The uncomfortable truth? Baltimore has problems. And Democrats are to blame

1. Bringing down sky-high homicide rates and endemic poverty is a complicated affair that will require some combination of reducing economic inequality, increasing police levels and training, and community activism and interventions based on changing community norms around violence.
2. But that doesn’t mean we should ignore the troubled plight of Baltimore, nor whitewash the culpability of a series of Democratic party leaders who have failed to combat poverty, crime and disrepair in Charm City.
3. National liberal activists have been diligent in shining a light on Baltimore’s well-known police brutality and misconduct – the city’s own gun control taskforce was disbanded due to corruption – but activists seem less concerned about ordinary homicide, which takes a far greater number of lives.
4. If Democrats don’t want the president to insult Baltimore, perhaps they could inoculate it from criticism by turning it into the safe, prosperous city it deserves to be – where every child has a decent chance to fulfill their potential.
5. Of course, it’s not entirely fair to blame Cummings for the state of west Baltimore, the poorer, largely African American portion of the city.
6. Although there has been no comprehensive study of the cause of the increase in homicides in the city, many local activists blame the police pullback for the violence.
7. A few days before Trump issued his caustic tweets, a Muslim civilian employee of the Baltimore police was walking down the street when three teenagers knocked off his prayer cap, shoved him to the ground, and stomped on his head.
8. The city has been seeing a massive surge of homicides since the 2015 riots following the death of Freddie Gray in police custody.
9. The city’s last mayor resigned amid scandal; a string of Baltimore police commissioners have resigned over the past four years, and news of another corrupt official resigning is routine.
10. Donald Trump’s incendiary commentary about the the city of Baltimore – he called it a “rodent infested mess” – understandably outraged many, including the editorial board of the Baltimore Sun, which quipped that it is better for the city to have a few rats than to be one.
11. Democrats can blame Trump for his inflammatory rhetoric about Baltimore, but they deserve the lion’s share of the blame for the state of the city’s worst-off neighborhoods.
12. And because Democrats have been in charge of the city for decades, they can hardly blame the other political party for its problems.
13. It’s no surprise the city has turned into a political piñata for the president, given the Democratic party’s failings in governing it and lack of imagination in addressing its problems.
14. Baltimore overwhelmingly votes for Democrats, meaning Republicans don’t have much incentive to call attention to its problems and propose solutions.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/aug/01/uncomfortable-truth-baltimore-democrats-blame