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Thom's blog
Clueless White Privilege meets the Baltimore Revolt
What’s going on in Baltimore isn’t a riot, it’s a revolt, and clueless white people in the media just don’t get it. Case in point: MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts, who actually grew up in a very affluent town in Maryland and attended a prestigious prep school in the area. During a live report from the streets of Baltimore yesterday, Roberts approached a protester and asked that protester whether rioting was really the right way to get justice for Freddie Gray. Her response was perfect. She said:
My question to you is, when we were out here protesting all last week for six days straight peacefully, there were no news cameras, there were no helicopters, there was no riot gear, and nobody heard us…. I mean, enough is enough. We've had too many lives lost at the hands of police officers. Enough is enough.
Enough is enough is right.
And if white people like Thomas Roberts stepped outside their narrow little world of privilege once in a while and actually learned about what it’s like to be black in Baltimore, they’d agree.
Don’t believe me? Just check out these statistics that Bill Quigley has put together over at Alternet.
One hundred and forty-eight thousand people, about 24 percent of Baltimore’s total population, live in poverty.
The unemployment rate in the black community is double the unemployment rate in the white community. People who live in Baltimore’s wealthiest neighborhoods live 20 years longer than people who live in Baltimore’s poorest neighborhoods.
White babies born in Baltimore live, on average, 6 years longer than black babies, and black babies are 9 - I repeat, 9 - times more likely to die before their first birthday than white babies. Black Baltimore residents, meanwhile, are 8 times more likely to die from HIV/AIDS and 2 times more likely to die from diabetes.
And as if all that wasn’t bad enough, black Baltimore residents are 560 percent more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession than white Baltimore residents, despite smoking marijuana at about the same rate. In fact - and this is really amazing - 92 percent of all marijuana-related arrests in Baltimore were of African-Americans, which gives Charm City the dubious honor of having the highest marijuana arrest racial disparity in America.
This was the kindling; Freddie Gray’s death was just the spark.
That raises the question - would a white guy like, say, George Washington have put up with a situation like this? No, he wouldn’t have.
-Thom
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Daily Take: Clueless White Privilege Meets the Baltimore Revolt
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Hour One: Clueless White Privilege Meets The Baltimore Revolt...
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Politics Panel - If Stores Can Refuse Gays - Can They Also Refuse Jews?
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Why Baltimore is Burning
Are Police the “Outside Agitators” in Baltimore?
Live! From Baltimore - Has Peace Replaced Violence?
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Full Show 4/28/15: Baltimore Riots Under State of Emergency
Thom discusses the ongoing tension in Baltimore between police and protesters, as hundreds of National Guard troops arrive to start policing the city. Thom sits with Professor Clarence Lusane from American University to talk about why 70% of the Baltimore Police Department live outside the state! Then in the Politics Panel, Thom and his guests debate Same Sex marriage being reviewed by the US Supreme Court justices, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and how a group of Democrats are aggressively trying to push Elizabeth Warren to challenge Hillary Clinton as the Democratic Presidential Nominee. In tonight’s Daily Take Thom discusses why the Chief Operating Officer for the Baltimore Orioles defended Freddie Gray and middle class Americans.
Full Show 4/27/15: Baltimore Riots Hours After Freddie Gray Funeral
Thom discusses Mitch McConnell’s bill that would extend NSA spying and the latest from the Baltimore riots with the Bill of Rights Defense Committee’s Shahid Buttar, how General Petraeus got off with just probation and a fine for leaking classified material with former military analyst and whistleblower Daniel Ellsburg, and Muslim fundamentalism with Professor Karima Bennoune author of the book “Your Fatwa Does Not Apply Here.” In tonight’s Daily Take Thom discusses how “fast track” is undermining our constitution.
The Baltimore Revolt - What Now?
Clueless White Privilege Meets the Baltimore Revolt...
Caller: Vietnam Vets did get Booed...
We the People Amendment
The Divide Between Rich and Poor Wider than Ever...
Caller: Why are Good Cops not Self-Policing?
Remembering Vietnam and the Kent State Massacre...
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