If you read or watched any of the national news coverage over the past week, you were certainly inundated with the scenes out of Baltimore.
Civil unrest that included violence, looting and more, evolved from a protest over the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray who died while in police custody. An ensuing investigation brought forth charges, including murder and manslaughter, against six police officers.
Joel McNeece
National Guard troops were called in to the streets of Baltimore and a city curfew enacted to try and quell the violence that was sparked by Gray’s death.
Whether Freddie Gray, Michael Brown or Eric Garner, these cases involving African Americans and law enforcement are too often simplified as race issues and crammed to fit into the political philosophy of whomever is telling the story.
While race is an undeniable factor, the bigger, deeper issue is poverty, and it’s one the United States is doing an even poorer job of addressing.
At the root of so much of this upheaval is hopelessness, which is a product of the growing financial inequality in this country.
When I was growing up in Clinton, Mississippi, I was filled with hope and absent of any doubt that I could accomplish anything I wanted in life if I was simply willing to work for it.
I had two supportive parents, great educational opportunities and virtually no obstacles to success outside of myself.
That’s not the case for many in this country. Many children have no parental support. They are born into extreme poverty and never presented a viable opportunity to escape. It is incumbent on our future to find ways of creating opportunities for all.
The depths of poverty and hopelessness in this country are rarely discussed because they don’t fit the easy narrative. It’s preferred to simply categorize events such as Baltimore as black/white, or even more often black/police issue, without exploring the deeper causes.
In the partisan world we live in today, too many people pick a side before they even know the issue, and then simply adopt the opinion of whatever political persuasion they’re beholding to without giving the matter any in-depth thought of their own.
Poverty isn’t a black/white issue. It’s not Republican or Democrat or something that can be squeezed into a soundbite for television’s 24 hour news – although “news” should never be equated to what you see on Fox, MSNBC and CNN.
Meaningful discussion and open mindedness are needed to find a true solution and break the poverty cycle that is getting worse.
I’m not trying to offer excuses for the horrid actions of many of Baltimore’s citizens and I certainly don’t pretend to have the answers. I’m suggesting you have to be willing to look beyond the soundbite and think seriously about what led these people to a point of such hopelessness. Only then can we begin to find solutions and correct the injustices in the streets of Baltimore and elsewhere.
Email Joel McNeece at joelmcneece@gmail.com & follow him on Twitter @joelmcneece