Crime is the problem in Little Italy, not race

I was amused by the response of Carol N. Shaw of Fork Md. (where is Fork anyway?) to the op-ed piece by Rosalia Scalia on crime in Little Italy. Ms. Shaw is horrified by the racial prejudice, profiling and stereotyping of Ms.Scalia's op-ed referring to the owner as Arab and the patrons as African-American. But what Ms. Shaw omits is that Ms. Scalia's intent was to dismiss the notion that prejudice was involved in the neighborhood reaction to crime. Her exact quote was"Mo's related activites have irked residents, and not because the owners are Arab or the late-night patrons predominantly African-American."

If Ms. Shaw had attended the community meeting, she would have known that the reason Ms. Scalia made this disclaimer was that representatives of Mo's were making the claim at the meeting. It should also be said that Ms. Scalia's grandson is half African-American. Alas Ms. Shaw couldn't know any of this, as she was safely tucked away in Fork on that evening.

Ms. Shaw also notes that the owners are Iranian and not Arab, suggesting she knows them personally. I am led to believe that she is writing on their behalf.

I am a lifelong resident of Little Italy. I've never seen slingers on the streets in this community until recently when I was propositioned to buy drugs, in front of Mo's. It should also be said that at least one employee of Mo's has been physically and violently assaulted by a patron, or patrons. There have been shootings in front of both Mo's establishments. The problem exists and racism has nothing to do with it. Crime is crime. The reason it's taken so long to come to light is that some business and property owners, fearful of bad publicity, have valued profits and property values over safety.

Michael Salconi, Baltimore

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