Unintended Consequences leading to Urban Ghettos

Not too long ago,I was engaged in a conversation about the Artscape Event and all the excitement that it brought to the Baltimore Scene. Truely,this has been very successful over the years and attracts a wonderful mix of people from all walks of Life. What disturbed me most was when I suggested adding a meaningful free educational program to the Artscape Event,I was rebuked by someone who commented,"you mean you are going to invite "those people"?  I was mortified and shocked...and walked away from the conversation.  Sure,I could have stayed and delved more about what this person meant.....and maybe tried to change the person' thinking........but,I knew that this would be almost impossible.

It got me to thinking.....thinking deeply about how this type of thinking comes about.  There is an Urban Myth that areas in our City that are characterized by having concentrated poverty....that we now call Urban Ghettos owe their development to the African American Population......and that these are the areas to avoid or get killed....including even the trasitional areas surrounding them.  I suppose these are "those people" that the person above was commenting about. If we were to take a poll of Baltmore Citizens about the genesis of Ghettos,we would probably find out that the majority of citizens would conclude this.

But,this is not true.  It is an Urban Myth that needs to be corrected.....and the sooner,the better if we want to do something about it. It had to do with a series of Government Programs that brought about "unintended consequences" and created pockets of severe poverty,especially in the African American Population. These have been descibed best in two books.

         Urban Injustice-How Ghettos happen by David Hilfiker MD
         Not in my Neighborhood by Antero Pietila

  To convince yourself,you can read about the effects of Government Insured Mortgages by the VA,the effects from developing the Inter State Highway System,the Government promoting Home Ownership over Renting and the Exclusion Surburban Zoning Code. 

The question may arise,"why can't these people get jobs and work themselves out of poverty?  That would be OK if jobs in the City were still available in adequate numbers. Most of the "blue collar"jobs have been lost. Inherited poverty brings with it the consequences of despair and lost hope....and leads to many dysfunctional families. Beaten down over many years has its own consequences........the worse occurs when easy money is available through the drug business. Crime related to drug activity becomes the norm and innocent bystanders are affected.  Being immensly poor,little education,having a dysfunctional family at home,needing drug money etc......can only lead to criminal activity in our Society.

What can we do?     The Best Way to start is to become aware of all of this and do more reading about the issues.   Fairness is something that we all understand.  When we see injustice in these areas,we should advocate for doing something about it.  An example here is what the Watershed found on making Trash Rounds in these Neighborhoods....that the Trash that had been allowed to collect in the backyards of vacant houses  would fill a landfill.  It was almost as if we had two Baltimores....and that City Services depended on where you lived.

When City Funding is cut off,these areas suffer the most. You just have to ask yourself why is $390 Billion going to the War to create Democracies elsewhere when the Core of our Cities are going to pieces before our very eyes.......and every other month we get our dander up when someone innocent is killed.....and we point our finger at the Police Department and the Mayor...have Meetings that serve to change very little.

What does this have to do with developing a Watershed Plan for the Harris Creek Watershed ?    Maybe,developong a Watershed Plan is a way to do Community Organizing and help bring Neighborhoods together and start a grassroot effort to bring back Baltimore and make it Safe once again.

    Respectfully,Raymond D.Bahr MD   BHWA