Every Murder is a Tragedy

An interesting article…though the sentiment is not surprising given that many of the poorer and traditionally ‘bad’ neighborhoods are predominately occupied by minorities. Of course people get upset over a murder happening in a ‘nice’, up-scale neighborhood. Doesn’t make the reaction, or lack there-of, for the other murders that take place in Baltimore ok. Clearly, racism is alive and well and we are all guilty of it, if only through our apathy.

Race certainly plays a role in the media coverage but might some the issue be geographic? The are areas in the city that are generally considered “safe” and other areas that are not. When murders happen in a “safe” neighborhood it is out of the ordinary and thus a bigger news story. I do not think it is necessarily a reflection of the value of human life. It is a reflection of what people expect to happen in certain areas. News is designed to shock, and the sad truth is that a murder in Mt Vernon is much more shocking than a murder in Sandtown and the news is just playing into people expectations… or is the news molding people’s expectations?

Your last question is of the chicken-and-egg variety, of course, but I think the race/geography issue is, too. I don’t think at this point we can separate the threads of race and geography, or separate either of them from class. Like another commenter said, we are still all guilty of racism (and classism) by way of apathy. The “safe” neighborhoods didn’t become “safe” in a racial or class vacuum.

Baltimore loves to sell itself as a ‘city of neighborhoods.’ The down side of that identity is that you end up with a Balkanized Baltimore, which has been a key factor of our community relationships for decades. There are many communities in Baltimore, both real and perceived. These two men represented a community that doesn’t have to deal with this violence on a regular basis, and when it does occur it’s a shocking moment that tends to draw out the strength of the community, as you saw with the vigil.

Its noble to ask the entire city to honor tragic/innocent deaths. But that Balkanization is huge here. Just on the strict murder issue along, among the white/middle-class/native communities, there’s a sense that he “black community’ is the ones affected by the violence and drug issue (Of course, identifying a group to identify as the ‘black community’is itself inane), and they should lead the charge as to how to tackle the issues. Except, don’t take our money to do it. This attitude of course then allows the rest of the city communities to wash their hands of the violence issue. And thats a citywide shame, as we should be engaged in what’s going on here.

But again, we’re talking of a thick divide here. Mt. Vernon welcomes more police because they see BPD as sentinels of safety. Police are currently less welcomed in other parts of the city because they are seen as community disruptors and civil rights abusers (Nationally too. One of the biggest rallies in Baltimore this year had nothing to do with a local murder, but with the death and racial implications in the Trayvon Martin case). Rare murders in one Baltimore are followed by community outrage, while all too common murders in another Baltimore tend to be the start of or extension of a long string of retaliation violence that harkens back to the Hatfields and McCoys, except with drugs serving as the economic percussion cap. One Baltimore is shocked that, despite their efforts on Facebook and Twitter, their mayoral candidate finished third, while another Baltimore didn’t really vote at all. Those are deep divisions, and opening eyes on either side is a yeoman’s effort. City Paper has historically done a good job of this, and asking that every murder in Baltimore be treated as a tragedy is a good step. Can there be momentum beyond words? Historically, that’s required too many people to leave their comfort zone for too long. Pessimism sets in.

I completely agree with the writer’s observations about the difference between how the killing of white people is treated very differently by the media and police. I feel this way, too, about the coverage of tragedies such as, most recently, the shooting in Aurora, CO. Isn’t every violent death, occurring nearly every day in many inner cities across the country, such a tragedy?
However, I do think that Mt. Vernon is an unusual neighborhood – one of the few in the city where people who have the means to live in safer areas actually CHOOSE to live in the middle of the city, amid all that the city has to offer, from the many arts festivals and restaurants to homeless individuals and prostitutes. The city is right to be especially protective of the image of such a neighborhood, lest people start avoiding it for neighborhoods that are perceived to be safer but are less urban and diverse.

Ugh, CityPaper, get this nonsense off your page. Gross.

Yeah, because white people never tried ethnic cleansing–oh wait… (same goes for white-on-white atrocities, warlords, child soldiers, war rape, genital mutilation, ie, you’re an idiot)

now that you made your excellent point, and everyone in Baltimore celebrates that racism still exists and is easily perceived, do you all simply go back to sleep and stop caring about anything? Or do you actually get up off your couches and go out there and be contributing loving members of society who actually provide education and opportunities to all people, youth and adults? From what I gather from the clique of the Baltimore pseudo intellectuals, you will actually do literally nothing.

so i have been asking around about how freaking phony this article is. and what i just learned is that apparently there have been candlelight vigils for the other victims, but as they happen in neighborhoods that the city paper is scared to cover, we never hear from the great big phonies who refuse to even be aware of them. look, keep on with your simplistic racist Wire friendly phony murder ink, and never get off your lazy white reject funky phony butts to actually mourn the death of a person of color, or even a white person’s death. you are too phony mourn any death, you 1% phony city paper toilet paper.

My husband Hamin was mentioned in this article. Its sad any of these men had to die, black, white or any other color for that matter. He was killed 3 doors down from our house. He was coming home to me. God bless us all.

My son was shot last year at the Windsor Inn in Baltimore County. He was not killed but he is permanently paralyzed nothing was ever mention. The Windsor Inn is actually under some sort of political protection because I cannot get anyone in Politics to respond about this. I contact Congressman Elijah Cummings and nothing, not even a friendly work of sympathy.

So the City should be more interested in protecting these people because they have means? This is exactly where the problem starts! I pay taxes and expect the same protection from the City as afforded anyone else. That explains why I have the dirtiest, nasties white people with all their trash, mattresses in the alley, 19 year old driving a car with no driver’s license, not paying any BGE or Water Bill to this great City and I have to put up with their dirty nasty ways!!!

I Bet It Was Drug Related