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In recent weeks, another grave incident has left the nation reeling for answers to a problem that seems to have no cure. The incident of which I speak is the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Md. Gray was arrested by the Baltimore Police Department on April 12, following a short pursuit. Although the facts are somewhat in question, there is no question that Gray suffered spinal cord damage, three broken vertebrae, and a damaged voice box. Gray was rushed to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries a week after being admitted.
    For a population that has lived under the microscope of the police, it was clear to them that the Baltimore Police Department was responsible for the death of Gray. As it occurred following the deaths of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, citizens mobilized to protest their discontent with the police. As in the previous cases, they started off rather peacefully. People walked arm-in-arm and chanted for change.
    After the protest started, the Baltimore Police Department released their report of the incident. In this report, they note that Gray was in possession of a knife and was arrested without force or incident. Hopefully, a question that should be raised here is if he was arrested without incident, how did he suffer the bodily injuries that lead to his eventual death? This question is one that was asked by protesters and onlookers alike.
    Twelve days after his arrest and five days after his death, Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony Batts recognized that the department made some mistakes with regards to its handling of Gray. They noted that they should have buckled him into the van and given him medical treatment sooner. This response only fueled the anger that many already had towards the police department. It was on April 25 when everything changed for the worst.
    Protests had been occurring peacefully for the previous five days, and the sixth day was no different. It was not until the protest reached Oriole Park at Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles. The team was scheduled to play a home game that night, so people were in the bars around the park. Once the protestors came into the area, some of the fans started to mock them, calling them niggers, monkeys, nigger-lovers, monkey-lovers, and other deplorable terms. This riled up the protestors who only wanted their concerns to be heard.
    This scene launched into chaos when, according to photographer Devin Allen, a person who was on the scene when it happened, an Orioles fan attacked one of the protestors. This initial skirmish proceeded to move around the park and lit a fuse in the population. The uprising has being continuing since that night. Cars and building have been set alight. Stores have been looted, and we are no closer to a solution than when we started.
    Although the media has been using the term “riot,” I’m opting against that here because these actions are the only way to express a displeasure that has long existed within this community. For decades, these citizens, in addition to black citizens both in Duluth and across this country, have had to deal with substandard schools, chronic unemployment, violence, and over-policing. When your voice has been silenced for so long, the only tools to express your displeasure are fire, stones, and weapons.
    I should say that while I do understand where the protestors are coming from, I do not support the destruction of public property because it distracts from the real issue is here: police discrimination.
    In my own life, I have never met a black person who hasn’t had a bad interaction with a police officer. These incidents can vary wildly. Some people have been stopped and frisked for no reason other than fitting a vague profile of a criminal. Others are stopped and suspected of having drugs on them. The most common incident, one that most black people can relate to, is being stopped for driving while black.
    This leads to a sense of heightened paranoia and distrust. Black people walk or drive with an extra awareness of who is around them, especially if that other person is a police officer. There is a fear that the officer will decide, either by fact or a flight of fancy, to come up to you and try to pin you for something. Its terribleness is only exacerbated by its frequency. Many would not be scared of it if it did not happen so frequently. Unfortunately, it does.
    The question becomes how can we stop it? The simple answer is that we can put in programs that train cops to be culturally sensitive, use their weapons as an absolute last resort, and become a more active part of the communities they serve. The harder answer is that we have to recognize the continual disenfranchisement that minorities have suffered. When more than 60% of Duluth’s Native American and African American populations live under the poverty line, we know that there is a problem afoot. This exacerbated by the fact that 19% of Native Americans and 24% of African Americans are unemployed as of 2014. This is in a city where the current overall unemployment is 4.5%.
This all follows an obvious chain that we have seen throughout history across the globe. Poverty and a lack of opportunities leads to bad life choices. Bad life choices lead to crime. Crime leads to policing. This is where this chain should stop, but it doesn’t unfortunately. Policing turns into harassment. Harassment turns to distrust. Distrust turns into Baltimore and Ferguson. We need to stop the chain at policing.
I’m doing my part by not committing crimes and keeping my nose clean. I want to know what the Duluth Police Department is doing to improve its relationship with the minority communities here, to make me not live in a state of perpetual paranoia. I will reach out to them, or they will reach out to me. Either way, you will read about it right here.