It was just on May 18 when McDonough had called a news conference about the issue he had raised to Gov. Martin O’Malley “requesting the possible assistance of the Maryland State Police to work with the Baltimore City Police Department in order to prevent the consistent and dangerous attacks upon citizens by roving mobs of black youths”
Let’s say thousands of people riot in your upscale downtown neighborhood. And it happens a few dozen times in just a few years: Not just partying, but violence, destruction, theft and serious injuries.
Much of it on YouTube.
Question: If people notice that most of the criminals were black and most of the victims were white, does that make them racist?
Depends. In Philadelphia, it makes you a hero. In Baltimore, a bigot.
Let’s start with Philadelphia: For three years, the black mayor, Michael Nutter, said race had nothing to do with the dozens of violent episodes of black people marauding through older neighborhoods, stealing, beating and destroying property.
“There is no racial component to stupid behavior,” Nutter told the New York Times in one of the few stories to even raise the topic – if only to dismiss it.
Despite their denials, the violence continued. Sometimes daily. Injuries mounted. So did the explicit videos on YouTube and pressure to confront the obvious.
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