BMORENEWS.com

Baltimore County Exec Jim Smith and BMORENEWS' Doni Glover

City, County, City: Dilemma of the Black Middle Class

Ain’t nothing wrong with the city …

New York City, misused and mistreated, run with when the running was good.
Like so many others, I find it all to easy to stand off at a distance and criticize…
                                                                                - Gil Scot Heron

(RANDALLSTOWN – September 26, 2008) – As a fruit of the Civil Rights Movement, integration afforded many African Americans the opportunity to leave urban areas – like East and West Baltimore – and head for life beyond the beltway.

One of the most popular destinations, something I call ‘Baltimore’s Prince George’s County’, is Randallstown. There one finds some of the most upwardly mobile and most educated blacks in the Greater Baltimore area living in 6-figure homes with two and three car garages and private school tuitions for their young.

In many ways, this represents a sort of unprecedented progress for descendants of American slavery.

At the same time, it also has left urban strips – like Greenmount Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue – bereft of one of the most valuable assets of any community: its human capital.

Yes, ‘grandma’ still resides on Harlem Avenue. Sure, ‘grandpop’ still attends services at Macedonia or Perkins Square Baptist Church. Yet, the corner grocery store and neighborhood cleaners and sub shop have different proprietors than 40 years ago.

Many of those store owners, who long ago threw up their hands and gave up those establishments to – in many cases – Korean merchants, have found the peace and solitude of life off of Liberty Road much more suitable for a longer and healthier life. And, truth be told, who can blame them?

Hell, one visit to Pennsylvania and Laurens’ Avenue Market at 8 a.m. is all it might take for an otherwise nouveaux county resident to say, ‘Thank you, Jesus!’

Further, one can argue the point of investing in an urban area with so much black history until one is blue in the face. Yet, the fact remains, the blight of 30 and 40 years of depravation and neglect – let alone the aftermath of Reaganomics and crack cocaine – have left many otherwise beautiful urban communities looking like Baghdad or Kabul.

So, what does this all mean?

Well, for one: I am reminded of whites who come in and buy properties in these blighted communities, transform dilapidated houses, and either sit on them or live in them. I am also reminded of black Washingtonians who understand that a $12,000 row house is a steal and who find a couple of friends, combine resources, and also buy up two or three of these row houses. I am, too, reminded of Latinos who have migrated from afar into the city and now call it - with all of the accoutrements of culture, including la tienda – home. And, I am reminded of non-profits, like the Enterprise Foundation and Habitat for Humanity, who see value in rehabbing properties in the city and actually making a mortgage payment affordable by adding in some ‘sweat equity’ hours.

For me, the city is still a good investment. And that’s why I never plan to sell. Even if I do become a county resident or buy a home in another state, my dearest friends remind me to keep my city home. At the same time, given the murder and drugs that have made Baltimore and HBO’s ‘The Wire’ synonymous, there is no question that Baltimore City can be a dangerous place to live.

Public school education is challenging, even for the brightest of students. The uprise and surge of gangs – including Bloods and Crips – have attraction value that is like no other for young black men, in particular. And, the lure of prison is even less feared than the days when ‘Scared Straight’ programs were all it took to make any young man fear incarceration. Add to that the lack of employment opportunities, a federal government who’d rather build bombs than schools, the proliferation of heroin and cocaine, and the mass reduction of after-school activities - and there is really little wonder why Baltimore is so damn violent and deadly.

People, truth be told, in the city are hurting, in pain, and seeking a little bit of hope. And, speaking of hope, very few preachers these days seem to get it. Very few men and women of God still see the value of the city.

Solution: No matter how quaint a life a middle class black person is enjoying in Randallstown, Woodlawn, and Owings Mills – blacks must maintain some connection to the city. Upwardly mobile blacks on Offut Road and Woodlawn Drive ought still re-visit North Avenue and buy a book at Everyone’s Place or a t-shirt from The Shops at North and Charles. One should still attend church, even for a couple hours, on Monroe Street or Chester Street.

And while one is there, take the kids and show them the history of where ‘daddy’ grew up and where he first met ‘mommy’. Even more, say a kind word to a city resident. It might be a blessing to somebody.

Lastly, urbanites are not the only ones in pain. You see, the challenges of the city are quickly becoming those of the county. In short, the city might provide some lessons for better county living. For instance, to see young black men in the county with their pants hanging half-way off their butts, unaware of recreation programs at neighborhood schools (which serve as rec centers in the county) and congregating at the gas station in droves late night is but a glimpse of the urban culture that has permeated beyond the beltway. I say, live not in fear. Live not in silos. Always maintain a connection to one’s roots. Yes, protect one’s self at all costs, but never let fear rule. God is in charge, and so, then, are the men and women of God. 

Tags: city, life