As a resident of the city at the end of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, one had to be an ostrich not the see a fractured Baltimore, with the worlds of haves and have-nots headed for a tragic meeting on Collision Street. Much recovery work needs to be done after the latest riots, but the top priority of Baltimore's leadership now should be to fashion, adopt and implement a Marshall Plan for Baltimore. A bricks and mortar effort, for sure, but a spiritual and educational one as well. There is no good reason that the business, civic, education, religious, government and police leadership couldn't pull this off. It simply calls for a relentlessness that hundreds of these leaders have already demonstrated in their careers. It's long past time to get to work.
Mike Waller, Hilton Head Island, S.C.
The writer is former publisher of The Sun