1
Starting with the line
25 white officers killed 2 black officers
guarantees confusion.
I am assuming that the first line of each year is
white officer deaths, black officer deaths
and that the second line is
white offender deaths, black offender deaths
In any case, the numbers will be hard to use because we don't have corresponding denominators. It would also help to have some classification on the nature of the encounters -- traffic stops, robberies in progress, domestic violence, and so on.
25 white officers killed 2 black officers
guarantees confusion.
I am assuming that the first line of each year is
white officer deaths, black officer deaths
and that the second line is
white offender deaths, black offender deaths
In any case, the numbers will be hard to use because we don't have corresponding denominators. It would also help to have some classification on the nature of the encounters -- traffic stops, robberies in progress, domestic violence, and so on.
I am struck once again by the denial of reality and the obvious in most media coverage of events in Baltimore. That obvious reality is that the Democrat Party has been running Baltimore and Maryland for generations as they have Chicago, Illinois, Detroit, Atlanta, LA etc. The Democrats are the responsible party and the "system" and the power structure in those places. When Barack Obama was a community organizer who was he organizing the community to struggle with? The Democrat power structure. It is a difficult, awkward and unpleasant truth that liberals need to face up to. Likewise African Americans must face that truth and accept responsibility for voting almost exclusively for the one political party most responsible for their terrible condition in the midst of plenty.
3
Good article, but I do think you contradict yourself when you scold those on social media who observe that riots bring attention. Can you honestly say your column would be about racial inequality today if these riots hadn't happened?
1
Wealthy parents don't find their children "...consigned to dismal schools, denied any opportunity to get ahead, more likely to end up in prison than college, harassed and occasionally killed by the police" because they can afford to live in communities that exclude anyone who does not share their level of affluence…. and this, more than anything, leads to the inexcusable "...complacency at the systematic long-term denial of equal opportunity to people based on their skin color and ZIP code." I doubt that affluent communities will be willing to build affordable housing within their ZIP codes… and I doubt that "school choice" will ever enable a child in the Bronx to commute to a school in a nearby affluent suburb… and, I doubt that those "wealthy white parents" will be willing to see their taxes increase to provide better schools to serve children raised in poverty or to provide the social services needed to help those children. We actively oppose these three potential means of addressing the inequities in opportunities… and this unwillingness to provide help to those in need is even more inexcusable than "complacency".
1
" It was of course Gray’s death, after an injury at the hands of the police, that set off the rioting." New statements from a witness suggest that Gray may have tried to injure himself. In any case, the column states that his injury was caused by the police, a presumption without evidence at best.......
1
Wait -- what sparked this rioting or rebellion was the brutal death of yet another black man at the hands of police, and a significant part of the public -- the white public-- is indifferent and think blacks Men are not treated differently from whites. I think that is astounding and very troubling and I'm a middle aged white guy.
3
I just returned from a two week relocation cruise from Florida to Spain. The cruise ship had over 900 employees, most who were young and in the service positions. Almost all of those 900 employees were from Indonesia or the Philippines. Most appeared to be quite happy with their jobs. Many had families back home to whom they would send their paychecks. Perhaps we should encourage the huge cruise companies to consider hiring young people, who are jobless and restless, from this country. I realize there are probably American labor laws which might make this difficult, but surely they could be modified to give these kids a chance in life.
We have lived with a dysfunctional societal system for over a hundred years and we keep being surprised by dysfunctional outcomes (outbursts). We tolerate very unconnected lifestyles caused by hugely different supports situations. If we want to see a real change, we might try to emulate the Europeans on a few societal policies. At least, try.
1. Provide a robust safety net covering every American without concern with the recipient’s righteousness:
a. Infant care from birth
b. Professional Child care
c. Quality schooling , pre-K through 12 and into free higher education for those that qualify
d. Decent housing, nutrition and health care
2. Sharply reduce the number of people ending up in the criminal justice system.
a. Sharply reduce the number of activities deemed “criminal”
b. Sharply reduce penalties (in Europe, many are short or “suspended”)
c. Make every effort to “reinsert” (a French policy) people into society. Seal the record after the end of sentence so the convict can find employment. Also provide free training.
3. Remove firing arms from the public. Their sole purpose is to kill a human being. Even though 95%+ of gun owners never commit a crime, the proliferation makes it absolutely certain that many arms will fall into people who will commit a crime
This was found to be true in Europe where firing arms are very hard to get.
This may require a constitutional amendment given the anachronistic second amendment and the ridiculous interpretation of what it means
1. Provide a robust safety net covering every American without concern with the recipient’s righteousness:
a. Infant care from birth
b. Professional Child care
c. Quality schooling , pre-K through 12 and into free higher education for those that qualify
d. Decent housing, nutrition and health care
2. Sharply reduce the number of people ending up in the criminal justice system.
a. Sharply reduce the number of activities deemed “criminal”
b. Sharply reduce penalties (in Europe, many are short or “suspended”)
c. Make every effort to “reinsert” (a French policy) people into society. Seal the record after the end of sentence so the convict can find employment. Also provide free training.
3. Remove firing arms from the public. Their sole purpose is to kill a human being. Even though 95%+ of gun owners never commit a crime, the proliferation makes it absolutely certain that many arms will fall into people who will commit a crime
This was found to be true in Europe where firing arms are very hard to get.
This may require a constitutional amendment given the anachronistic second amendment and the ridiculous interpretation of what it means
4
It's pitiful that baltimores leaders, all black, have done so little for their community. It's pitiful that the U.S black caucus has done so little for the people they represent....unlike the hispanic caucus who have made great inroads representing illegal aliens and their fight to demand all social welfare benefits to which they have no right. And it is pitifully
that the first African American president who was elected by both black and whites and who represented hope and change for our country has done so little for the black community but is authorizing billions of dollars to help the illegal alien community rather than the poor, blighted urban communities. This is social inequality
that the first African American president who was elected by both black and whites and who represented hope and change for our country has done so little for the black community but is authorizing billions of dollars to help the illegal alien community rather than the poor, blighted urban communities. This is social inequality
"That also represents a failure on our part in the American news media. We focus television cameras on the drama of a burning CVS store but ignore the systemic catastrophe of broken schools, joblessness, fatherless kids, heroin, oppressive policing — and, maybe the worst kind of poverty of all, hopelessness."
The above statement is right on target. The United States is suffering from bent media and a Congress from whom little good can be expected. Was there ever a time when decent Congressional leaders would say, "Enough is enough. Let's go after this problem and fix it." Certainly we cannot expect anything like that now.
Our leaders have to get behind and work for our country but they have been lured away by the wealthy. Congress could enact laws that would help get rid of many of the problems faced by the Blacks in our large cities.
Bill Clinton got hard on criminals and it worked. It was an incorrect answer, but with a President behind it, it caught on. Now, from the highest echelon of our government, we need help reorganizing law enforcement. I firmly believe it starts at the top and this police brutality issue would be a good point on which our candidates could and should act.
The above statement is right on target. The United States is suffering from bent media and a Congress from whom little good can be expected. Was there ever a time when decent Congressional leaders would say, "Enough is enough. Let's go after this problem and fix it." Certainly we cannot expect anything like that now.
Our leaders have to get behind and work for our country but they have been lured away by the wealthy. Congress could enact laws that would help get rid of many of the problems faced by the Blacks in our large cities.
Bill Clinton got hard on criminals and it worked. It was an incorrect answer, but with a President behind it, it caught on. Now, from the highest echelon of our government, we need help reorganizing law enforcement. I firmly believe it starts at the top and this police brutality issue would be a good point on which our candidates could and should act.
5
I am favor freedoms right and guarantees in Baltimore
Most of the excuses and solutions to what is wrong with inner city black neighborhoods look at symptoms not the real problem. The most telling stat i see is that in NYC is that 75% of blacks do not finish high school. After that not much else matters. If you cant finish high school their is a good chance you will be trapped in poverty your whole life with all of the associated problems of poverty.
The people of NYC have spoke about what they want done about the schools, and they elected a mayor who is all for the status quo.
All i have seen is the rollback of all the reforms instituted under Bloomberg. So i expect nothing to change.
The system appears so broken based upon a 75% drop out rate of african americans that it should be disbanded and just start over. It certainly could not be worse. I am sure their are many great hard working people in the school system but as a system as a whole its just broken.
The people of NYC have spoke about what they want done about the schools, and they elected a mayor who is all for the status quo.
All i have seen is the rollback of all the reforms instituted under Bloomberg. So i expect nothing to change.
The system appears so broken based upon a 75% drop out rate of african americans that it should be disbanded and just start over. It certainly could not be worse. I am sure their are many great hard working people in the school system but as a system as a whole its just broken.
4
“That’s my only son, and at the end of the day I don’t want him to be a Freddie Gray.
This mom should have added to her quote that at the end of the day she didn't want her only son ou on the street throwing bricks at the police, and at the end of the day, if he was home doing school work he would not be a Freddie Grey? Where were the fathers in all of this? Why weren't they out on the street looking for their sons and daughters? Unfortunately, we know the answer.
This mom should have added to her quote that at the end of the day she didn't want her only son ou on the street throwing bricks at the police, and at the end of the day, if he was home doing school work he would not be a Freddie Grey? Where were the fathers in all of this? Why weren't they out on the street looking for their sons and daughters? Unfortunately, we know the answer.
5
Whome,
The children of West Baltimore are looking at the same future as the young men Syria and Iraq. There is no upwards mobility in USA 2015. It is the least upwardly mobile developed country on the planet. Do you believe the children of West Baltimore have the same schools and access to education as those living in the more affluent parts of Baltimore? Do you believe they even speak the same language?
We have almost three hundred years of written Irish history to inform us what happens when the deck is stacked against you. When you believe there is no escape very often your perceptions conform to the facts. The middle class in America is shrinking and the children of factory workers know they do not have the skills necessary to compete with my grandchildren who speak more than one language and started their education before they left the womb.
What is it about what you see with your own eyes that you don't believe? I live in a white working class community where the people are bright and healthy and the schools are up to contemporary standards. The people resourceful but they know and their children know they cannot compete with the children who grow up in the kind of community in which I grew up. The world is not fair I could read as well at ten as their children read when they graduate from high school. The mill is closed, there are no jobs
In our sophisticated society, our children are crossing the finish line when theirs are starting the race.
The children of West Baltimore are looking at the same future as the young men Syria and Iraq. There is no upwards mobility in USA 2015. It is the least upwardly mobile developed country on the planet. Do you believe the children of West Baltimore have the same schools and access to education as those living in the more affluent parts of Baltimore? Do you believe they even speak the same language?
We have almost three hundred years of written Irish history to inform us what happens when the deck is stacked against you. When you believe there is no escape very often your perceptions conform to the facts. The middle class in America is shrinking and the children of factory workers know they do not have the skills necessary to compete with my grandchildren who speak more than one language and started their education before they left the womb.
What is it about what you see with your own eyes that you don't believe? I live in a white working class community where the people are bright and healthy and the schools are up to contemporary standards. The people resourceful but they know and their children know they cannot compete with the children who grow up in the kind of community in which I grew up. The world is not fair I could read as well at ten as their children read when they graduate from high school. The mill is closed, there are no jobs
In our sophisticated society, our children are crossing the finish line when theirs are starting the race.
1
There is another story about a police caused fractured spine that the media has essentially overlooked. A grandfather visiting his successful son and his family whose only crime was he decided to walk late in the evening in a upscale Alabama neighborhood. As usual a white resident called the police and their aggressive confrontation of this man is captured on videotape. The man did not know English very well and responded "India, India" in answer to their question. At some point one of the officers slammed this man so violently to the ground that it caused damage to his spine and paralysis. At least the Justice department is prosecuting this one. Now we see a stampede by commenters here to blame the victims of police brutality. You can have all the responsible black fathers you want in black communities and this will do nothing to stem police violence. At some point one have to explain why European police officers shoot and maim their populations at 1/10 the rate in the U.S. and the systemic racism that allows police law breakers to escape justice.
101
Nicholas, we don't need another Truth and Reconciliation Commission. It will be an updated opportunity for the same basic group of people to burnish their resumes with the same conclusions.
You outlined a handful of conclusions in your piece. I suggest we try to tackle each of those without the aid of a new "panel". The bottom line is this: Baltimore, for all its flaws, is policed, led, and inhabited by Blacks. There are few places more racially representative of the population. However, the Blacks in Baltimore still feel that "Whites don't understand us" and desire not to be helped by do-good White residents trying to step in to a world that is hardly recognizable to them.
For all of the justifiable reasons one can identify, Blacks have gone backward while a swath of immigrants have hit the American shores, before and during the Civil Rights engagement of the 1960s. It is not snarky when Whites (or Hmong or Indian or Khmer) ask: "Well, then, what else should we do?".
We get it that the Black rioters are not representative of the mothers and fathers (where they can be found) of Baltimore neighborhoods. But they are still there, opportunistically looting and stealing. If we cannot police them, to protect the law-abiding, what to do? Excusing Mr. Gray's criminal record, due to lead poisoning, is an important data point. But the commission you want to empanel needs to operate in the future. What new conclusions will they uncover that have not been hashed to death?
You outlined a handful of conclusions in your piece. I suggest we try to tackle each of those without the aid of a new "panel". The bottom line is this: Baltimore, for all its flaws, is policed, led, and inhabited by Blacks. There are few places more racially representative of the population. However, the Blacks in Baltimore still feel that "Whites don't understand us" and desire not to be helped by do-good White residents trying to step in to a world that is hardly recognizable to them.
For all of the justifiable reasons one can identify, Blacks have gone backward while a swath of immigrants have hit the American shores, before and during the Civil Rights engagement of the 1960s. It is not snarky when Whites (or Hmong or Indian or Khmer) ask: "Well, then, what else should we do?".
We get it that the Black rioters are not representative of the mothers and fathers (where they can be found) of Baltimore neighborhoods. But they are still there, opportunistically looting and stealing. If we cannot police them, to protect the law-abiding, what to do? Excusing Mr. Gray's criminal record, due to lead poisoning, is an important data point. But the commission you want to empanel needs to operate in the future. What new conclusions will they uncover that have not been hashed to death?
29
In reading through the comments I was reminded of the words from "Officer Krupke" (West Side Story) written in 1961. It would appear from the debate that the more things change the more they stay the same.
2
In my old country they've a proverb " Help yourself and God will help you".
2
As to the proverb from the old country "Help yourself and God will help you..."
In my bible there is another saying: Whatever you have done for the least of my brothers, you have done to me.
Both apply.
In my bible there is another saying: Whatever you have done for the least of my brothers, you have done to me.
Both apply.
To understand the hopelessness in Baltimore look at its addiction rate, not only the number of addicts but the percentage of its population is unparalleled by any other city in the world.
1
Hard to find an excuse for rioting, burning and looting.
Try as hard as I can I do not see what it gains for the group rioting. Rather seems to me to swell public opinion against them.
Try as hard as I can I do not see what it gains for the group rioting. Rather seems to me to swell public opinion against them.
4
The real crisis is not confined conveniently and simplistically to one racial demographic located in an inner city. The 1% has burgeoned at the expense and to the ruinous detriment of the rest of our "body politic" including the once-mighty American middle class. If those of us who don't pay their bills with trust fund money and sat on corporate boards would ever look up from our Chinese electronics for a few seconds, we would realize that we've all been had by this oligarchy of multinationals and their select beneficiaries. Imagine the uproar if we could all unite around our declining upward mobility...
4
What a crock!
Society does not owe these lawless youth anything. They have grown up with the attitude that they are entitled. They are not.
When they drop out of school, it is their fault. When they don't learn anything in school it is their fault. When they do drugs, it is their fault. When they steal, it is their fault. it is their fault. When they have unprotected sex and suffer the consequences, it is their fault. When they are ignorant, lazy, look slovenly, have an attitude and can't get a job, it is their fault.
This problem will never be solved until members of the black community accepts their responsibility to clean up their act.
Society does not owe these lawless youth anything. They have grown up with the attitude that they are entitled. They are not.
When they drop out of school, it is their fault. When they don't learn anything in school it is their fault. When they do drugs, it is their fault. When they steal, it is their fault. it is their fault. When they have unprotected sex and suffer the consequences, it is their fault. When they are ignorant, lazy, look slovenly, have an attitude and can't get a job, it is their fault.
This problem will never be solved until members of the black community accepts their responsibility to clean up their act.
31
"This problem will never be solved until members of the black community accepts their responsibility to clean up their act."
let's face it. They never will. They will continue to blame whites, koreans, etc. And hence take forever to take steps to correct the problem.
let's face it. They never will. They will continue to blame whites, koreans, etc. And hence take forever to take steps to correct the problem.
1
Baltimore a black democrat city
Stop blaming others
Stop blaming others
10
Baltimore is still part of our ultra conservative America.
Stop blaming others.
Stop blaming others.
You mean Democratic. You want an adjective.
1
This is a thoughtful array of pertinent observations. But, it seems to me it falls short when it comes to solutions. Instead of "exploring inequity" with yet another commission, what about action to fix broken schools, broken policing, and broken land use policies which foster urban sprawl, dysfuntionality and segregation?
22
How do you get people to agree to work on fixing those problems? See for example the comments by Gene from Atlanta.
Thanks for a response that is not simplistic. Lived, worked, went to grad school, raised children in Baltimore; arrived soon after the last riot. Little was learned from that time: there are still burned-out buildings in same neighborhoods--always reminder to people living there how little their lives matter. The real challenge is what structural changes is the entitled class ready to make.
For one, would they fund massive improvement of Baltimore's public school system?
For one, would they fund massive improvement of Baltimore's public school system?
Kristof is another empty suit, another talking head. He's invested in the system and do will never do anything to change the system. Why would he? He makes money from it as it is. It's foolish to ask people like him for solutions when they benefit from the status quo.
1
In case it escaped Niick Kristof's notice Baltimore has a black female mayor and a black police commissioner so the usual "whites are dumb, insensitive and clueless" routine to explain away the violence isn't going to work this time. America also has a black president and a newly minted black female attorney general. But at least Nick Kristof now has fresh material for a new round of columns blaming whites for the current round of mayhem engulfing and devouring America.
11
“It’s about a system that is not addressing young people’s needs."..... And who is it that is not addressing young people's needs? In Ferguson the voter turnout for the previous local election was 12%. In the inner city schools in Baltimore the absentee rate is 49%. What percentage of the kids out their on the streets are being raised by a single mother? We need to try whatever we can to solve the problem, but it is awfully hard to help people if they are not prepared to help themselves.
13
Yes, Toya Graham made a dramatic and positive appearance in dragging her son away from the rioting, but sadly, she also personifies, as the single mother of 4+ children, a central part of the problem. Everyone loves to cite long lists of underlying factors for the bad behavior of these young people-- heroin, broken schools, oppressive policing, joblessness, etc -- but few commentators have the courage or wisdom to assign priorities to all these factors. They are not all equal, and clearly the absence of family structure in all parts of American society is central to a host of our problems.
Countries that have not reconciled with their pasts are unable to move forward and keep adding salt into the same open wounds. Similar to Spain's long years under the Franco dictatorship and Turkey's denial of the Armenian Genocide, two that are prominent in my own heritage, the United States has never been able to address the root causes of racism, still open wounds that not even a Civil War could mend. It is past time for a national Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
2
And your and my America still classifies people by "race" thus preserving a racist practice that goes all the way back to the days of slavery.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
False equivalence in your opening paragraph.
Rioters only riot after massive pressure, harassment, and violence by police and lifelong inequality of opportunity, and after peaceful protests get them nothing.
The fact is that police violence is systematic, under reported, and a fact of life across America. And the militarization of police alongside the patriot act has intensified their brutality.
Burning stuff down is not going to change things, especially with people like Wolf Blitzer in major media positions. But you credit African-American leaders for claiming that street violence was unconscionable.
What is unconscionable is that when the police and white America get a small taste of the daily dose of violence, uncertainty, harassment and destruction that is administered by the police they bloviate in such abstract terms.
Police snap spines, break jaws, and gun down black men almost every day across America. This whole discussion should be on an out of control police force and the lack of real economic opportunity that is the ongoing legacy of segregation, in terms of racial, economic and neighborhood zoning. It is bad enough that we have zoned cities in racist, economically debilitating ways , but then to be surprised and condemnatory when the people explode is status quo apologetics.
Sometimes riots are rebellions, and dignity is threatened to such an extent and the majority is so silent that people burn property. How preferable to snapping spines. How civilized.
Rioters only riot after massive pressure, harassment, and violence by police and lifelong inequality of opportunity, and after peaceful protests get them nothing.
The fact is that police violence is systematic, under reported, and a fact of life across America. And the militarization of police alongside the patriot act has intensified their brutality.
Burning stuff down is not going to change things, especially with people like Wolf Blitzer in major media positions. But you credit African-American leaders for claiming that street violence was unconscionable.
What is unconscionable is that when the police and white America get a small taste of the daily dose of violence, uncertainty, harassment and destruction that is administered by the police they bloviate in such abstract terms.
Police snap spines, break jaws, and gun down black men almost every day across America. This whole discussion should be on an out of control police force and the lack of real economic opportunity that is the ongoing legacy of segregation, in terms of racial, economic and neighborhood zoning. It is bad enough that we have zoned cities in racist, economically debilitating ways , but then to be surprised and condemnatory when the people explode is status quo apologetics.
Sometimes riots are rebellions, and dignity is threatened to such an extent and the majority is so silent that people burn property. How preferable to snapping spines. How civilized.
3
You are right Mr Kristof... it is the complacency that is damaging. Even major news channels color their presentation of such events with well-simulated horror at riots but fail to display similar emotion at wrongful deaths or to examine the cases impartially. That is one major reason for the depth of complacency in our nation - too many people are being schooled into indifference and apathy by our media.
Eventually, we all learn how to behave towards others from somewhere... whether at home from our parents and siblings or at school from our peers, or from television or at church, or from books and movies. If we are still not a colorblind nation, it is because we are failing somewhere at educating our children about the equal worth of all human lives. How else can one explain news media dismissing the anguish of an entire community as a "culture of grievance"? We should all be ashamed...
Eventually, we all learn how to behave towards others from somewhere... whether at home from our parents and siblings or at school from our peers, or from television or at church, or from books and movies. If we are still not a colorblind nation, it is because we are failing somewhere at educating our children about the equal worth of all human lives. How else can one explain news media dismissing the anguish of an entire community as a "culture of grievance"? We should all be ashamed...
A decade or so ago, the Washington Post ran a story reporting that 49% of the adults in the city were functionally illiterate. DC's about the same size as Baltimore and has a large black majority like Baltimore too. It's safe to assume that well over half the black adults, therefore, in both cities are functionally illiterate. Surely the most realistic starting point for talking about black "hopelessness" in such cities is the fact that most black adults simply can't read, and are therefore unemployable. I've never heard anyone propose a way out of this bind for illiterate blacks. Until they can read well, there never will be a way out, and, let's face it, most of them never ever will.
12
That is quite an assumption.
The population of Baltimore has declined from 950 thousand in 1950 to 622 thousand today. The city has lost major industries like Bethlehem Steel at Sparrow's Point. Well paying blue collar jobs have been replaced by lower paying service jobs. When a city endures depopulation and deindustrialization, it's no surprise that many of its citizens live lives of frustration.
13
Having lived in Baltimore, the flight from the city is not only 'white flight', but all working and middle class people left the city because of rampant crime. That occurred even during the boom years, so the excuse of 'no jobs' does not ring true.
Baltimore is a scary place to live . The city empties every weekday at 5pm, as workers want to be sure to leave before it gets dark when roving gangs take over parts of the city.
Baltimore is a scary place to live . The city empties every weekday at 5pm, as workers want to be sure to leave before it gets dark when roving gangs take over parts of the city.
1
Mr. Kristoff:
I think it is time for someone to start talking about a "dream deferred" and this column is not it. The question no one seems to ask is how is it possible for anyone in this country to ask why this is happening' White people had a better understanding of why back in the 60's. How did we get so ignorant
again?
I can't help but remember Burt Lancaster in Judgement At Nuremburg shouting: were we deaf, were we dumb, were we blind? Well have we been?
This country has a lot of unfinished business to attend to. Kent State, 40 yrs. ago. It's time to pay the piper. Selma, Watts, Detroit.... We need to grow up.
I think it is time for someone to start talking about a "dream deferred" and this column is not it. The question no one seems to ask is how is it possible for anyone in this country to ask why this is happening' White people had a better understanding of why back in the 60's. How did we get so ignorant
again?
I can't help but remember Burt Lancaster in Judgement At Nuremburg shouting: were we deaf, were we dumb, were we blind? Well have we been?
This country has a lot of unfinished business to attend to. Kent State, 40 yrs. ago. It's time to pay the piper. Selma, Watts, Detroit.... We need to grow up.
7
The denial of opportunity is not based on skin color or zip code. Imagine if the current population of Baltimore moved out and college educated blacks moved in. The formerly failing schools would produce college bound kids and low crime would result in better relations with the police. So the problem really is the culture of this subsegment of the black community and police brutality is the symptom. In Detroit and New Orleans, when the police forces became overwhelmingly black and local, the problems actually got worse. Adjusted for participation rates, blacks may actually be less likely to be shot by police. Blacks shot by police is down 75% since the 1960s and is now about 200 per year (vs. 600 per year for non blacks). Blacks murdered by other blacks is about 6,000 per year. The media is creating this myth that police are the problem and this myth and the resulting violenace is very destructive mainly to black communities.
15
We may have grown pretty impressive cerebral cortices, Mr. Kristof, but the old reptilian brain still rules. As policemen, we kill people because of their race, as rioters we burn businesses in our own communities, as politicians we ignore the plight of the most vulnerable, and as concerned citizens we pay only lip service to the cause of justice. When will the ancient dragon in our brains stop spewing fire? And at what price?
6
“A riot is the language of the unheard.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1965
There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It's s time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away
We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
With a tip of the hat to Buffalo Springfield...
There's something happening here
What it is ain't exactly clear
There's a man with a gun over there
Telling me I got to beware
I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
There's battle lines being drawn
Nobody's right if everybody's wrong
Young people speaking their minds
Getting so much resistance from behind
It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
What a field-day for the heat
A thousand people in the street
Singing songs and carrying signs
Mostly say, hooray for our side
It's s time we stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
It starts when you're always afraid
You step out of line, the man come and take you away
We better stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, hey, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, now, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
Stop, children, what's that sound
Everybody look what's going down
With a tip of the hat to Buffalo Springfield...
9
Kristof: "We’ve had months of police incidents touching on a delicate subtext of race..."
Kristof: "...time..to step back and explore racial inequity in America.
Me: The subject is "racism", not race.
Me: Time to step back and explore inequity in America, the inequity of the non-living wage, of non-equitable health care.
Seeing things only in terms of two races blinds Americans but not this one to the fundamental failure of the United States to provide what is basic in many western European countries, one of them the country from which I am writing.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Kristof: "...time..to step back and explore racial inequity in America.
Me: The subject is "racism", not race.
Me: Time to step back and explore inequity in America, the inequity of the non-living wage, of non-equitable health care.
Seeing things only in terms of two races blinds Americans but not this one to the fundamental failure of the United States to provide what is basic in many western European countries, one of them the country from which I am writing.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
11
There was and is only one biological evolutionary neutral natural sexual DNA human race that appeared in East Africa 180-200, 000 years ago dusky, furless and walking upright. What we call race as in color is the biological impact reaction of isolated human populations at different latitudes to sun light and climate.
What we call race as in color is socioeconomic political educational American white supremacist history.
What we call race as in color is socioeconomic political educational American white supremacist history.
Mr. Kristof: "...after an injury at the hands of police." According to the Washington Post, this is not an established fact, as so casually tossed out by this columnist. Crowds and angry mobs are one thing. Reporters, especially at the Times, are expected to fact check and at least feign a degree of objectivity.
This op-ed writer is obviously more interested in selling his highly biased and incendiary views. What happened to "waiting till all the facts are in"?
This op-ed writer is obviously more interested in selling his highly biased and incendiary views. What happened to "waiting till all the facts are in"?
17
the truth of the matter is that it takes a thousand toya grahams doing what she did — rather than a clinton, obama, or clinton speech or comment — to effect real change. clinton, obama, clinton...and others...are simply riding the surface of a wave due to desire or necessity (e.g., a president must speak in times like this; a former president feels beholden to speak to protect his legacy; someone else wants to get elected). but the toya grahams are living in the turbulent maelstrom that is the wave — daily — and have no real choice but to act and let the wave break upon them or be consumed by it. that is what love and community leadership looks like.
7
It is correct that wealthy white parents would not tolerate the poor social and legal conditions experienced by African-American children. What is more (and missing from Kristoff's correct analysis) is the perspective of time. That is, African-American parents and children have been experiencing this for decades and generations. I truly doubt wealthy white parents would sit by idly or allow such conditions to persist for decades or generations. Yet, that is exactly what has been the case for African-Americans in America. I'm sixty four years old and it's been like this for as long as I can remember. I am so very tired of it.
24
So you are saying that wealthy black parents are at fault? Or are you saying there are no poor suffering white families because wealthy white parents have taken the responsibility of seeing that whites are helped out of poverty? I'm confused as to what your point actually is.
Yes, Freddie's behavior could be related to lead poisoning as a child, but mentioning it in this article only seems to be a detraction. Some may even seize on it as "Aha, the old lead poisoning defense."
2
Yes, lead poisoning as a child may indeed have resulted in some of Freddie Gray's behavior, but mentioning it here may only serve as a distraction. Some may even seize on it saying "Aha! The old lead poisoning defense!" There are likely many, many other contributing factors.
5
Everybody grew in houses with lead paint until the 1970-1980s when latex paint replaced lead paint. This includes the entire baby boom generation which invented the PC, the iPhone and all the wonderful toys and gadgets that are in generl use today. Yet, I don't see a sharp rise in the IQ in the younger folks raise in homes that never had lead paint in them?
The story is the breakdown of the black family. Almost three in four black children are born to one parent. This trend has also increased among whites, and in many white one parent homes the same problems exist..... Poor education, drugs, crime and unemployment. It isn't about white privilege, it's about wealth privilege. When blacks succeed economically they wind up with the same advantages as successful whites. Example OJ, hired the best lawyers and got away with murder.
It is sad but true the culture among most whites values education and individual responsibility. On the other hand, a culture of victimhood is resulting in generations of poor blacks. But a bigger problem is beginning to emerge. Other minority groups are running past black Americans. If you doubt this look at the results in education and unemployment. Whether from Latin or South America, Africa, Asia, or Eastern Europe these minorities, most with strong family units, are moving up the economic scale. Unless black leaders support fundamental cultural changes and a strong family unit is part of the solution the black problem will not be with white privilege but with immigration privilege. Indeed, with education that is already playing out.
It is sad but true the culture among most whites values education and individual responsibility. On the other hand, a culture of victimhood is resulting in generations of poor blacks. But a bigger problem is beginning to emerge. Other minority groups are running past black Americans. If you doubt this look at the results in education and unemployment. Whether from Latin or South America, Africa, Asia, or Eastern Europe these minorities, most with strong family units, are moving up the economic scale. Unless black leaders support fundamental cultural changes and a strong family unit is part of the solution the black problem will not be with white privilege but with immigration privilege. Indeed, with education that is already playing out.
43
The problem is police brutality. Baltimore taxpayers have paid more than $5.1 million dollars in settlements in the past 5 years -- for police brutality. And that's only the cases won by the victim. Yes, they are victims of police brutality. And, by the way, strong families are not possible without living wage jobs. But that part of the equation is always omitted.
1
Many people with your perspective are woefully uneducated with regard to the government sanctioned and enabled public policy that has led us to where we are now. Here is piece that may help inform your understanding:
http://www.epi.org/blog/from-ferguson-to-baltimore-the-fruits-of-governm...
I do hope that you have time to read it.
http://www.epi.org/blog/from-ferguson-to-baltimore-the-fruits-of-governm...
I do hope that you have time to read it.
"When blacks succeed economically they wind up with the same advantages as successful whites. Example OJ, hired the best lawyers and got away with murder."
That is veritably false. Wealthy African Americans walking through wealthy white communities are still routinely regarded with suspicion by the police and surrounding neighbors. I have personally seen an African American lawyer be addressed by a judge as the "defendant" while his white client sat next to him.
"It is sad but true the culture among most whites values education and individual responsibility."
After reading your first paragraph I didn't think you could possibly be more racist, but you surprised me! It's much easier to value education when you aren't worried about being killed by gangs on your way home from school. I know you don't have to worry about that on Long Island, but in my neighborhood in Philadelphia that is a legitimate worry for all schoolchildren. Further, if you believe that all white people value education more than black people, then I suggest you look no further than Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. All of those states are run by wealthy, white Republicans (save Bobby Jindal in LA), and all three are consistently ranked the worst in the nation in education. Your schools in Long Island are great because you can afford to pay those high property taxes. People in Baltimore aren't afforded that privilege.
That is veritably false. Wealthy African Americans walking through wealthy white communities are still routinely regarded with suspicion by the police and surrounding neighbors. I have personally seen an African American lawyer be addressed by a judge as the "defendant" while his white client sat next to him.
"It is sad but true the culture among most whites values education and individual responsibility."
After reading your first paragraph I didn't think you could possibly be more racist, but you surprised me! It's much easier to value education when you aren't worried about being killed by gangs on your way home from school. I know you don't have to worry about that on Long Island, but in my neighborhood in Philadelphia that is a legitimate worry for all schoolchildren. Further, if you believe that all white people value education more than black people, then I suggest you look no further than Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. All of those states are run by wealthy, white Republicans (save Bobby Jindal in LA), and all three are consistently ranked the worst in the nation in education. Your schools in Long Island are great because you can afford to pay those high property taxes. People in Baltimore aren't afforded that privilege.
Dear Mr Kristof,
A nice article but our system is broken and you do not address the following problems:
1.School funding through local taxation with the result that poor communities get far less then rich ones.
2. Paying for policing through the issuance of fines. Unless we want to fund our police through our tax system rather then going after easy targets, such as our poorest citizens, nothing will change.
3. Our gun laws. The police are kitted out as warriors in protective gear and backed up by tanks because the NRA encourages all citizens to be armed with bullets that can pierce that amour.
A nice article but our system is broken and you do not address the following problems:
1.School funding through local taxation with the result that poor communities get far less then rich ones.
2. Paying for policing through the issuance of fines. Unless we want to fund our police through our tax system rather then going after easy targets, such as our poorest citizens, nothing will change.
3. Our gun laws. The police are kitted out as warriors in protective gear and backed up by tanks because the NRA encourages all citizens to be armed with bullets that can pierce that amour.
50
I note the deafening absence of any comment about personal responsibility, family emphasis on education, perils of single parent families and having children with multiple fathers, community respect for education, respect for the law, and a whole lot of social issues that are being trashed by politicians and fringe groups.
I also note the absence of any comments on the charities run by citizens in this country who prefer to give to Somalia rather than to inner-city Baltimore.
How about a discussion on these rather than the tired old issue of black v white. It turns out that a large portion of the country is neither black nor white, and we look aghast at this simplistic rendering of the problem by people like Mr. Kristoff.
I also note the absence of any comments on the charities run by citizens in this country who prefer to give to Somalia rather than to inner-city Baltimore.
How about a discussion on these rather than the tired old issue of black v white. It turns out that a large portion of the country is neither black nor white, and we look aghast at this simplistic rendering of the problem by people like Mr. Kristoff.
No, actually I'm not seeing this.
1) School funding through local taxation in GA goes to all schools. The wealthy areas pay more, but don't get more. The city of Atlanta gets a lion share, but the students have not improved. Although I will say that hundreds of teachers lined their pockets by cheating for years; true in urban areas around the country. NO, money will not help.
2) The government at all levels local and federal line it's coffers with fees of all kind. Fines for breaking the law is a good idea and if you can't pay, don't break the law. Over and over and over....
3) If outlawing guns worked, what is going on in Chicago? Not a fan and don't own one, but I support the fact that it is not the guns causing violence. It is adults and teens that were never raised to be accountable for their actions.
1) School funding through local taxation in GA goes to all schools. The wealthy areas pay more, but don't get more. The city of Atlanta gets a lion share, but the students have not improved. Although I will say that hundreds of teachers lined their pockets by cheating for years; true in urban areas around the country. NO, money will not help.
2) The government at all levels local and federal line it's coffers with fees of all kind. Fines for breaking the law is a good idea and if you can't pay, don't break the law. Over and over and over....
3) If outlawing guns worked, what is going on in Chicago? Not a fan and don't own one, but I support the fact that it is not the guns causing violence. It is adults and teens that were never raised to be accountable for their actions.
1
I see from the OpEds offered here and elsewhere and from the comments on them that America is divided as concerns any justification for rioting.
So I note at the outset: All attention should have been focused on the breaking of a young man's spine. Anything that allowed anyone in responsibility to look away from that could only be a "worst thing to happen".
I agree with Kristof's observations about President Obama setting just the right tone.
“When individuals get crowbars and start prying open doors to loot, they’re not protesting...They’re stealing,” Obama said.
My sister who lives just outside of the city reports that: "The first mob scene was high school kids... then 144 cars were torched, a CVS was burned and a building under construction for senior housing (was also)."
Who wants to write a reply to tell me that these actions are justified?
Just for the record similar things have happened in riots here in Sweden hurting mostly the people living in the torched district.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
So I note at the outset: All attention should have been focused on the breaking of a young man's spine. Anything that allowed anyone in responsibility to look away from that could only be a "worst thing to happen".
I agree with Kristof's observations about President Obama setting just the right tone.
“When individuals get crowbars and start prying open doors to loot, they’re not protesting...They’re stealing,” Obama said.
My sister who lives just outside of the city reports that: "The first mob scene was high school kids... then 144 cars were torched, a CVS was burned and a building under construction for senior housing (was also)."
Who wants to write a reply to tell me that these actions are justified?
Just for the record similar things have happened in riots here in Sweden hurting mostly the people living in the torched district.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
12
Ever since the first riots took place in this country, riots that were inspired by real grievances, it has been important to look at what should be done by the authorities in response. Another related matter is how far should they go in caving into any demands. Any amount of weakness in this regard tends to goad protesters into increased fury, it seems. It is an extremely touchy matter to know how best to respond, because it can amount to enabling what at first was not really an enemy within the country, to in effect then become an actual enemy of the nation.
For whenever forces are unleashed that result in changes to a system that go beyond what is really called for, then the effect is certainly detrimental.
Yet this simple fact seems to be lost upon those so caught up in the idea that change can only be for the best interests of a country.
Therefore the use of sufficient force to stop protests can really sometimes be most necessary to prevent ruinous results, degradation of the entire culture and political system.
For whenever forces are unleashed that result in changes to a system that go beyond what is really called for, then the effect is certainly detrimental.
Yet this simple fact seems to be lost upon those so caught up in the idea that change can only be for the best interests of a country.
Therefore the use of sufficient force to stop protests can really sometimes be most necessary to prevent ruinous results, degradation of the entire culture and political system.
3
If Ferguson is an example, the "protesters" weren't goaded into a greater fury. Saying something happened doesn't make it so. Ferguson now has two representatives from the African American community through an election; that's two more than they had before. Maybe their complaints will be heard now.
The cruel truth is that the civil rights era is over. Whites gave 40 years to the idea of social justice and in the end gave up and now the future has arrived. Poverty ignorance and exploitation. Black inner city residents do not have the financial resources to create vocational schools, provide micro loans to small businesses and a solid culture of acceptance. The police are no longer compassionate and just but as a shield for the white community and these occasional killings are just violence porn for the suburbanites. There is no evidence Democrats or Republicans are serious about reform or spending money on inner city blacks. Perhaps in a few decades a generation will rise and do something serious, but not now. Hillary Clinton's brave speech at Columbia received no attention on the evening news because not enough white folk give a damn. This is a dark and tragic time in America and it will not end any time soon.
44
There are no easy solutions and vocational training has no value when we don't know the jobs of the future. I see a time where a PhD in philosophy will be entry level qualification for a barrista.
We need a do over and we need architects to design our new society and we elect politicians grounded in 20th century realities.
We need a do over and we need architects to design our new society and we elect politicians grounded in 20th century realities.
1
It is unfortunate for us all but you have captured the essence of our present dilemma.
We could raise the federal minimum wage to a more realistic number as many depend upon minimum wage jobs in the new global economy that devalues all but the most gifted workers.
Or alternatively we could create new increased minimum height standards for gates in gated communities. If we do nothing about underemployment those gates are gonna have to go higher.
Or alternatively we could create new increased minimum height standards for gates in gated communities. If we do nothing about underemployment those gates are gonna have to go higher.
Why do you have to write: "Whites sometimes comment snidely …"? Whites? You mean Blacks never comment snidely in the same way? I can think of several without even trying. And Kristof was going fairly well up until that point. That's the problem with being too right-on. You can be casually racist without thinking about it. And do not trot out the tired cliched answers that the right-on crowd usually offer -- it is the very thing that alienates people who would otherwise be perfectly aligned behind efforts to right injustices that poor people suffer.
19
The last few days I have been noticing that normally very "civil rights aware" and racial justice defending people are just getting disgusted with much of the violent black actions and the black leaders' televised speeches. My husband, who is very left of center, now turns off the news and goes to recorded programs, and so do many of our friends. A black neighbor told me she "can't stand those riots which will do nothing to help civil rights". We live in a racially mixed, economically struggling city where black and white and Hispanic live side by side in many neighborhoods.
Last Saturday, a young friend and I were walking in one of this city's lovely parks, there were families having picnics, birthday parties, throwing balls, frisbees and children playing chase. "Everyone" was there, reflecting the multi-racial character of our city.
All of a sudden we happened on a family picnic gathering with children in attendance where, without warning , as we passed,violently loud cursing and threatening angry words were yelled at someone and a fight erupted with vilest of words. I can not stress how vile were the words. My walking companion, a young woman not yet thirty , said calmly "It's not their skin color it's their behavior".
Last Saturday, a young friend and I were walking in one of this city's lovely parks, there were families having picnics, birthday parties, throwing balls, frisbees and children playing chase. "Everyone" was there, reflecting the multi-racial character of our city.
All of a sudden we happened on a family picnic gathering with children in attendance where, without warning , as we passed,violently loud cursing and threatening angry words were yelled at someone and a fight erupted with vilest of words. I can not stress how vile were the words. My walking companion, a young woman not yet thirty , said calmly "It's not their skin color it's their behavior".
2
The fact that these lawless jerks that don't know or care about Gray and many of the citizens of Baltimore complained that when they mayor called those looting 'thugs' she was really using a racist term tells it all.
Starting to have no sympathy whatsoever. Coming from Detroit, I've seen the violence and crime escalate, no productive policies, and black on white hatred for decades. Now blacks are leaving the cities and going to the suburbs where crime is increasing - over 1000% in some areas, thanks to another misguided policy as a result of another expensive, liberal commission - HUD section 8.
Whites are not killing blacks. Blacks are killing blacks and we're all supposed to believe that racism is the reason? Blacks make up a large percentage of the prison population, and we're all supposed to believe that's because white people are racist. Cops are racist - even when it's black cops that put them in prison?!
Come on, enough!!
Starting to have no sympathy whatsoever. Coming from Detroit, I've seen the violence and crime escalate, no productive policies, and black on white hatred for decades. Now blacks are leaving the cities and going to the suburbs where crime is increasing - over 1000% in some areas, thanks to another misguided policy as a result of another expensive, liberal commission - HUD section 8.
Whites are not killing blacks. Blacks are killing blacks and we're all supposed to believe that racism is the reason? Blacks make up a large percentage of the prison population, and we're all supposed to believe that's because white people are racist. Cops are racist - even when it's black cops that put them in prison?!
Come on, enough!!
2
Why should people be so easily deterred from helping to right inustices? That sounds like an excuse.
1
Historically, our government has set the example that violence solves problems and gets you what you want. We use violence abroad in wars--Vietnam, Central America, Iraq, Afghanistan, etc.--as a means of achieving an end. We use police violence at home and jails as a means of maintaining order (look back at Occupy in which peaceful protests were met with police violence). The examples are stark, and while many will try and dissociate government violence with individual violence, they are the same since government violence is just a bunch of individuals acting in concert.
The message is no one will listen to you unless you stir up some trouble. Cracking some heads is accepted protocol so long as you are on the same side as those doing the cracking.
We truly need a more peaceful society, but the example needs to start at the top.
The message is no one will listen to you unless you stir up some trouble. Cracking some heads is accepted protocol so long as you are on the same side as those doing the cracking.
We truly need a more peaceful society, but the example needs to start at the top.
11
This violence is senseless, inexcusable and does no good.
15
I agree with you, but would slightly modify your statement to include "All violence" as senseless, inexcusable and does no good. A good lesson for all of us to learn. Wish someone running our jails, law enforcement, foreign policy would get the message.
1
Which violence are you referring to? The rioting? Police brutality? Both, I hope.
Great column. I would only quibble with your conclusion that race is the root of the problem. It's this fixation that distracts rather than focuses solutions in the right places.
Safety first. Start with law and order. Begin by rooting out the corruption in the Baltimore police department. It's a disgrace. Then economics. Help those businesses rebuild, especially that church's community center. Work with those pastors and community organizations to rebuild the community. They have demonstrated their effectiveness.
Safety first. Start with law and order. Begin by rooting out the corruption in the Baltimore police department. It's a disgrace. Then economics. Help those businesses rebuild, especially that church's community center. Work with those pastors and community organizations to rebuild the community. They have demonstrated their effectiveness.
5
"Begin by rooting out the corruption in the Baltimore police department."
And then bring in the State Police, because if we also -- as we should -- root out every cop who knew fully well about criminal activities by fellow policeman and kept silent, the Baltimore P.D. will almost certainly be *severely* understaffed. (Not to mention that'll probably have no high-ranking administrative officers left at all.)
And then bring in the State Police, because if we also -- as we should -- root out every cop who knew fully well about criminal activities by fellow policeman and kept silent, the Baltimore P.D. will almost certainly be *severely* understaffed. (Not to mention that'll probably have no high-ranking administrative officers left at all.)
1
@AACNY-First a correction: I put Kristof's text into Word and searched for "race". That word only appears once in the cryptic "on a delicate subtext of race" so I do not see Kristof as stating that the root of the problem is race.
Racism is, however, a fundamental part of the problem, but racism is not "race". Who knows even if the back-breakers (I assume some guilt contrary to requirements of the law) even did whatever they did out of racist motives or just because one or more is programmed to do violence-maybe having Nicholas Wade's "violence" gene.
I do agree with you that elements of the American fixation on "race" often distract and even are used to distract us from actually thinking. That is why Kenneth Prewitt, former Census Director proposes to eliminate "race"/ethnicity questions in the 2020 census and focus on SES data. I support him very strongly. (So far I am the only NYT commenter to do so)
I filed a comment yesterday that was rejected. In it I pointed out that even with blacks in positions of responsibiliity, nothing has changed, and blackmamba, who knows Baltimore first hand said in no uncertain terms what you have just written. Root out corruption in those higher level positions. If that cannot be done then neither the sensible recommendations you make as do others will have much of a chance.
Larry
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Racism is, however, a fundamental part of the problem, but racism is not "race". Who knows even if the back-breakers (I assume some guilt contrary to requirements of the law) even did whatever they did out of racist motives or just because one or more is programmed to do violence-maybe having Nicholas Wade's "violence" gene.
I do agree with you that elements of the American fixation on "race" often distract and even are used to distract us from actually thinking. That is why Kenneth Prewitt, former Census Director proposes to eliminate "race"/ethnicity questions in the 2020 census and focus on SES data. I support him very strongly. (So far I am the only NYT commenter to do so)
I filed a comment yesterday that was rejected. In it I pointed out that even with blacks in positions of responsibiliity, nothing has changed, and blackmamba, who knows Baltimore first hand said in no uncertain terms what you have just written. Root out corruption in those higher level positions. If that cannot be done then neither the sensible recommendations you make as do others will have much of a chance.
Larry
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
1
Isn't that the problem? Where is the money coming from to help these communities rebuild, which, I agree is one means to break the cycle of poverty that dooms generation after generation? We're living in a Gilded Age. You have to go back nearly a hundred years to visit an era when protecting conspicuous wealth was more of an objective of the government than it is now, when big business had more influence than it does today. The tax code has never been more favorable for the wealthy. There isn't enough money to maintain public schools, let along rebuild whole communities. A country that's wealthy enough to spend billions every couple of years to buy politicians and run negative campaigns should be able to figure out how to aid the plight of so many people. I'd love to see a law that required half of all political contributions to go toward intercity revitalization. Wouldn't it be a great moral play to see if the Koch bros would be willing to buy elections if those efforts were also benefiting the folks their hand-picked candidates ignore?
Yours is the best opinion piece I've read on this excruciating crisis in this country. We've thrown a whole populace … African-Americans under the bus and walked away, shrugging our shoulders over and over again. Your comment about the REAL GRIEVANCES suffered by countless African-Americans nails it absolutely. I have two biracial grandsons and I worry for them when they become young adults. It will be quite difficult for them, in part because they are biracial.
70
@pegsdaughter
Your biracial sons will be fine, especially if they do not engage in criminal behavior. Any time you look at a difficult, urban arrest, watch the police AND the perpetrator. You rarely see men submitting to arrest. They are fighting and punching and kicking and name-calling. So I ask: is that how your grandsons handle themselves when asked to control their behavior? If it is, then you should be worried and not because they are bi-racial.
I can go you one more. I have children that are not White. I see the snide remarks, and I know that they are called names by other children in some of the most Liberal suburbs lining the very Liberal City of Boston. But those are opportunities to learn: my White perspective leaning into their non-White reality. Because, in the end, we are not Whites, Blacks, Latinos, and Asians. We are American citizens. We are not entitled to specific "group" treatment by the larger society. We are expected to "melt" into the "melting pot" and respect the larger norms of the country we inhabit. Or leave to find another, more suitable place to live. Some Liberals (e.g., Alec Baldwin) have threatened to leave to find a better home...few have done it. There is probably a takeaway lesson there.
So when you (or the President) raises the point that "that could have been my (grand)son, that is like me seeing George W. Bush and thinking "that could have been my brother"...if George had not inherited money. We still make our choices.
Your biracial sons will be fine, especially if they do not engage in criminal behavior. Any time you look at a difficult, urban arrest, watch the police AND the perpetrator. You rarely see men submitting to arrest. They are fighting and punching and kicking and name-calling. So I ask: is that how your grandsons handle themselves when asked to control their behavior? If it is, then you should be worried and not because they are bi-racial.
I can go you one more. I have children that are not White. I see the snide remarks, and I know that they are called names by other children in some of the most Liberal suburbs lining the very Liberal City of Boston. But those are opportunities to learn: my White perspective leaning into their non-White reality. Because, in the end, we are not Whites, Blacks, Latinos, and Asians. We are American citizens. We are not entitled to specific "group" treatment by the larger society. We are expected to "melt" into the "melting pot" and respect the larger norms of the country we inhabit. Or leave to find another, more suitable place to live. Some Liberals (e.g., Alec Baldwin) have threatened to leave to find a better home...few have done it. There is probably a takeaway lesson there.
So when you (or the President) raises the point that "that could have been my (grand)son, that is like me seeing George W. Bush and thinking "that could have been my brother"...if George had not inherited money. We still make our choices.
I disagree that the generic WE have done all that. Too many blacks walked in front of that bus without being thrown. Why? I can only point to the entitlement programs of our beneficent government that took away a black men's reason to be part of a family unit, essentially took away his manhood as civil society might define it. Too many then took the next best choice to maintain self-esteem and embraced uncivil society.
We won't get better behavior unless we expect (and don't undermine with well-meaning, but misguided government handouts) better behavior. It starts with parents raising that next child, and it will take generations. Our governemt can support it not by handing out money, but by spending all that entitlement cash creating good educational opportunities for every children to embrace because their parents are expecting them to.
We won't get better behavior unless we expect (and don't undermine with well-meaning, but misguided government handouts) better behavior. It starts with parents raising that next child, and it will take generations. Our governemt can support it not by handing out money, but by spending all that entitlement cash creating good educational opportunities for every children to embrace because their parents are expecting them to.
Do you really believe they are bi-racial or perhaps more accurately of mixed ethnicity?
Wonderful commentary!
Without sounding like a typical white conservative (which i am anything but) it is worth noting,i think to point out the vast chasm between the ravings of a defective oligarch like Schwarzman and those of us who like to rise above the politically correct patter and begin to address the sorry state of parenting responsibilities in America among the lower income classes.
Turn off the TV's -put away the booze and drugs - stop the inter family violence -reinforce education and maybe even wait until some kind of emotional maturity and a modicum of financial security has been reached before getting married and having children OH and maybe even less fathers could be present instead of absent. Instead of skipping out on their primary moral obligation;
Which is to their helpless children!
Without sounding like a typical white conservative (which i am anything but) it is worth noting,i think to point out the vast chasm between the ravings of a defective oligarch like Schwarzman and those of us who like to rise above the politically correct patter and begin to address the sorry state of parenting responsibilities in America among the lower income classes.
Turn off the TV's -put away the booze and drugs - stop the inter family violence -reinforce education and maybe even wait until some kind of emotional maturity and a modicum of financial security has been reached before getting married and having children OH and maybe even less fathers could be present instead of absent. Instead of skipping out on their primary moral obligation;
Which is to their helpless children!
49
Dave - Maybe easy for you to say. When one is poorly educated, can't find a decent way to make a living, has no hope and sees only ugliness all around him / her (not to mention a police force just looking to make arrest of any kind), TV and alcohol seem to be a nice way to get through a day.
1
to Dave Nelson what you set forth is a pretty big order, but I can point to one thing that could be done if there were Universal Health Care that would help.
That thing would be to provide every single pregnant woman entry into a well designed pre-natal program at gestational week 12. That is only the beginning. Every one of those women would then get the same basic peri-natal care. Finally, the key thing that seems to be missing even for mothers getting pre and peri is post natal care with many dimensions.
All pregnant women in Sweden - and probably other western European countries - get pre, peri, post and also one year of parental leave that is funded. As a result, the many Somali born mothers I know - for example - have done extremely well here in contrast with what they might have faced in Somali.
I read somewhere yesterday an article in which the writer pointed out that the USA is unique in not providing post-natal programs for women who in many other advanced countries get that care.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
That thing would be to provide every single pregnant woman entry into a well designed pre-natal program at gestational week 12. That is only the beginning. Every one of those women would then get the same basic peri-natal care. Finally, the key thing that seems to be missing even for mothers getting pre and peri is post natal care with many dimensions.
All pregnant women in Sweden - and probably other western European countries - get pre, peri, post and also one year of parental leave that is funded. As a result, the many Somali born mothers I know - for example - have done extremely well here in contrast with what they might have faced in Somali.
I read somewhere yesterday an article in which the writer pointed out that the USA is unique in not providing post-natal programs for women who in many other advanced countries get that care.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
1
Your proposals can not escape the characterization of "white conservative." The very behaviors you criticize are actually pathologies. If you look carefully, these same behaviors are found is very poor white communities. One has a choice only when one can exercise either choice.
For African Americans, there is a catch, even if all the correct choices are made, they can still end up unemployed, desperate, and dead at the hands of the police.
We must stop conflating justice with order.
For African Americans, there is a catch, even if all the correct choices are made, they can still end up unemployed, desperate, and dead at the hands of the police.
We must stop conflating justice with order.
3
Stop looking at the world in "race tinted glasses," Mr. Kristof. Poverty, lack of economic mobility, lack of opportunity for a decent life, all these realities are colour blind. An economy has been created in which the jobs available for those without education and skills have largely disappeared.
People in occupations such as migratory agriculture and food and health services are poorly paid and have no real chance of bettering their situations. Most people who work in these jobs are paid minimum wages (if they are lucky), have no benefits, work split shifts, and rarely will get advancement due to the structure of the industries in which they work. In addition, there is chronic surplus labour in these industries and occupations. All races are represented in this "lumpen proletariat."
What sort of jobs do you envision being made available for them? What sort of wages would they be paid? Perhaps NYT columnists might consider the need to find solutions to real problems and not join the chorus of hand wringers. It is easy to take a punch at plutocrats whose obliviousness to the lives lived by the great mass of humanity would be farcical if it were not tragic. It is another matter to find a means to make life livable for all people who 'chose the wrong parents' and live lives not only of misery, but also lives without much hope of betterment.
People in occupations such as migratory agriculture and food and health services are poorly paid and have no real chance of bettering their situations. Most people who work in these jobs are paid minimum wages (if they are lucky), have no benefits, work split shifts, and rarely will get advancement due to the structure of the industries in which they work. In addition, there is chronic surplus labour in these industries and occupations. All races are represented in this "lumpen proletariat."
What sort of jobs do you envision being made available for them? What sort of wages would they be paid? Perhaps NYT columnists might consider the need to find solutions to real problems and not join the chorus of hand wringers. It is easy to take a punch at plutocrats whose obliviousness to the lives lived by the great mass of humanity would be farcical if it were not tragic. It is another matter to find a means to make life livable for all people who 'chose the wrong parents' and live lives not only of misery, but also lives without much hope of betterment.
82
Yes let's ignore history ! As the dominant group we need to excuse ourselves and thus keep our priveledge power money class and jobs intact.
Lincoln said as we would not wish to be slaves we must not allow ourselves to become masters. By ignoring slavery Jim Crow Sundown laws imprisonment stand your ground and assault ice enforcement and 5000 lynchings we are masters
It is we who have lost our moral compass as mr Kristoff says. We are the cause of this riot. We are the passive indifferent oppressors. We must summon the moral couragemtomseemthe wrong and correct it
Lincoln said as we would not wish to be slaves we must not allow ourselves to become masters. By ignoring slavery Jim Crow Sundown laws imprisonment stand your ground and assault ice enforcement and 5000 lynchings we are masters
It is we who have lost our moral compass as mr Kristoff says. We are the cause of this riot. We are the passive indifferent oppressors. We must summon the moral couragemtomseemthe wrong and correct it
4
It's hard not to look at the world through "race tinted glasses" when the police disproportionately target people of a specific race.
2
The social dysfunctions that you cite, BDR, afflict people of all races, cultures and ethnicity, but unless you're wearing light-blocking glasses they are surely NOT color blind, neither in the USA nor in Canada.
3
I disagree. I can't imagine (at a one point I believe I checked) that lead exposure was not significantly worse when I grew up in the 60's. Less awareness of the issue and of course leaded gasoline.
The big point creating the division in our society is educational culture. If you grow up in a family that doesn't emphasize education then it is very unlikely that any school will be of much value. The failing schools you cite are first and foremost a function of the surrounding parental educational culture.
Why don't you contact your former helper (?) that worked with you and had a background in the Chicago schools (until he quit). He could offer an insider's view on the obstacles facing urban students.
Alternatively you could spend some time in urban schools.
The big point creating the division in our society is educational culture. If you grow up in a family that doesn't emphasize education then it is very unlikely that any school will be of much value. The failing schools you cite are first and foremost a function of the surrounding parental educational culture.
Why don't you contact your former helper (?) that worked with you and had a background in the Chicago schools (until he quit). He could offer an insider's view on the obstacles facing urban students.
Alternatively you could spend some time in urban schools.
36
Regarding the lead in the 1960's: Yes, you are right, and those who grew up exposed to that in the 60's are the parents of today's rioters and gang members, the same parents who are faulted for not providing the right guidance for their children. Connect the dots.
Ted Christopher. Who are you replying to? I ask since I taught Environmental Risk in the Department of Environmental Medicine (UR Med School) and a major subject was, of course, Pb on the Brain. If someone here wrote that exposure to lead is more likely in the US now than in the past I would question strongly but of course would have to go to sources before saying more.
Larry
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Larry
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
The problem with this article is not that it was written. The problem is that it appeared in a newspaper that is mainly read in New York. What if this article appeared in small towns of Southern and mid-Western states? People there unfortunately would have a totally different reaction to it than most people in New York.
At some point we will need to realize that the USA is not one but two countries having different traditions, cultures and views of what is right and wrong.
At some point we will need to realize that the USA is not one but two countries having different traditions, cultures and views of what is right and wrong.
14
@BDR
Some good sound bites, but no conclusions here. Agree with the race-tinted glasses and references to reparations (my word).
We all know the problems. At the end of the day, why would anyone go to Baltimore to stand side-by-side with those neighborhoods and build new businesses? Who would turn over funding to these residents to do it without White (or any other non-Black) involvement? And why should I believe that providing more government funding will instill the work ethic and behavior control equal to the right of being given a helping hand from other taxpayers with limited funds?
Go to Baltimore. Roll up your sleeves. Try and help. And don't be surprised when the local residents call you "honky" and "cracker" and burn down your enterprise because it is not "Black enough". And then come back and ask for another "commission" or "study" to find a better answer.
Hand-wringing does not change other people. Other people change themselves. And, in the case of Black society, that is a much more challenging "lift" than it is for Whites. That, as they say, is life.
Some good sound bites, but no conclusions here. Agree with the race-tinted glasses and references to reparations (my word).
We all know the problems. At the end of the day, why would anyone go to Baltimore to stand side-by-side with those neighborhoods and build new businesses? Who would turn over funding to these residents to do it without White (or any other non-Black) involvement? And why should I believe that providing more government funding will instill the work ethic and behavior control equal to the right of being given a helping hand from other taxpayers with limited funds?
Go to Baltimore. Roll up your sleeves. Try and help. And don't be surprised when the local residents call you "honky" and "cracker" and burn down your enterprise because it is not "Black enough". And then come back and ask for another "commission" or "study" to find a better answer.
Hand-wringing does not change other people. Other people change themselves. And, in the case of Black society, that is a much more challenging "lift" than it is for Whites. That, as they say, is life.
1
Many New Yorkers came from those Southern and mid-Western places. And I for one hope to never go back.
Soon, the entire country will be urbanized. At that point ALL people will be forced to live in close proximity with and get along with the imaginarily "defective others" who currently churn the windmills of their minds.
The tribal and tranquil bliss of the empty natural horizon won't be there to confer 'exceptionalism' on those who are privileged enough to temporarily paint themselves with its grandeur and its beauty.
The tribal and tranquil bliss of the empty natural horizon won't be there to confer 'exceptionalism' on those who are privileged enough to temporarily paint themselves with its grandeur and its beauty.
1
As usual Mr. Kristof blames all the ills of inner cities on the system and policies of the government and none on lack of personal responsibility of the so called victims. He doesn't mention Mr. Gray's criminal past, and the fact that the Toya Graham had six children by absent fathers.
Poor, even wronged, people have right to justice, and help from the society, but they have no right or reason to burn and loot.
Yes, our government could do better job of taking care of the poor, but poor are not fulfilling their own responsibility for their own good. Reminds me of an old adage to the effect, you can take horse to the water but can't make him drink.
Poor, even wronged, people have right to justice, and help from the society, but they have no right or reason to burn and loot.
Yes, our government could do better job of taking care of the poor, but poor are not fulfilling their own responsibility for their own good. Reminds me of an old adage to the effect, you can take horse to the water but can't make him drink.
92
Jack, what does having a criminal past have to do with a scenario that has a healthy man taken in handcuffs mysteriously suffer a broken back while in the custody of police?
31
True. Where are the parents, the extended family - the village? Generations of youths grow up without direction, attention, discipline, or, in other words, without love. Because this is how a mother loves her child - by teaching, by proving an example.
I grew up poor. As a child I immigrated to Israel from Communist Romania together with my parents. We were allocated an "azbestone" - a house constructed of asbestos cement. My parents were Holocaust survivors, with very little education and no skills. My father lost his leg in a bombing after escaping from a concentration camp. They raised me with love and with a fierce determination that I live a better life. I had no choice, I knew of nothing else - I had to excel in school. I had to be - not as good, but better - than my friends, born in Israel and middle class. It was installed in me since before I was born - I was to be what they could not be - educated. They chose to not have more children. Throughout their lives they never took a vacation, never saw a play, never drove a car. And I never dreamt that I could do anything else but be a good student. Yes, I rebelled, but in fairly benign way. Sadly, my mother died too young for me to be able to show her my gratitude. My father did get to witness it - a grandson whom he could be proud of, and whom my husband and I raised to be better than we are.
I grew up poor. As a child I immigrated to Israel from Communist Romania together with my parents. We were allocated an "azbestone" - a house constructed of asbestos cement. My parents were Holocaust survivors, with very little education and no skills. My father lost his leg in a bombing after escaping from a concentration camp. They raised me with love and with a fierce determination that I live a better life. I had no choice, I knew of nothing else - I had to excel in school. I had to be - not as good, but better - than my friends, born in Israel and middle class. It was installed in me since before I was born - I was to be what they could not be - educated. They chose to not have more children. Throughout their lives they never took a vacation, never saw a play, never drove a car. And I never dreamt that I could do anything else but be a good student. Yes, I rebelled, but in fairly benign way. Sadly, my mother died too young for me to be able to show her my gratitude. My father did get to witness it - a grandson whom he could be proud of, and whom my husband and I raised to be better than we are.
Democracy offers hope, but it does not readily suffer change. Compromises are not always the best solutions, and the on-going racial divide in the US is a prime example of 200 years of half arsed solutions to a problem of cultural integration.
While it is also true that 'cultural integration' typically takes generations, that's no excuse for our failure to pursue holistic, objective, and fair solutions.
As globalization progresses, it is obvious that 'cultural integration' is our only alternative to war. We should be a world leader. It can only make us stronger.
While it is also true that 'cultural integration' typically takes generations, that's no excuse for our failure to pursue holistic, objective, and fair solutions.
As globalization progresses, it is obvious that 'cultural integration' is our only alternative to war. We should be a world leader. It can only make us stronger.
1
As a member of evil white America, and even more evilly, a Republican to boot, please let me know what I can do to make young black men marry the women they impregnate and live with them and their children. Let me know how I make black boys and girls not drop out of school. How do I get their parents to make their kids do their homework and impress upon their kids the importance of studying and getting good grades. Please let me know how I make sure Baltimore, which has been run by liberal Democrats for decades, stops being corrupt, stops enabling bad police and running horrible prisons. I would really like to know.
190
With all respect, Alan, here is the answer to your question: Re-read the final three paragraphs of Mr. Kristof's column, and work your tail off to address the disgraceful, unfair, multi-generational inequalities he describes.
34
You can vote for politicians who will put the American people ahead of corporate profits. America is rich enough that none of us should have to live like the folks in our inner cities. But, Republicans believe in social and economic Darwinism. This anger is the result of a species, poor Americans, targeted for extinction.
10
Alan,
Please let me know how I can get southern Republicans to value education and impress upon their kids the importance of studying and getting good grades. Please let me know how I can get police officers to stop killing unarmed African American teenagers. Please let me know how I can stop thousands of young African Americans from going to jail for possession of a gram of marijuana while white people are given a slap on the wrist and some community service. Please let me know why Wall Street bankers, who steal billions of dollars from the American taxpayers, are told to pay a fine while Eric Garner is strangled to death for illegally selling cigarettes. I would really like to know.
Please let me know how I can get southern Republicans to value education and impress upon their kids the importance of studying and getting good grades. Please let me know how I can get police officers to stop killing unarmed African American teenagers. Please let me know how I can stop thousands of young African Americans from going to jail for possession of a gram of marijuana while white people are given a slap on the wrist and some community service. Please let me know why Wall Street bankers, who steal billions of dollars from the American taxpayers, are told to pay a fine while Eric Garner is strangled to death for illegally selling cigarettes. I would really like to know.
12
I fear you are toting the neo-liberal line. This isn't a riot. This is a rebellion. If it had a direction it would be a revolution no different than Bacon's Rebellion, the Boston Tea Party, or the American Revolution. All those movements came when a group people saw life as intolerable and rebelled.
The mother who scolded her child clearly said it was because she didn't want him to be another dead black youth. Not because she disagreed with his actions. Not because she cared about the destruction of the property of a system that excludes her son from possessing said property.
You don't have to condemn or condone the rebellion, Mr. Kristof, all I ask is that you honestly look at the revolt and see it is a reaction. It is a reaction against business that don't hire the people rebelling. It is a reaction against schools that don't teach the people rebelling. It is a reaction against a police system that abuses the people rebelling. It is a reaction against a society and system that would board up a house rather than use it to shelter the people rebelling.
Baltimore is in revolt. And it's about time. I just wish the revolt had more direction so that it could turn into a nationwide revolution against a system that allows the actions that led to this reaction to exist in the first place.
The mother who scolded her child clearly said it was because she didn't want him to be another dead black youth. Not because she disagreed with his actions. Not because she cared about the destruction of the property of a system that excludes her son from possessing said property.
You don't have to condemn or condone the rebellion, Mr. Kristof, all I ask is that you honestly look at the revolt and see it is a reaction. It is a reaction against business that don't hire the people rebelling. It is a reaction against schools that don't teach the people rebelling. It is a reaction against a police system that abuses the people rebelling. It is a reaction against a society and system that would board up a house rather than use it to shelter the people rebelling.
Baltimore is in revolt. And it's about time. I just wish the revolt had more direction so that it could turn into a nationwide revolution against a system that allows the actions that led to this reaction to exist in the first place.
91
So the guy in Copenhagen is calling for violent revolution in America.
Great example of how out of touch and radical the NYT reader base truly is.
Great example of how out of touch and radical the NYT reader base truly is.
1
And you could watch it on Danish television?
There's truth here, but how much can the schools be teaching when the absentee rate is hovering around 50%? It's true that the services suck. It's also true that the people receiving the services are not acting in their own best interests. It's true that there are few decent jobs, but it's also true that no sane business owner wants to open up shop where it is likely to be burned down. I don't know how to address these issues, but it has to be worked at from both ends.
1
Re: Mr. Kristof's suggestion of a truth and reconciliation commission to explore racial inequity in America.
We know that male black joblessness is the central cause around which the rest of urban dislocations revolve.
How are you going to truth and reconciliation that? As Joe Biden said in the notorious Biden Ryan debate: give me an [economic] policy!
We know that male black joblessness is the central cause around which the rest of urban dislocations revolve.
How are you going to truth and reconciliation that? As Joe Biden said in the notorious Biden Ryan debate: give me an [economic] policy!
7
Abandoned inner cities are obviously a residue of the 'creative destruction' of capitalism. We have example, after example of worn out infrastructure that is abandoned by corporations and industries that either fail or move on to greener (more tax, wage, and pollution friendly) pastures.
The people who have been left behind in these transitions are always the lowest on the economic ladder, and they are always left with the residual issues and the clean up of all of that 'creative destruction'. Blaming them is the icing on the cake for the 'creative capitalists', the Congresses, the Presidents, and the Governors who nurture and support 'those sacrosanct and wanton creative forces of destruction'.
As much fun as it is to blame the victims, maybe we should come up with some ideas about how to stop taking the economically crippled among us and throwing them into the vast pools of creative capitalist destruction.
The people who have been left behind in these transitions are always the lowest on the economic ladder, and they are always left with the residual issues and the clean up of all of that 'creative destruction'. Blaming them is the icing on the cake for the 'creative capitalists', the Congresses, the Presidents, and the Governors who nurture and support 'those sacrosanct and wanton creative forces of destruction'.
As much fun as it is to blame the victims, maybe we should come up with some ideas about how to stop taking the economically crippled among us and throwing them into the vast pools of creative capitalist destruction.
"our own complacency at the systematic long-term denial of equal opportunity to people based on their skin color and ZIP code."
There was a time, believe it or not Kristof, when whites lived with Blacks. All the good liberals and progressives of Detroit and the suburbs (progressives and liberal whites were mainly from the suburbs) said this was the way. We went to school together. When the whites became victims of racial violence we asked the good Democratic party leaders for help. They claimed we were just afraid of "losing control". My father was assaulted by African American young men and disabled. When things became too dangerous to live there the liberals said "why don't you just move out of the city already?". We moved out and you heard the screams of "white flight!" from the liberals and progressives who had long since moved out of the inner city. And when violence and crime continued, whites are blamed.
Talk to some whites living near the violence in Baltimore. There have been a few posts making through the NY Times' censors. You might learn something.
There was a time, believe it or not Kristof, when whites lived with Blacks. All the good liberals and progressives of Detroit and the suburbs (progressives and liberal whites were mainly from the suburbs) said this was the way. We went to school together. When the whites became victims of racial violence we asked the good Democratic party leaders for help. They claimed we were just afraid of "losing control". My father was assaulted by African American young men and disabled. When things became too dangerous to live there the liberals said "why don't you just move out of the city already?". We moved out and you heard the screams of "white flight!" from the liberals and progressives who had long since moved out of the inner city. And when violence and crime continued, whites are blamed.
Talk to some whites living near the violence in Baltimore. There have been a few posts making through the NY Times' censors. You might learn something.
61
Baltimore has awakened the conscience of our Nation. Even as the rich get richer, there is no effort made to resolve the hardships faced by communities in poor neighborhoods. Disparity in income between the top 1% and bottom 25% is the highest in 100 years. If every youth is provided a decent chance of earning a honest living crime rate would plunge. But no, the rich don't see it that way. It is worth quoting M. K. Gandhi, "There is enough for everyone's need but not for every one's greed"
33
People must feel like they are being heard and addressed if they are to feel that they are respected, that society, politicians, fellow citizens actually care enough to do something to help alleviate pain, suffering, and lack of opportunity. Without that, there isn't any belief in the "system".
However, our society is more and more calcified...less flexible and willing to understand the frustrations of those who are NOT deemed the same opportunities...not outcomes, but opportunities, from the day they are born.
Is peaceful protest relevant? Yes. It it enough to truly get change in America? I'm not sure. In the words of Les Miserables,
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing the song of angry men?
It is the music of the people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes.
However, our society is more and more calcified...less flexible and willing to understand the frustrations of those who are NOT deemed the same opportunities...not outcomes, but opportunities, from the day they are born.
Is peaceful protest relevant? Yes. It it enough to truly get change in America? I'm not sure. In the words of Les Miserables,
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing the song of angry men?
It is the music of the people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes.
6
dwood in rockville, md: When we lived in Baltimore city, it was the general belief that we got no respect from Montgomery county, where you live, nor the state legislature. And that was in the second half of the 20th century. Has that changed?
Stop comparing broken spines with broken glass. Kristoff is better than most on these issues but if you didn't say anything about a broken spine and now you're up in arms about broken glass you are the problem.
36
Nobody denies a problem with Mr. Gray's treatment and it is being investigated. But you want to judge that -- like the Michael Brown case -- based on allegations and incendiary comments.
That's WHY we have a system of laws. And in such a system, even a case that sounds sympathetic at the outset might prove different when the facts are in. After all, Officer Wilson in the Brown case was entirely exonerated. The intitial stories ("Brown was shot in the back running away") turned out to be false.
The reality is you cannot have a society where crimes or alleged incidents are responded to with riots and violence -- and such violence targeting people who were never involved AT ALL. How does looting the local bodega or burning down CVS in any way bring Mr. Gray back to life -- or punish the officers accused of hurting him?
That's WHY we have a system of laws. And in such a system, even a case that sounds sympathetic at the outset might prove different when the facts are in. After all, Officer Wilson in the Brown case was entirely exonerated. The intitial stories ("Brown was shot in the back running away") turned out to be false.
The reality is you cannot have a society where crimes or alleged incidents are responded to with riots and violence -- and such violence targeting people who were never involved AT ALL. How does looting the local bodega or burning down CVS in any way bring Mr. Gray back to life -- or punish the officers accused of hurting him?
1
The debate that seems to be raging on is whether the use of violence is right or wrong. I see some truth in the claim that without violence policy makers and society will never take the pain of the oppressed seriously. However, the debate about violence misses a serious point.
Violence against whom? If the rioters had battled only the police violently we can debate if the violence was (is) justified. But the rioters did serious damage to the lives and livelihoods of those that did no harm to them. The small businesses that were looted and burned down did not kill Mr. Gray and nor did they contribute to the miseries of the African Americans in Baltimore. The Asians that owned stores the were looted as a mob chanted "go back to China" were not the oppressors of the dispossessed African Americans of the city. The CVS shop that opened in the gritty, poor neighborhood was a boon to the residents. Why did the rioters loot it and set fire to it? It is precisely because violence of this kind cannot be deployed with surgical precision, Dr. King and Gandhi refused to participate in it.
What do we call those that do harm to unarmed, noncombatant civilians just to attract the attention of the world? What do we call the suicide bombers that blow up peaceful civilians to draw attention to their cause? Terrorists?
The question that we should ask is not if violence is OK. It is this - is terrorism an acceptable means of drawing attention to your plight?
SK
Violence against whom? If the rioters had battled only the police violently we can debate if the violence was (is) justified. But the rioters did serious damage to the lives and livelihoods of those that did no harm to them. The small businesses that were looted and burned down did not kill Mr. Gray and nor did they contribute to the miseries of the African Americans in Baltimore. The Asians that owned stores the were looted as a mob chanted "go back to China" were not the oppressors of the dispossessed African Americans of the city. The CVS shop that opened in the gritty, poor neighborhood was a boon to the residents. Why did the rioters loot it and set fire to it? It is precisely because violence of this kind cannot be deployed with surgical precision, Dr. King and Gandhi refused to participate in it.
What do we call those that do harm to unarmed, noncombatant civilians just to attract the attention of the world? What do we call the suicide bombers that blow up peaceful civilians to draw attention to their cause? Terrorists?
The question that we should ask is not if violence is OK. It is this - is terrorism an acceptable means of drawing attention to your plight?
SK
121
black racism is renowned. Does anyone remember the LA Rodney King riots. I lived in LA at the time and will never, ever forget seeing black stores with "Black owned" painted on them being untouched while Korean stores on the next block were burned to the ground. Yet this was barely reported on by the press.
1
It's hard to buy that the rioting distracts from the underlying inequities, when it's the only reason we're talking about it.
What the rioting does do is give people an easy way to dismiss the entire issue because, "look at these people, they deserve what they get." This is why the left seems to excuse the rioting - but they're really just trying to brush aside a straw man.
The rioting is not the distraction, talking about it is.
What the rioting does do is give people an easy way to dismiss the entire issue because, "look at these people, they deserve what they get." This is why the left seems to excuse the rioting - but they're really just trying to brush aside a straw man.
The rioting is not the distraction, talking about it is.
6
Hilary Clinton addressed many of the issues today. The poverty, the education, lack of jobs have to be addressed as well as the injustice with the police. Until the reality is faced and dealt with nothing will change...
4
Nick, I found much with which to agree in this very thoughtful column. One sentence I had trouble negotiating, however, is the one containing "If wealthy white parents found their children... being denied a chance to get ahead..."
Aren't wealthy families, including the children, already "ahead?" Given a tacit desire to get and stay "ahead," what motivation -- from the standpoint of educational opportunity, material comfort, etc. -- remains for persons already in positions of relative advantage to want to make things fairer or more equal for anybody else?
I have always wondered about what we really mean by the expression "getting ahead." How can we have "no child left behind" while other children are busy learning how to, and getting, "ahead?"
We can talk about income and wealth inequality until we're blue in the face, but until we stop approaching education as an endless, competitive series of trivial pursuits and start approaching it from the standpoint of standard shared competencies and subject mastery for all (at least through the middle school grades) inequality will continue to be the norm.
I'll leave you with just one of many provocative verses from the Malvina Reynolds song, "I don't mind failing," which speaks so profoundly to me regarding "getting ahead:"
"I don't mind failing in this world,
I don't mind failing in this world,
I'll stay down here with the raggedy crew ('cause)
Getting up there means stepping on you,
I don't mind failing in this world."
Aren't wealthy families, including the children, already "ahead?" Given a tacit desire to get and stay "ahead," what motivation -- from the standpoint of educational opportunity, material comfort, etc. -- remains for persons already in positions of relative advantage to want to make things fairer or more equal for anybody else?
I have always wondered about what we really mean by the expression "getting ahead." How can we have "no child left behind" while other children are busy learning how to, and getting, "ahead?"
We can talk about income and wealth inequality until we're blue in the face, but until we stop approaching education as an endless, competitive series of trivial pursuits and start approaching it from the standpoint of standard shared competencies and subject mastery for all (at least through the middle school grades) inequality will continue to be the norm.
I'll leave you with just one of many provocative verses from the Malvina Reynolds song, "I don't mind failing," which speaks so profoundly to me regarding "getting ahead:"
"I don't mind failing in this world,
I don't mind failing in this world,
I'll stay down here with the raggedy crew ('cause)
Getting up there means stepping on you,
I don't mind failing in this world."
8
I generally always agree with Mr. Kristof, but I believe that a Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Racial Inequality would be ineffective because the people who are living with the legacy of our nation's racist/slave related history are all victims of that history. The truth is out and has been out for a long, long time.
3
When will I finally read a story about these riots that does not follow the format: "Violence is unacceptable, HOWEVER..." or, "I do not condone looting and stealing in response to perceived injustice, YET..."?
How about, "No matter how a citizen feels about injustice, attacking the police, burning local stores, stealing, and smashing cars is villainous behavior. We would expect more incidents of perceived police brutality, given the rates of crime is these rotting communities."
Just asking for the truth.
How about, "No matter how a citizen feels about injustice, attacking the police, burning local stores, stealing, and smashing cars is villainous behavior. We would expect more incidents of perceived police brutality, given the rates of crime is these rotting communities."
Just asking for the truth.
25
"When will I finally read a story about these riots that does not follow the format: 'Violence is unacceptable, HOWEVER...' or, 'I do not condone looting and stealing in response to perceived injustice, YET...'?"
When the statements following HOWEVER and YET are no longer valid and need to be said. That is far from the case today.
When the statements following HOWEVER and YET are no longer valid and need to be said. That is far from the case today.
When you look at all of the successful civil rights movements throughout history, the protests have all been structured, organized, and most importantly, peaceful. Kicking and screaming gets you know where. There is a clear injustice being done to minorities across the nation. People have a right to be outraged, and they have a right to protest. However, if they're serious about change, they need to organize peacefully.
7
" Kicking and screaming gets you know where."
Or: kicking and screaming makes it harder for people to ignore the situation, making it easier for structured, organized, and peaceful movements to succeed.
First, you've got to get their attention.
Or: kicking and screaming makes it harder for people to ignore the situation, making it easier for structured, organized, and peaceful movements to succeed.
First, you've got to get their attention.
1
All those peaceful protests -- and no change.
1
Except for the American Revolution and the Civil War.
1
Reflections on Baltimore:
1. It's entertainment. America's most important product.
2. A few months from now the Baltimore Police Department will have several hundred brand-new fully-equipped cop cars. Other Police Departments around the country will begin figuring out ways to get some too.
3. Thanks to the riot, American cities will again be demanding and receiving armored vehicles, some equipped with machine guns and other heavy-duty military-type weapons. A few cities will also be supplied with helicopters equipped with rocket launchers. These will be supplied by the U.S. Army, which in turn will have to be resupplied also.
4. Congress will hold hearings in the next few months concerning the question of whether Mayors of major American cities should be supplied with weaponized drones.
5. A large number of Baltimore policemen will seek early retirement within the next several years on the basis of post-traumatic stress disorder brought about the riots.
6. CNN, FOX and MSNBC will be adding full-time "Urban Riot Specialists" to their staff of reporters. Many of them will be blondes.
7. The Baltimore Senior Center/Housing Project that was destroyed will be rebuilt. This time around it will include tennis and archery courts, a swimming pool, a bowling alley and a rooftop restaurant.
8. Hillary Clinton will become a familiar fixture at police bull roasts and similar functions around the country. She will also be seen "relaxing" while target-shooting.
1. It's entertainment. America's most important product.
2. A few months from now the Baltimore Police Department will have several hundred brand-new fully-equipped cop cars. Other Police Departments around the country will begin figuring out ways to get some too.
3. Thanks to the riot, American cities will again be demanding and receiving armored vehicles, some equipped with machine guns and other heavy-duty military-type weapons. A few cities will also be supplied with helicopters equipped with rocket launchers. These will be supplied by the U.S. Army, which in turn will have to be resupplied also.
4. Congress will hold hearings in the next few months concerning the question of whether Mayors of major American cities should be supplied with weaponized drones.
5. A large number of Baltimore policemen will seek early retirement within the next several years on the basis of post-traumatic stress disorder brought about the riots.
6. CNN, FOX and MSNBC will be adding full-time "Urban Riot Specialists" to their staff of reporters. Many of them will be blondes.
7. The Baltimore Senior Center/Housing Project that was destroyed will be rebuilt. This time around it will include tennis and archery courts, a swimming pool, a bowling alley and a rooftop restaurant.
8. Hillary Clinton will become a familiar fixture at police bull roasts and similar functions around the country. She will also be seen "relaxing" while target-shooting.
26
A bit facetious, however, essentially hitting the nail on the head.
2
Bulls Eye!
2
A good column, but a bad solution. The last thing we need is another Commission to tell us what we all already know: that there's massive inequality and significant racism in contemporary America. The real answer is to peacefully protest against the government, greedy corporations that refuse to pay a livable wage and even pathetic narcissists like Stephen Schwarzman. Oh, and be sure to vote!
14
Not just every four years. EVERY ELECTION even one for dog catcher or city council.
I was fed up of reading one-sided articles here. Finally, Kristof has provided a balanced opinion. As an immigrant student and now resident of Baltimore for 10 years my experience has been shocking. I came from the "badlands" of Pakistan a decade ago, yet the first ever and subsequent assaults I have ever received have been on the streets of Baltimore. I have been pelted with rocks, rubber bullets, exposed to knives by unruly teens. Every time I have called 911 after an assault, I have found baltimore police officers courteous and sympathetic yet palpably afraid to pursue these teens. I survived 7 years in Karachi arguably the murder capital of the world without having seen a dead body, hearing a gun shot or a being confined under curfew. Yet I saw my first dead body on the street in Baltimore, heard my first gun shots in Baltimore and now am living through my first curfew in Baltimore.
159
What usually goes unsaid in the US is just how badly our own citizens can behave. We talk a lot about the bad behavior of our cops (rightly so), and we talk about all the injustices faced by our badly behaving citizens (again, rightly so), but we are reluctant to honestly address the very loathsome behavior of the worst of them.
Baltimore seems to have some of the worst behaving of our citizens.
Columnists here in the NYT write eloquently trying to rationalize their violence. President Obama called them "thugs" and actually had to explain his using this term.
This is what happens when race is injected into everything.
Baltimore seems to have some of the worst behaving of our citizens.
Columnists here in the NYT write eloquently trying to rationalize their violence. President Obama called them "thugs" and actually had to explain his using this term.
This is what happens when race is injected into everything.
4
The press and black community need to be made more aware of your reviews. These groups simply sweep your very important points under the rug. I too have been mugged by black teenagers but whenever I tell either whites or blacks they label me as "racist". This needs to change. How else can the problem be tackled?
1
The systematic marching and protesting which then morphs into looting and rioting are very real and deep expressions of a racial disorder and lingering segregation going amok. America is now representing the kinds of racial divisiveness the rest of the post colonial world has been trying to address and rectify for years. These episodes don't just highlight but reignite racial tensions and fuel greater animosities world wide.
Why are some politicians and media going out of their way to excuse thuggery?
And new information indicates that the police didn't harm the prisoner. It seems the prisoner harmed himself.
Just like Ferguson! Officer Darren Wilson is a hero! He was vilified in the media!
And new information indicates that the police didn't harm the prisoner. It seems the prisoner harmed himself.
Just like Ferguson! Officer Darren Wilson is a hero! He was vilified in the media!
16
Oh yeah. The prisoner broke his spine in three places-- while he was handcuffed.
Matt, do you have any idea how much force it take to break a human spinal column? The idea that bouncing around or throwing around your body in a police van could do that is laughable! But that is the what this secret release from the police report would have the public believe: whoa! He did it to himself. From the little clip we saw on TV Gray couldn't walk and was howling in pain when he was unceremoniously carried under the arms and put into the back of a police wagon. Thrashing about? Do these wagons have internal walls? If any other prisoner heard thrashing about but didn't see anything how does he even know that Gray was alone? The whole thing stinks to heaven and it was only last month that we saw how an officer in SC planted his "stolen" taser next to the body of the man he'd just killed and then created the tale of the stolen taser in his report to justify the killing.
You can't solve complex human problems just by trying to be nice to everyone. If you're going to be nice to people from poor countries who cross the border, that's not going to be nice for the poor people here legally.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/07/us/suit-cites-race-bias-in-farms-use-o...
'“They like the Mexicans because they are scared and will do anything they tell them to,” said Sherry Tomason, who worked for seven years in the fields here, then quit. Last month she and other local residents filed a federal lawsuit against a large grower of onions, Stanley Farms, alleging that it mistreated them and paid them less than it paid the Mexicans.'
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/oct/09/americas-front-lines/
'The fraction of those who were called back—indicating they would be considered for a job—was 31 percent for white applicants, 25 percent for Hispanic applicants, and 15 percent for black applicants.'
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/07/us/suit-cites-race-bias-in-farms-use-o...
'“They like the Mexicans because they are scared and will do anything they tell them to,” said Sherry Tomason, who worked for seven years in the fields here, then quit. Last month she and other local residents filed a federal lawsuit against a large grower of onions, Stanley Farms, alleging that it mistreated them and paid them less than it paid the Mexicans.'
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/oct/09/americas-front-lines/
'The fraction of those who were called back—indicating they would be considered for a job—was 31 percent for white applicants, 25 percent for Hispanic applicants, and 15 percent for black applicants.'
4
Government officials are all too aware that violence is the likely product of widespread oppression and systemic corruption.
Yet the DOJ continues to allow internal investigations for citizens killed by police. When no arrest is made, are we really surprised violence erupts?
Yet the DOJ continues to allow internal investigations for citizens killed by police. When no arrest is made, are we really surprised violence erupts?
4
"our own complacency at the systematic long-term denial of equal opportunity to people based on their skin color and ZIP code."
I'm sorry Mr. Kristof but the long-term denial of equal opportunity is self-inflicted when as many as 45% of black youth don't attend school. They could have the best schools but what good does it do if they don't attend? Forcing young folk to go to school, do their homework, have goals and discipline to obtain goals takes parental control and involvement which is difficult when ~70% are raised in a one parent family. How do we fix that Mr. Kristof? It's not my fault nor is it the fault of white folk collectively.
I'm sorry Mr. Kristof but the long-term denial of equal opportunity is self-inflicted when as many as 45% of black youth don't attend school. They could have the best schools but what good does it do if they don't attend? Forcing young folk to go to school, do their homework, have goals and discipline to obtain goals takes parental control and involvement which is difficult when ~70% are raised in a one parent family. How do we fix that Mr. Kristof? It's not my fault nor is it the fault of white folk collectively.
55
I see so many comments that include the phrase "I'm sorry, but."
I'm sorry but history shows that for the first 250 odd years of the African American presence on this continent, Africans were not permitted to have families. After the Civil War and Reconstruction, African American men were systematically, under the color of law, persecuted and removed from the community to provide "prison labor" rather than slave labor. This system was not completely dismantled until after WWII. It's hard to create stable families in this society without young men.
So how do you fix this? First, stop denying the conditions as if African Americans prefer dysfunction. Second, acknowledge the benefit that has flowed OUT of the African American community and INTO the "larger community" because of these conditions.
I know it's hard. The American Myth says we fall or rise by our own effort. The truth is more complicated, and for most whites, uncomfortable. But, please, stop asking the questions about fatherless children when nothing has been done to foster the creation and support of African American families.
I'm sorry but history shows that for the first 250 odd years of the African American presence on this continent, Africans were not permitted to have families. After the Civil War and Reconstruction, African American men were systematically, under the color of law, persecuted and removed from the community to provide "prison labor" rather than slave labor. This system was not completely dismantled until after WWII. It's hard to create stable families in this society without young men.
So how do you fix this? First, stop denying the conditions as if African Americans prefer dysfunction. Second, acknowledge the benefit that has flowed OUT of the African American community and INTO the "larger community" because of these conditions.
I know it's hard. The American Myth says we fall or rise by our own effort. The truth is more complicated, and for most whites, uncomfortable. But, please, stop asking the questions about fatherless children when nothing has been done to foster the creation and support of African American families.
1
"It's not my fault nor is it the fault of white folk collectively."
but Kriston and black leaders state that it white collective folk who are to blame, not the problems you point out. Therefore "reperations" need to be paid.
but Kriston and black leaders state that it white collective folk who are to blame, not the problems you point out. Therefore "reperations" need to be paid.
1
It's hard enough to get a job if you go to college; without completing school and going to college, there is no hope of a living wage job. But college is like Mars for these people. If you don't have a family member who has been to college, you're never going to make the correct economic assessment. And for the women, a baby is a rite of passage; who would be a heifer if you could be a real woman, and have a baby to love you besides? Life in the middle class is like life on Mars for people constrained by poverty; they cannot believe such a thing really exists.
The key point both in Baltimore in particular and in the racial inequality in America generally is whether the inequality results from poor choices by African Americans or from racism and from inescapable inter-generational poverty.
Kristof appears to prefer not to ask this question of what caused the inequality ? He states, "It’s outrageous when police use excessive force against young, unarmed African-American men, who are 21 times as likely to be shot dead by police as young white men." But he does not state what these African American men were doing when they were shot ? According to the FBI, police kill roughly 400 people per year in which almost all were killed during the commission of a violent crime. By comparison, African Americans kill almost 5000 people per year - almost all of them other African Americans.
"If wealthy white parents found their children damaged by lead poisoning, consigned to dismal schools, denied any opportunity to get ahead, more likely to end up in prison than college, harassed and occasionally killed by police — why, then we’d hear roars of grievance."
If white parents found their children facing these issues, there would not just be "roars of grievance". Rather, individual parents would take action. They would keep their kids away from crime like Toya Graham. They would clean up the lead. And if the schools were bad, they would move for better schools. Poverty is tragic and frustrating. It is also a choice.
Kristof appears to prefer not to ask this question of what caused the inequality ? He states, "It’s outrageous when police use excessive force against young, unarmed African-American men, who are 21 times as likely to be shot dead by police as young white men." But he does not state what these African American men were doing when they were shot ? According to the FBI, police kill roughly 400 people per year in which almost all were killed during the commission of a violent crime. By comparison, African Americans kill almost 5000 people per year - almost all of them other African Americans.
"If wealthy white parents found their children damaged by lead poisoning, consigned to dismal schools, denied any opportunity to get ahead, more likely to end up in prison than college, harassed and occasionally killed by police — why, then we’d hear roars of grievance."
If white parents found their children facing these issues, there would not just be "roars of grievance". Rather, individual parents would take action. They would keep their kids away from crime like Toya Graham. They would clean up the lead. And if the schools were bad, they would move for better schools. Poverty is tragic and frustrating. It is also a choice.
21
"And if the schools were bad, they would move for better schools. Poverty is tragic and frustrating. It is also a choice."
Easier said than done.
Easier said than done.
1
'...If white parents found their children facing these issues...They would keep their kids away from crime like Toya Graham...'
Who is a single mother with six children on welfare, not a role model for anyone, much less a child.
What parents have done when their children face these issues is to get an education and work hard to move out of dangerous neighborhoods to safer communities, most of the time *before* they decide to have children.
Every dangerous inner city community has a majority of people who have done just the opposite. How is it surprising that the outcome of their decisions is exactly the same as it was two and three generations ago?
Who is a single mother with six children on welfare, not a role model for anyone, much less a child.
What parents have done when their children face these issues is to get an education and work hard to move out of dangerous neighborhoods to safer communities, most of the time *before* they decide to have children.
Every dangerous inner city community has a majority of people who have done just the opposite. How is it surprising that the outcome of their decisions is exactly the same as it was two and three generations ago?
For godsake, Nick, the problem is police in America are detaining, beating, coercing, and killing with impunity. The nation is crashing down into a police state and you and others are wringing your hands over the immediate politics of it. The nation is failing! The 4th Amendment has been shredded! The conservatives want to roll us back prior to Magna Carta. Let's not forget what started this riot; police killing.
13
72% of black children are born to single mothers; this number is less than 17% for Asian Americans, the group with the lowest rate. Much of the socioeconomic ills that Kristof speaks about can be explained by those statistics.
42
Toya Graham is a heroine -- good for her -- but MOST single moms with teenage sons really cannot "frog march" them anywhere. If you are alone, working long hours and exhausted...and your teenage son (or sons) are 6 ft tall and 200 lbs and have facial hair....you are talking about a MAN (or maybe a boy in a man's body). And many women lack the physical or emotional strength to control a big teen like that. Often they just give up and say "I can't make him do anything anymore".
This article and many others whinging on this issue ignore the fact that it is PEERS who influence a lot of the criminal activities -- you can have wonderful parents, even a married set of parents and/or a stay-at-home parent -- great schools and teachers -- but if your peers tell you that it is "cool" to take drugs, steal or be a gangsta, then chances are that's what you will do.
This article and many others whinging on this issue ignore the fact that it is PEERS who influence a lot of the criminal activities -- you can have wonderful parents, even a married set of parents and/or a stay-at-home parent -- great schools and teachers -- but if your peers tell you that it is "cool" to take drugs, steal or be a gangsta, then chances are that's what you will do.
1
And this is why the police beat up -- and kill -- black men?
1
Does this also explain the drop in violent crime in cities across the nation over the last twenty five years?
1
Surely the guy from Jerusalem got the better prize. And it was "liberated" from Iraq? Interesting choice of word...
2
Great column, some of the best words I have read about this today.
But one thing: "If wealthy white parents found their children damaged by lead poisoning, consigned to dismal schools, denied any opportunity to get ahead, more likely to end up in prison than college, harassed and occasionally killed by police — why, then we’d hear roars of grievance. And they’d be right to roar: Parents of any color should protest, peacefully but loudly, about such injustices."
Occasionally killed? Peacefully but loudly? When our childrens' lives are on the line, the time for "peaceful" has already passed.
But one thing: "If wealthy white parents found their children damaged by lead poisoning, consigned to dismal schools, denied any opportunity to get ahead, more likely to end up in prison than college, harassed and occasionally killed by police — why, then we’d hear roars of grievance. And they’d be right to roar: Parents of any color should protest, peacefully but loudly, about such injustices."
Occasionally killed? Peacefully but loudly? When our childrens' lives are on the line, the time for "peaceful" has already passed.
3
Baltimore has a black mayor, black police chief, and a black majority population. This suggests to me this is not a race issue but a socio-economic issue.
48
It's socio-economic, but it is also cultural. If you have cultural values that say it is fine to live on generational welfare -- that it is fine for a 14 year old girl to have a baby -- that is perfectly OK to have 4 kids with 4 different fathers -- that it is normal to drop out of high school -- that it is fine for adult men to hang around with their friends, doing nothing and no job -- that gangs, drugs and violence are tolerable -- then no amount of nanny-state interference will change anything.
2
It is both - they are inextricably connected and intertwined.
Not enough Nick, not nearly enough. If you kill my kid I will try very hard to kill you, God help me. I am mostly white, my kids don't get abused generally by the law, but the lawmen still act like punks to most kids if you didn't notice, whether they are black or white. We have hired a lot of wrong people, thugs by the President's definition, to be police officers for a long time now. It is time for a correction. I'm thinking of moseying on down to Baltimore to catch what's going on.
7
If your kid is killed, no matter how awful or tragic, it doesn't give you the right to go kill the PRESUMED murderer -- because we have a system of laws. And when you take justice into your own hands, then you are an unthinking mob. And mobs don't deal out accurate justice, they just kill, loot, attack and burn without discrimination.
If you choose that, you are choosing CHAOS -- not justice.
If you choose that, you are choosing CHAOS -- not justice.
but the lawmen still act like punks to most kids if you didn't notice, whether "they are black or white."
in my experience it is the kids, not police, who act like "punks".
in my experience it is the kids, not police, who act like "punks".
Am I the only one who finds it ironic that Toya Graham slapped her son to get him to stop being violent?
A lot has been written about race in America, the large percentage of African Americans in prison, and other statistics showing poorer outcomes for people of color in school and life. There's been a lot of finger pointing - to poverty, to racism.
But IMHO the biggest culprit for people who do not thrive is lack of knowledge and resources that enable good parenting. Self-esteem, self-confidence, and the sense of safety, wholeness and belonging that are necessary to thrive are formed early in life, primarily from good, nurturing parenting. That's not something instinctive for most people. It needs to be learned.
There's a lot wrong with our society today. For sure our police force need to be better trained and monitored so that they serve ALL people - including the ones who need arresting.
But to help people - black, white or coffee-colored - break the cycle of poverty, crime and violence, we need to start in the home. We need to give families the knowledge and resources to raise children who can do well and have happy, productive and peaceful lives.
We need to do this now.
A lot has been written about race in America, the large percentage of African Americans in prison, and other statistics showing poorer outcomes for people of color in school and life. There's been a lot of finger pointing - to poverty, to racism.
But IMHO the biggest culprit for people who do not thrive is lack of knowledge and resources that enable good parenting. Self-esteem, self-confidence, and the sense of safety, wholeness and belonging that are necessary to thrive are formed early in life, primarily from good, nurturing parenting. That's not something instinctive for most people. It needs to be learned.
There's a lot wrong with our society today. For sure our police force need to be better trained and monitored so that they serve ALL people - including the ones who need arresting.
But to help people - black, white or coffee-colored - break the cycle of poverty, crime and violence, we need to start in the home. We need to give families the knowledge and resources to raise children who can do well and have happy, productive and peaceful lives.
We need to do this now.
15
Not possible, when women decide to start having children in their teen years and learn that for every child, their welfare payments increase.
Whatever you reward, you will get more of.
Whatever you reward, you will get more of.
1
We seem to have learned nothing from the Kerner Commission report of almost a half century ago that warned us after the riots that swept many inner cities in 1967 that “Our nation Is moving toward two societies, one black, one white—separate and unequal.” The large African-American ghettos along with poverty, crime, poor education, and police brutality still remain. All it takes is a spark to explode the frustration. We saw it in Ferguson, Missouri last summer with the death of Michael Brown and we see it in Baltimore with the death of Freddie Gray. There is no excuse for violence whether it is by the police or angry youths seeking an outlet. But, there is also no excuse for the economically segregated ghettos that we've created and maintained under harsh police control. We need to expand social programs like Head Start and Food Stamps rather than cut them; we need to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour; we need jobs here at home rather than trade agreements that export them abroad; we need affordable education with lower college tuition and lower student loan rates rather than continual raises in both. We know many of the answers to these persistent social problems, but so far have been unwilling to pay the price for it.
14
The riots of the 60s -- which destroyed and hollowed out many of our greatest cities, contributing to precisely today's problems -- were followed by LBJ's Great Society and a massive expansion of welfare, affirmative action and other programs. The result after FIFTY YEARS? Things are worse than ever.
We DID all the things you write about -- we created a welfare state. We put 15% of the population on food stamps. Most kids get free or reduced cost lunches. Poor working families get the EITC (which actually raises their yearly income to very close to the $15 an hour range, but without them WORKING to earn it). We established Head Start, and Medicaid and countless other programs for the poor.
So why are thinsg worse than ever? What you suggest -- do more of the same failed things, until they finally work -- is insanity. Doing the same things over and over, and expecting a different results, is the very definition of insanity.
We DID all the things you write about -- we created a welfare state. We put 15% of the population on food stamps. Most kids get free or reduced cost lunches. Poor working families get the EITC (which actually raises their yearly income to very close to the $15 an hour range, but without them WORKING to earn it). We established Head Start, and Medicaid and countless other programs for the poor.
So why are thinsg worse than ever? What you suggest -- do more of the same failed things, until they finally work -- is insanity. Doing the same things over and over, and expecting a different results, is the very definition of insanity.
2
Sorry "Concerned Citizen" but your history is wrong. LBJ's "guns and butter" policy failed to be implemented as the Vietnam War killed it. And, LBJ himself left office within a year after the Kerner Commission report was released in 1968. Bill Clinton, of course, ended "welfare as we know it" and started shipping jobs out of America's inner cities with NAFTA--a process that has accelerated with globalization and multinational corporations. And, Congressional Republicans have been cutting Food Stamps while increasing subsidies to wealthy farmers. We must neither forget history nor misrepresent it.
1
Ms. Graham wanted her son out of that protest because she wanted him to stay alive.
11
I watched the Arab Spring and Baltimore unfold on Aljazeera. I watched American media and read the NYT as well but I think Aljazeera got it correct the US media not so much. The systemic violence and racism is undeniable but Baltimore is more about the lack of a future for disadvantaged young persons as it is about "rounding up the usual gang of suspects."
Aljazeera went into to the history of Baltimore the availability of jobs and opportunity and today where one side of Baltimore has 2% unemployment and the other side 20%+.
What was obvious was that after doing such an admirable job in Cairo and Tunis Aljazeera knew what to look for. Aljazeera did not look for a study in Black and White but looked to understand the inside story. The story of young people looking for meaning in their future and seeing a society that sees them only as a problem to get rid of.
Yes we must deal with the racism but first we must reach out and tell our poor and disadvantaged that we value their humanity. That we do not see them as social parasites. We must inform them that our society is going through a technological revolution and we are committed to finding a welcoming place for them in tomorrow's America.
We are failing to deliver such a message to the young of the Middle East if we fail to deliver the message to our young here at home we will surely inherit the wind and we will deserve it.
Aljazeera went into to the history of Baltimore the availability of jobs and opportunity and today where one side of Baltimore has 2% unemployment and the other side 20%+.
What was obvious was that after doing such an admirable job in Cairo and Tunis Aljazeera knew what to look for. Aljazeera did not look for a study in Black and White but looked to understand the inside story. The story of young people looking for meaning in their future and seeing a society that sees them only as a problem to get rid of.
Yes we must deal with the racism but first we must reach out and tell our poor and disadvantaged that we value their humanity. That we do not see them as social parasites. We must inform them that our society is going through a technological revolution and we are committed to finding a welcoming place for them in tomorrow's America.
We are failing to deliver such a message to the young of the Middle East if we fail to deliver the message to our young here at home we will surely inherit the wind and we will deserve it.
14
"BALTIMORE" IS JUST A METAPHOR FOR INNER CITY BLACKS . . .
...whether it be Chicago, South Central L. A. or many parts in the five boroughs of New York City and...
Of course the police are seen as an occupying force among many blacks (and, Hispanics) but let me posit that the police who work in the high crime "ghettos" in the U. S. see young black men through the prism of many who are the "danger to be confronted.'
It is said that police in general are far more cynical and afraid than peers in other professions. And the officers along with all Americans see the about 12% of blacks as a highly disproportionate number of persons who are arrested or convicted of felonies. And the abundance of "black on black" murders and attacks ... are visible to all via TV and newspapers.
This dysfunctional culture is a significant part of the problems. Readers of the NYT understand the relationship between slavery followed by a century of Jim Crow, that blacks could not marry whites ... so it was and is thought that they were subhuman.
Police are more macho than sophisticated; and less well educated. Class is probably a more significant factor than race. When the Irish immigrated to our nation in the late 19th Century, they were poor and the amount of crime was about equivalent to black (and a few other minorities) display today.
It 's easy to blame the police, teachers and unions. My proposal is that the wealthy blacks who have made it (as well as whites) must remediate black culture.
...whether it be Chicago, South Central L. A. or many parts in the five boroughs of New York City and...
Of course the police are seen as an occupying force among many blacks (and, Hispanics) but let me posit that the police who work in the high crime "ghettos" in the U. S. see young black men through the prism of many who are the "danger to be confronted.'
It is said that police in general are far more cynical and afraid than peers in other professions. And the officers along with all Americans see the about 12% of blacks as a highly disproportionate number of persons who are arrested or convicted of felonies. And the abundance of "black on black" murders and attacks ... are visible to all via TV and newspapers.
This dysfunctional culture is a significant part of the problems. Readers of the NYT understand the relationship between slavery followed by a century of Jim Crow, that blacks could not marry whites ... so it was and is thought that they were subhuman.
Police are more macho than sophisticated; and less well educated. Class is probably a more significant factor than race. When the Irish immigrated to our nation in the late 19th Century, they were poor and the amount of crime was about equivalent to black (and a few other minorities) display today.
It 's easy to blame the police, teachers and unions. My proposal is that the wealthy blacks who have made it (as well as whites) must remediate black culture.
5
And how will that stop police brutality?
“A riot is the language of the unheard.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 1965
13
"If wealthy white parents found their children damaged by lead poisoning, consigned to dismal schools, denied any opportunity to get ahead, more likely to end up in prison than college, harassed and occasionally killed by police — why, then we’d hear roars of grievance. And they’d be right to roar: Parents of any color should protest, peacefully but loudly, about such injustices."
----------
No we wouldn't hear roars of grievances. They don't need to roar because they quietly make their voices heard by calling up the right people -- and being listened to and having something done about it.
When we hear roars of grievances among whites, it's fake grievance. White feminists talking about abstract wrongs of the "patriarchy" as well as such mundane issues as being cat called, wolf whistled, and a wage gap that doesn't exist or which is based on women working fewer hours at easier less demanding jobs, and all sorts of mathematical atrocities have to be committed in order to trump it up into a manufactured grievance.
Way to distract attention from the problems of ordinary people.
----------
No we wouldn't hear roars of grievances. They don't need to roar because they quietly make their voices heard by calling up the right people -- and being listened to and having something done about it.
When we hear roars of grievances among whites, it's fake grievance. White feminists talking about abstract wrongs of the "patriarchy" as well as such mundane issues as being cat called, wolf whistled, and a wage gap that doesn't exist or which is based on women working fewer hours at easier less demanding jobs, and all sorts of mathematical atrocities have to be committed in order to trump it up into a manufactured grievance.
Way to distract attention from the problems of ordinary people.
2
K: "The real crisis isn’t one night of young men in the street rioting. It’s something perhaps even more inexcusable — our own complacency at the systematic long-term denial of equal opportunity to people based on their skin color"
No, the real crisis is that large numbers of black children grow up without fathers and without adequate parenting. Only the black community can correct this problem. If the family structure is poor, no amount of money or government intervention will solve the problem. If the black community was serious about its problems, it would find ways to enhance family structures. People that loot and steal in response to police injustice only show that they don't respect work and the property acquired by other people who work.
JD
No, the real crisis is that large numbers of black children grow up without fathers and without adequate parenting. Only the black community can correct this problem. If the family structure is poor, no amount of money or government intervention will solve the problem. If the black community was serious about its problems, it would find ways to enhance family structures. People that loot and steal in response to police injustice only show that they don't respect work and the property acquired by other people who work.
JD
49
The problem is the welfare system. Designed with good intentions, it basically incentivizes poor, educated women to have multiple illegitimate babies in order to qualify for the maximum welfare payout -- which is roughly $35,000 in value. Of course, that is not direct cash but things like a subsidized apartment, Medicaid, food stamps, TANF, WIC, SNAP, EBT and of course the EITC.
This is a toxic environment in which to raise children. It sets a horrible role model of dependence and entitlement, and it removes FATHERS from the home. Children end up being raised by children themselves -- many such mothers have their first child before age 18. Unskilled, uneducated dropouts, they have no way to instill values or morals in their own kids. The cycle repeats. It's been this way for 50 years. The welfare state is a sickening failure.
This is a toxic environment in which to raise children. It sets a horrible role model of dependence and entitlement, and it removes FATHERS from the home. Children end up being raised by children themselves -- many such mothers have their first child before age 18. Unskilled, uneducated dropouts, they have no way to instill values or morals in their own kids. The cycle repeats. It's been this way for 50 years. The welfare state is a sickening failure.
2
While it is true that looters show no respect for the property of other people who work, I don't think you understand how discrimination affects black men. Toni Morrison's first book "The Bluest Eye" attempts to explain it. Perhaps you should take a look at literature describing the plight of black men who do not have access to decent education, sufficient food, and decent parents. Racism underlies the fact that black men have short life spans and see no choice other than criminal activity for survival.
1
There are two types of people and African-Americans are no exception. There are women and men. It takes both to make a baby. If you want to talk about children growing up without fathers, you're going to have to talk about making sure girls insist that their boyfriends wear condoms. You're going to have to talk about the pill. You're going to have to acknowledge that teenagers of all races will have sex whether adults tell them anything or not. You're going to have to raise the self worth of African American girls, so they aspire to something besides being a teenage mother. African American girls whose dreams include a career that requires a high school diploma or even a college degree will insist their boyfriends wear condoms, or even forgo the boyfriend until college and be less likely to have kids out of wedlock.
1
Baltimore is not Ferguson. Baltimore has a black mayor and a black police chief and adequate black representation within the city government. So why isn't Baltimore a shining light in the field of race relations. Is it because the phony argument that African Americans can only relate when only black law enforcement officers are on the case as well as black politicians. Every police officer and police chief must be competent and totally law abiding white or black!!!. Then we would get good community relations.
15
If 1/3 of adults lack a high school degree, that is a gigantic problem all by itself. And saying that the schools are dismal just doesn't cut it. If that 1/3 of adults really wanted a degree, I think they would have gotten one. And it doesn't surprise me at all that they are unemployed. So maybe we should be asking the question of those people without a degree - why?
9
High school is, and always has been, free in the US. If you are a poor student, you can hang on in high school until age 21! There are a lot of remedial classes for those who are struggling. There are bilingual classes for those who do not speak good English. There is tutoring. There is the GED exam (free) and classes to pass it (also free).
To avoid graduating high school, you really have to TRY to not succeed.
BTW: I have relatives in Florida whose have all together 9 kids ages 17-32, and only one girl (the youngest) graduated high school. Another girl got a GED around age 23. The other 7 all dropped out. Some are on welfare and the others work at Walmart. All the girls have had unwed pregnancies and none of them have married. They exhibit all the problems you might imagine in an inner city slum -- but the people I speak of are all WHITE and live in a semi-rural part of Central Florida. It's CULTURAL. It's a culture of low expectations.
To avoid graduating high school, you really have to TRY to not succeed.
BTW: I have relatives in Florida whose have all together 9 kids ages 17-32, and only one girl (the youngest) graduated high school. Another girl got a GED around age 23. The other 7 all dropped out. Some are on welfare and the others work at Walmart. All the girls have had unwed pregnancies and none of them have married. They exhibit all the problems you might imagine in an inner city slum -- but the people I speak of are all WHITE and live in a semi-rural part of Central Florida. It's CULTURAL. It's a culture of low expectations.
6
And if they had a degree, they could get a living wage job?
2
It's not just dark-skinned people at risk. I witnessed overly-aggressive police force against a light-sinned man in my Indiana community, filed an official complaint, and absolutely nothing happened. The police are out of control and EVERYONE is at risk.
10
Thank you Mr. Kristoff.
If we use 1960 as the starting point, one thing for sure has been proven - socialism provides equality of misery. Lets try Capitalism.
Vouchers for parents to choose how and where to educate their children.
Incent the father to stay home
Support Faith based communities
"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" JFK 1960
If we use 1960 as the starting point, one thing for sure has been proven - socialism provides equality of misery. Lets try Capitalism.
Vouchers for parents to choose how and where to educate their children.
Incent the father to stay home
Support Faith based communities
"Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country" JFK 1960
6
Ah, more inequality than we already have? That should fix the problem.
(Sarcasm alert.)
(Sarcasm alert.)
4
Mr. Kristof, thanks for your insights, but you have over-analyzed the situation.
The reason for the riots in Baltimore, and the two cops shot in New York, and the violence in Ferguson, and the protests in North Charleston, was one-dimensional: black people are sick and tired of being oppressed and preyed upon by the police.
The violent backlash is pure, frustrated anger. Anger is irrational, so don't try to rationalize blacks' destruction of their own neighborhoods. It does not make sense.
All of your points here are good ones, but here's a better one: to stop reactionary street violence, stop police oppression. Guaranteed you won't see any property torched, people injured, or cops killed, due to the social issues you have so rightfully identified here.
The reason for the riots in Baltimore, and the two cops shot in New York, and the violence in Ferguson, and the protests in North Charleston, was one-dimensional: black people are sick and tired of being oppressed and preyed upon by the police.
The violent backlash is pure, frustrated anger. Anger is irrational, so don't try to rationalize blacks' destruction of their own neighborhoods. It does not make sense.
All of your points here are good ones, but here's a better one: to stop reactionary street violence, stop police oppression. Guaranteed you won't see any property torched, people injured, or cops killed, due to the social issues you have so rightfully identified here.
8
Rioting, especially when done with a selfish purpose to unfairly enrich oneself, deservedly gets the wrong kind of attention. Almost no other act gets any attention from the news media or more importantly from many in a position of real power. Instead of corporations and businesses putting pressure on policymakers to enact legislation and provide funding to fix or at minimum alleviate some of these well known burdens, some instead see urban unrest or worse as an excuse to (quietly) reduce their investment in that community or to withdraw from it entirely.
Improving many of these vulnerable lives isn't even all that complex; it simply requires political will and investment. The frustration that many people feel is palpable and perfectly understandable to many of us, but not all that noticeable or pressing to some people who really matter. Republicans have no interest in and seemingly no aptitude for an exploration of racial inequity in America. They persist in sending the message that they really don't care about low-income people of color, astute observers who have long picked up on their symbolism and subtle acts of denigration, recognizing the only real power they have is to deny GOP presidential candidates a comfortable route to the White House, by voting against them 9:1.
And where have these GOP candidates been as BAL raged against injustices that never seem to cease? The best of them have at least had the decency to keep mum; that's the *best* they can do. Terrible.
Improving many of these vulnerable lives isn't even all that complex; it simply requires political will and investment. The frustration that many people feel is palpable and perfectly understandable to many of us, but not all that noticeable or pressing to some people who really matter. Republicans have no interest in and seemingly no aptitude for an exploration of racial inequity in America. They persist in sending the message that they really don't care about low-income people of color, astute observers who have long picked up on their symbolism and subtle acts of denigration, recognizing the only real power they have is to deny GOP presidential candidates a comfortable route to the White House, by voting against them 9:1.
And where have these GOP candidates been as BAL raged against injustices that never seem to cease? The best of them have at least had the decency to keep mum; that's the *best* they can do. Terrible.
3
Jobs, Mr Kritof, jobs. Joblessness undermines families. It creates idleness among young men, which creates resentment. Look at trouble spots around the world, Baltimore, Ferguson, Gaza, Syria.... Whatever immediately provokes trouble, the odds are that there's an excess of young men with time on their hands. The US can't expect to export jobs wholesale, undermining families and communities, and NOT have trouble sooner or later.
144
Everyone take a hard look at the make of automobile sitting in their garage/driveway/street. This assumes you found the statements from the Baltimore Orioles' leadership meaningful.
3
How much more will theTTP treaty aggravate the loss of middle class jobs in America. Perhaps middle class whites will need to get out and start protesting as well.
4
Sharon - indeed. Thanks largely to technology, the consequences of bad "trade"deals will steadily affect people higher and higher up the class and income ladder. To paraphrase Martin Niemöller, first they came for the unskilled and poorly educated.....then they came for me. Like trade, technology can be both our friend and our enemy, but our corporate and political leaders seem bent on steering them in the "enemy" direction.
2
The horror story? Long and old,
Butchery makes the blood run cold,
Our poor are neglected,
Of color, rejected,
When will the story's end be told?
Butchery makes the blood run cold,
Our poor are neglected,
Of color, rejected,
When will the story's end be told?
24
Kristof tells us the ratio of death by police for young men of two different groups. But what is the ratio of death by police to death by civilians? It is probably heavily skewed to civilians---excessive police force is scandalous, but a very unusual cause of death compared to ordinary homicide.