smdxn:Why the Baltimore Uprising Has Been a Long Time ComingSince 2011, the city of Baltimore has pa
smdxn:Why the Baltimore Uprising Has Been a Long Time ComingSince 2011, the city of Baltimore has paid out $5.7 million to settle [over 100] civilian claims against the police…And this is to say nothing of the police brutality seen in Baltimore during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.In other words, when it comes to Baltimore, police brutality goes way back…Here’s another part of that picture. The average income in the city of Baltimore is $41,385, while the average income for the state of Maryland is $73,783. So the people of Baltimore are already operating below the average Marylander.Baltimore’s poorer, dominantly black neighborhoods tell an even grimmer financial story, though. For example, in Sandtown–Freddie Gray’s neighborhood–the median income is $24,000. That’s below the poverty line for a family of four. Out of every neighborhood in Baltimore, Sandtown has the most incarcerated residents…As though poverty, staggering unemployment, and blighted neighborhoods weren’t enough to contend with, Baltimore is considered the heroin capital of the country. The city has had a drug problem for years. It’s been estimated that as many as 1 in 10 residents is an addict…Some blame the war on drugs for police brutality in Baltimore. As police departments became more concerned with arresting as many people as possible, they became less interested with improving living conditions in impoverished neighborhoods. -- source link