The next stop on our tour is the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood, infamously known as the home of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old whose death at the hands of Baltimore City Police Officers sparked an uprising. The neighborhood is characterized by violence, poverty, and blight. Coincidentally, 96.6% of the neighborhoods residents are Black (Ames, 2011). In Baltimore there is great disparity between black and white residents, economically, socially, and health-wise. In 2013, the median household income for white households was $63,958, and for Black households it was $33,610. The life expectancy in Sandtown is around 65, which is worse than war-torn Syria. Compared to residents of Roland Park, Baltimore's wealthiest neighborhood, who expect to life to around 85 (Ingraham, 2015). These disparities weren't created in a vacuum, and there is historical context to explain why.
Starting in the early 20th century, Baltimore City used racist zoning laws to keep Black residents in certain neighborhoods, citing "health and sanitation concerns" (Roundtable, 2016). The Federal Housing Administration began rating the risk factor of neighborhoods based on race, ethnicity, class and economic status in order to protect banks and lenders from handing out risky loans. Residents of the "riskiest" neighborhoods, which were also predominately Black neighborhoods, were denied housing loans, putting the possibility of owning a home out of reach (Roundtable, 2016). Discriminatory housing policies were outlawed by the 1980's, but the lingering effects of redlining practices are still evident, especially here in Sandtown.
There is also racial disparity in unemployment rates in Baltimore. In 2010, 78.3% of White males were employed, while only 57.5% of Black males were (Roundtable, 2016). This is in part because instead of funding employment development, Baltimore City funds law enforcement. Baltimore City Police Department has a history of criminalizing black communities, focusing on incarceration instead of rehabilitation. In turn, having a criminal record is one of the biggest barriers to finding employment (Roundtable, 2016). If the city invested in permanent, accessible employment and housing instead of law enforcement, maybe we would finally see a break in the cycle of crime and poverty.
Attached is a video explaining the events of the 2015 Baltimore Uprising, as told by members of the community.
Sources:
Ames, A., et al. "2011 Neighborhood Health Profile: Sandtown-Winchester/Harlem Park." Baltimore City Health Department. December 2011.
The Baltimore Housing Roundtable. "Community + Land + Trust: Tools for Development Without Displacement." January 2016.
Ingraham, Christopher. "14 Baltimore neighborhoods have lower life expectancy than North Korea." The Washington Post. Online. 30 April 2015.
