I read with some interest William Libercci's 16 August letter, "What will change the city's criminal culture?" It raises the very appropriate questions, amid the continuing Black Lives Matter and related protests, about exactly what the black community wants done beyond the admittedly much-needed reforms in the Baltimore Police Department.
There is no argument whatsoever on needed police reforms. But as pointed out in Mr. Libercci's comments, those reforms alone will not fully address the underlying long-term crime, poverty and related systemic issues (education, jobs, etc.) voiced by the black community. Black protests have a common theme — that they are the long term victims of intentional white racism. Other than the police and judicial complaints, there is little articulated about exactly how the white community, at large, is planning, organizing, and enacting any actions to hold down the black community.
Some in the black community openly admit that many of their problems are of their own making, including the institutionalized drug culture and black-on-black crime and killings. The reality is that, despite over 60 years of well-intentioned and well-funded programs to create and provide adequate education and jobs, there has been little or no recognizable change in their condition. To the extent that they voice their need for solutions, they seldom go beyond the need for (even) more government funding, assistance, and aid. Those elements have been part of government administrations for years, and they are in place now, but still "even more" is needed?
If we are going to jointly sit down at the table and have meaningful discussions about resolving these long term problems and improving the disparity voiced by the black community, the conversation must go beyond the "more government aid" cliche. Those discussions must be bilateral. What can, and will, the black community do to create a better environment, in their own communities and neighborhoods, for the seeds planted by government assistance to sprout and grow such that we have a garden, rather than the current entropy that results in grand plans devolving to weed-filled plots of failed initiatives?
We need to recognize that "more of the same" does not necessarily equal a long-term solution, and that protests without specifics beyond slogans and civil disobedience only foments anger, not resolutions. The white community has your attention. We are listening. Don't assume we have the answers, or that we are acting from knee-jerk racist selfish motives, just as we should not assume the same of your community.
That is the road to real reform and progress. Lack of doing so will, I fear, entrap us in a "Groundhog Day" milieu in which these same complaints, failed programs, and consequent dissatisfaction and divisiveness will be front page news in 5 years, 10 years, and beyond.
Jerry Cothran, Baltimore