Baltimore

I try to stay out of politics on here, but I am going to break my silence and speak out about my beloved city.

Freddy Gray died while in police custody.  Nobody denies that fact.  6 officers have been charged.  Nobody denies that fact.  Investigations are continuing.

Personally, I think it is deplorable that anyone die in police custody, especially while in transport.  I've heard some people say "well, he was a drug dealer."  Excuse me?  That does not make what happened right.  The job of the police is to enforce the law.  End of discussion.  They are not judge, jury, and executioner.  We have a little piece of paper, called the Constitution of the United States that declares that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, and everyone has the right to a trial with a jury of their peers.  Once someone enters police custody, it is the job of the police to keep them safe and respect their rights.

Understandably, there have been protests in Baltimore over this.  Unfortunately, the mainstream media has not covered the thousands who turned out to protest peacefully.  Instead, they only began covering the story once the rioting started, basically turning this fight to find the truth into a story about violence.

In the process, our city was decimated Monday night.

Fires, looting, and violence reigned.  I'm sure you've seen the images, I won't repeat them here.

Yesterday, the people of Baltimore vowed to take the city back.  They were out before the break of dawn, cleaning up the mess.

They stood in between protestors and police, shouting at the protestors to "not give them a reason to act."  (them being the police)

Churches opened their doors and welcomed families in to spend the day together.

The NAACP opened and office in Sandtown, in order to help the residents fight for justice, as well as to better understand the needs of the community and help them as they struggle to recover.

There were peaceful demonstrations

I agree that police violence is a problem.  I don't pretend to know the solution.

BUT, we put our trust in our police to enforce the laws.  We trust our court system to decide if someone is innocent or guilty of charges brought against them.

When I first started teaching, back in 1988, I taught in an inner-city school. (Not Baltimore.  A different city, I want to be clear here.)    The physical building was horrible.  Dingy, dirty, broken desks, out of date teaching materials, bars on the windows, no air conditioning, no computers (which were just coming into fashion in classrooms), and windows that DID NOT OPEN.  Our school was a Title 1 school, and 98% of our population was minority.  Fights were a daily occurrence, and they were vicious.  Staff were frequently attacked.  Parents were angry - always angry - with the school, the system, and the teachers.   I'll never forget my own dismay when I was handed 20 year old hand me down textbooks, told I'd have to share the math textbooks with the teacher next door, and given my ONE ream of paper for the year.  I did several home visits over the years I taught, and could never believe the living conditions that these people were forced to endure.  One or two working toilets per floor.  The landlords would fix the plumbing when they got around to it.  No a/c.  Several apartments were heated solely by a space heater.  Windows that might or might not open.  Peeling paint.  Torn linoleum.  Broken appliances.  Rampant rats and roaches.

A phrase that another teacher in that school uttered to me after a particularly volatile day still haunts me:

When you treat people like animals, they act like animals. 

Words to ponder.