12/12/2016 Baltimore is burning | TheHill

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Baltimore is burningBY DANIELLE HOLLAND - 04/30/15 09:30 AM EDT

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The recent issues ravaging Baltimore have once again brought to light thesystemic social injustices we face as a country. It is my hope that beforeone so quickly comes to a contemptuous view of the situation at hand,that they appropriately view it in a socioeconomically relevant context.

 “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and tothink critically. Intelligence plus character – That is the true goal ofeducation.” – MLK Jr.

With immense poverty, a failing educational system, and a nationallyranked incidence of crime, it seems as though the people of Baltimore aregrowing up in a war zone rather than the United States we idealize. Myheart bleeds for the youth.  Overcrowding is rampant, with some schoolsbeing over capacity by as much as 200 individuals. The quality ofeducation is lacking and they are severely underfunded.CEO’s are making more money than God while lobbyists incessantlyin辒luence the direction of government spending towards corporateinterests. Meanwhile, the very individuals and institutions responsible forshaping our youth and the future of our country are left struggling. Theyare underpaid, undersupplied and overworked in a system regurgitatingchildren with a second class education and minimal skills into the realworld.

Access to quality education should not be a privilege. It is a necessity anda right.

 If education is the passport to the future--what message are we sendingto our inner city youth?

On top of the educational shortcomings, there is an economic depressionand shortage of middle and working class jobs. Yet we wonder why theyare so angry, why they protest-- why they “act like animals.” But whenrepeatedly confronted with instances of an unjust system -- privatizedprisons with occupancy quotas -- judges going to jail for "selling"adolescents to prisons for pro辒it, and a global WAVE study published inthe Journal for Adolescent Health on youth from low-incomeneighborhoods revealing that teenagers from Baltimore “…are faringworse than their counterparts in Nigeria.” how can we be perplexed by thehigh instance of crime, rampant drug use and weak social cohesion? Weare so quick to blame the people and not hold accountable theinstitutions and systems put into place to facilitate socioeconomicstability and opportunity accountable. They are lacking. The educationalsystem is failing them. The government is failing them. The job market isfailing them.

12/12/2016 Baltimore is burning | TheHill

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And this is a volatile combination. It is these conditions that were abreeding ground for Arab Spring,  unrest in Athens, and the crisis inSpain, where youth unemployment was at 56 percent and they wererioting every night in the streets due to a government they felt hadabandoned them.

But while the media is off running a campaign of sensationalism over acomparably small group of aggressive rioters that rival a college townfootball win, thousands were protesting within their rights in attempts tocreate a cohesive voice for the people and progress. But the countlessattempts at fear mongering imply that the only thing going on inBaltimore is anarchy -- a bunch of savages tearing down their own city. I’llnever forget my Communications class at George Mason University whenmy professor asked us to write down the de辒inition of the media as “ameans to which control the masses.”

Mayor Rawlings-Blake said “We cannot and will not let a minority ofincendiary individuals exploit our community,” and we shouldn’t let theirfoolishness distract us from the main issue at hand. If the only messageyou receive from this situation is one of disdain and contempt for what isgoing on – if property damage is more important to you than systemicsocial injustice and economic inequality -- then you have lost sight ofwhat is important in life. We call them “savages”, “animals” and I ask:

Are we not all human? Do we not all have a breaking point? What is yours?

When condemnation and apathy are paramount to empathy anda commitment to progress in times of injustice, there will be no justice.That is the easy road. It is easy to sit back in our suburban homes andlead our quiet little lives and condemn. Open your mind. Be a catalyst tochange and progression -- because injustice anywhere, is a threat tojustice everywhere.

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments ofcomfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge andcontroversy.” -- MLK Jr.

Holland is a freelance writer, currently residing in the Washington DC area.

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