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From the Other Side of the Edge….
Baltimore:
Black Leaders Doing Victory Laps for Freddie, …as the Social Insanity
Continues
By Joe Facinoli
I have stories to tell, …of Baltimore.
Of the place where I’ve worked, …of the city I enjoy so much, …and the
metro area where I have chosen to invest, …have a family, and to
live.
I’ve been to West Baltimore, hundreds of times, …to Fulton Street, and
to North Avenue, where the car “bonfire” took place last
Monday.
And to East Baltimore, too many times to count, …to Chester and Federal
Streets, in a blighted, “urban desert” area of town, where that huge,
arson-lit fire burned out of control for so long on that same horrific
night, …destroying a long awaited senior living and community center.
I’ve shopped in that now infamous CVS store, …so prominently
featured on the national news last week, and which was “allowed” to be
freely looted, and then incinerated, in full view of the Baltimore
Police Dept., …and the world.
And I’ve bought and sold, re-habbed and re-built, dozens of row houses
all around “Charm City”, in places where I wouldn’t even tell my family
I was working in, …muchless ever take any of them
there.
I know this town. I’ve been all over
it. I understand it, …see its terrible issues, and
horrendous problems, …and I care about them, and our
city.
But I’m a White guy, …and a conservative, …so it doesn’t matter what I
have to say, nor what I think.
Not in Baltimore.
Not in cases of social injustice, racial inequality, nor oppressed
economic opportunity. White people are just
politely patted on the head, then told to shut up, sit down, and to
leave a “donation” (highest taxes in the State) at the door, on their
way out.
I have never been Black, …and I’ve never bought into the Liberal and
Progressive ways of thinking, …of treating people, …and of “solving”
social problems.
So I’m irrelevant.
Despite what I have seen, …and despite what I know would be a better
way.
This is a Black City.
Governed by Blacks, run by Blacks, populated by Blacks, and policed by
Blacks.
And their phony White and Liberal, Democrat sympathizers and
“wannabes”.
Conservative White people can try to care, and sometimes manage to get
involved, or even succeed, …but they don’t really matter much,
especially when it’s time to assess blame, for decades old, and failed
social policies.
This should be the American “Social Dream” City. The
centerpiece of the Democrat Party’s ways, means, and methods, …the
Liberal “Valhalla” for all victims of social injustice, of any
kind.
But it’s not. It’s a cesspool of economic and social
injustices for its inner city residents, …with only one political
ideology to blame.
And it’s been that way, …for decades.
Fifty years since the last Republican Mayor of Baltimore left office,
the city is in much worse shape now, socially, and for the economically
dismissed, taken advantage of, or just forgotten, …than it was, way
back then.
And yet, year after year, crisis after crisis, …the same tired old
phrases are dragged out, and practiced, …and the finger-pointing, at
the same old folks, …continues on.
When the indictments of the six Police officers who were involved in
the Freddie Gray “abuse” case came down last Friday, all the Black
leaders in town were falling all over themselves, trying to be the
first, and the loudest, to lead a victory lap for this
“vindication”.
Police Brutality, of the “socially” (read: racially) worst
possible kind, had finally been brought to “justice”, in the light of
day, and once and for all shown to be about, what we had so long been
told it was: racial injustice (somehow).
The Mayor (a Black woman), the City States Attorney (Black female), the
President of the City Council (a Black man), the honorable Elijah
Cummings, U.S. Congressman from West Baltimore (Black male, …and
certified idiot), and several other prominent Black politicians,
clergy, lawyers, and business people, all held their own loud,
arrogant, and chest beating press conferences, to brag of their
participation in “re-claiming” the streets from this horrendous social
(racial) inequity.
Oops, …sorry ladies and gentlemen of Black Baltimore, …better check the
facts.
Or at least, some mug shots. Seems three of the cops
accused of this injustice (including the driver of the jail wagon)
were, …OMG, …honest to goodness, …Black folks !!
What to do now??? The “same old” Party Line, and
narrative, just ain’t gonna work here, people, …not on this
one.
I have come to understand that for the forgotten populations of
American inner cities, particularly in Baltimore, the continuing
practice of throwing free money at these people, and their problems,
…is social insanity.
The giving of government handouts, the economic “gift” programs, and
any type of welfare “assistance”, without any requirement other than
self-determined need, does them, and all of society, …an unforgiveable
lifetime of disservice.
I have been a landlord in Baltimore, …and a good, honest, and caring
one, in some of the “worst” areas of town.
I was a contractor, who bought, repaired, rented, and re-sold
townhouses and other homes, in areas we hoped could be revived, and
become more vital, …and yes, more profitable, …if only the residents
would take more pride in the places they called home, …and if they
cared a little.
I always kept my houses in good shape, and in good working order, so
they were always in demand, …in a city where good landlords are more
scarce than an honest City Council member, who votes their
conscience.
But the first question I always got, whenever I interviewed a potential
resident, about how they might afford the modest monthly rent,
was: “Can you cash my welfare check?”
(The second question was: “Can you take food stamps, for my
rent payment?”, but that’s really too ridiculous to even mention.)
Point being, …not only was there never any thought of getting a job, to
pay their rent (and other personal expenses), but that also, there was
this full expectation, that their rent, food, utilities, and all other
manner of bills, etc., would be taken care of, at the government trough
from which they were perpetually feeding.
These are not an isolated incidents, …it happens all the time, with
millions of people.
This “culture”, started by FDR in the 30s out of dire necessity, but
never ended, and perpetuated by LBJ’s “Great Society”, and his heralded
“War on Poverty”, has continued much too long now, through each
President, and Congress, since.
It’s generations old now, and it is insidious, because while promising
hope, …it actually, eventually, provides none.
There’s no accountability, to anyone, for this free money, and no
obligations attached to earn it, pay it back, nor do anything
productive, …for it.
It leaves all within this sick culture, but especially the young
people, with no respect for anything, because no matter what they do,
…they are still going to get paid.
And couple this with the quick and easy money from the drug trade,
which always has takers within this “culture”, and all the other
accepted crime and criminal lifestyle choices made by those within, and
it’s a never-ending, tragic downward plunge, for millions of
Americans.
So go ahead, Black and Liberal, Democrat Leaders of Baltimore, do your
Victory Laps, and dance on the streets, and honk your horns, and raise
your arms for Freddie, …and feel good about that.
But when you’re done, …look in the mirror.
If you are honest with yourself, you’ll see the “800 lb. gorilla” in
there, which you refuse to acknowledge.
It hasn’t gone away, and won’t, until it’s dealt with in real time,
…and honestly.
And, you’ll see the real culprits of this cultural atrocity, which you
perpetuate for political gain, and from inexcusable ignorance of things
that others, even many White folks, can see so plainly, …while you
choose self-inflicted, social blindness.
Your people are hurting, ….and you’re dancing and bragging.
And completely missing the point.
Shame on you.
Joe Facinoli
--Joe can be reached at: joefacinoli@gmail.com
Intelligent Response Encouraged !!
© Copyright 2015, Joe Facinoli
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