Once again, The Sun attempts to apply partisan politics to the shameful and inexplicable urban dilemma that we face ("The road through Baltimore," May 5). Why is this news?
The plight of the poor, inner-city black community has been evolving for over 50 years here. Over that time the mostly liberal Democratic leadership of the city and state has clearly been a total failure. No one in these blighted communities is better off, not anyone.
Yet here comes The Sun with another bleeding heart editorial that somehow now casts the blame on the current Republican presidential contenders. That is pathetic.
Everyone wants to have a "conversation" but nobody wants to discuss the truth. We continue to espouse and apply 50- and 60-year-old ideological solutions that have failed in the hope that somehow all of a sudden they will work.
Presidents Roosevelt, Johnson and Reagan lived in different times. The world has changed so dramatically over the last half century that we need a fresh vision, not the stale talking points of both the left and the right.
Sparrows Point is not coming back. Business will not move into unsafe, run-down communities. Young people must get educated. Without education and mentoring they have no chance. They need parental and community support and leadership. Communities must show as much concern and commitment for social and civil responsibility as they do in demanding social justice and civil rights.
The solution is hard. It can not be found only in passing laws and throwing money at it. It requires hard work, vision and leadership, sacrifice and commitment. It requires love and understanding balanced with an expectation of good and socially acceptable behavior.
In short, it requires results-oriented social programs balanced with fiscal accountability and compromise.
We need change. We need to come together. We need to tell the truth. And we need to do it now.
George Davis, Fells Point