Baltimore Riots: The Fire This Time and the Fire Last Time and the Time Between
Even the Ivory tower folks understand what’s happening in Baltimore while our media fails us once more.
Americans often assume that US citizenship automatically guarantees certain universal rights and freedoms: the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; the freedom to work, to vote, to assemble, to walk down the street unmolested by state authorities.
But places like West Baltimore demonstrate the limits of this universal citizenship.
Americans may have a single Constitution, but we experience vastly different modes of governance and relationships to authority, and not all of us feel like we are living in a democracy. Some of us live in enclaves that feel more like an authoritarian regime.
Due to government policies or the lack of them, many of the mundane daily activities of life - getting a driver’s license, getting a job, taking the bus, taking out a non-predatory loan, visiting a doctor, voting - can be burdensome, prohibitive, or unavailable. Too often, residents of these neighborhoods know that when they are in situations of family crisis, illness, or emergency, or even when they are simply minding their own business, government authorities will arrive and make the situation worse.
More: Baltimore Riots: The Fire This Time and the Fire Last Time and the Time Between
Not all that much has changed in some areas since this song came out - I listened to it a lot when I was a teen, and knew then its truth for too many people.
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