Angry At What Is Happening In Baltimore

I have been disgusted all week with coverage from Baltimore. I read many things online that explain the conditions in the city before the riots and if any city was ready to explode it would have been that one. I remember while I watched the WIRE (which was set in Baltimore) thinking that the city had more problems than it could ever fix, just like Detroit - another suffering city that I know much about having watched their new coverage for decades. They were once the source city for one of our American cable stations.

But in the end, newscasts and stories online are never going to help me to fully understand what the people of color are going through this week and for decades now.

I am white. I live in a nice neighborhood where drug dealers are not selling on my corners. My school are well maintained sanctuaries of learning. I was raised with a father in the home and I had access to recreation opportunities that led enrichment to my life. I grew up feeling loved and that I could accomplish much if I followed the rules.  My chances of succeeded in such an environment and not ending up in prison were pretty high. I am not an endangered species in my own community and I can trust that the cops won't shot me dead over a simple traffic stop.

Now a young man in Baltimore has all these challenges and none of my advantages. What are his chances to reach 18 without being killed or on his way to jail? Is there anything that can break the cycle of poverty that is the root of protests like this? How can this continue to happen in what is suppose to be 'post racial' America? It happens because the media have lost their true mission.

So when I see rich white assholes like Geraldo Rivera and Fox News take their anti-protestor biases to the scene of the riots I get angry. I was so glad to see that he was confronted by a very articulate young man but Geraldo wouldn't stop to talk to him. He needed to listen and do his job as a reporter. But Geraldo stopped being a reporter the minute he decided he preferred to be celebrity. He is not there to learn anything. Geraldo thought he would just drift in and solve he crisis BECAUSE he is Geraldo and has an ego a miles wide. But as you see this grinning idiot walk away from the kid, I hope you feel my rage for him and all the media that has gotten this story wrong from the beginning.



Sensationalism and violence are bread and butter to the media and they will always show up when there is chaos. What they fail to do is provide much context as to why the riots happened in the first place. There is no understanding for the war zone like conditions the people of Baltimore already live in. There will be no one to rebuilt and heal when the protest ends as the nation forgets what happened in Baltimore. Where is the media telling good news stories of the community. Where is the media putting public officials to the fire who do little to change condition in a city they were elected to run?

Buck Showalter, manager of the Baltimore Orioles, on race. This is the way the question needs to be answered.