Now that LGBTQ Pride Month is at an end, Baltimore residents must analyze our observance of Pride Month. It’s a time set aside to honor the resilience, culture, and political victories of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer Americans. For many, it’s seen as a celebration of progress and inclusion. But for Black in Baltimore and America, this month raises urgent questions that too few of us are asking — and even fewer are willing to answer honestly.

If we still dare to call ourselves “woke,” then we must be wide awake to this reality: Pride Month should not be uncritically celebrated by Black people.

This is not about hate. This is about hierarchy — and how our people have slipped further down it.

The LGBTQ movement, intentionally or not, has co-opted the language, energy, and legislative momentum of the Civil Rights Movement. What was once a battle for the dignity of a historically enslaved people has now been diluted by a broader identity war — one increasingly centered around sexuality and gender, rather than race and ancestry. As a result, we are witnessing the effective replacement of Black issues on America’s cultural and political agenda. Our demands are marginalized. Our progress is stalled. Our place in line has been taken — and too many of us are clapping as it happens.

Dr. Claude Anderson warned us years ago that aligning ourselves with movements that are not rooted in our specific historical experience would render us fourth-class citizens in a country we helped build. White women ride the momentum of feminist power, and LGBTQ voices have now risen as the nation’s new “protected class.” Where does that leave Black America? Behind them all — again.

Dr. Umar Johnson has gone further in his critique, boldly stating that homosexuality is not inborn but socialized — and that its normalization is being used as a tool of cultural displacement for Black men in particular. His words are controversial, but the question he raises remains: Why are we so eager to celebrate a movement that has taken our place and buried our struggle beneath rainbow-colored platitudes?

Let’s look at what’s really happening. The intersection of homophobia, racism, classism, and poverty has resulted in disproportionately poor health outcomes for Black LGBTQ individuals — including higher rates of depression, HIV, substance abuse, and disengagement from healthcare. But instead of addressing the root causes — systemic poverty, broken family structures, underfunded education — our society doubles down on identity politics that further fracture the Black community.

Even the Black church, historically a cornerstone of our spiritual and political strength, is under immense pressure to shift its theology and traditions to accommodate secular progressive movements. Some congregations have chosen to affirm these new cultural values. Others resist. But the tension reveals a deeper question: Are we losing the core of our community trying to please others?

And what about Juneteenth? The holiday that honors the end of slavery for our ancestors is now caught in the cultural shadow of Pride Month. How did we allow this? Why are we so quick to celebrate others while our own commemorations are sidelined?

Let me be clear, this is not about denying anyone’s humanity. It’s about protecting our own. It’s about waking up to the manipulation of our compassion. Black Americans are among the most forgiving and inclusive people on Earth — and that is both our strength and our vulnerability. But inclusivity must never come at the expense of identity. Allyship must never mean abandonment.

We cannot afford to be naïve in a society that packages every new movement as progress. Pride Month is not neutral. It is cultural currency — and right now, it’s being spent in a way that leaves Black America broke, distracted, and displaced.

We have celebrated enough. Now it’s time to wake up.

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Over the past three decades, church attendance has been on a steady decline. The Methodist, Lutheran, and Protestant church attendance has dropped by 30%, according to a Gallup poll released this week

The Catholic Church scandal also has contributed to the decline in religious attendance. As church attendance drops, society has witnessed a rise in transgenderism, drag queen shows for children, crime, and government corruption.

But what is causing this downfall? Some argue that the church stayed within its walls and did little to evangelize the community. Others believe that individuals simply did not keep their faith after the pandemic.

Whatever the reason may be, the Bible speaks of turning mankind over to a reprobate mind in Romans 1:28 and what that would look like in America in Revelation 18:2. However, religion has been the backbone of society’s morals and civilization. Without it, how will we continue in the next generation?

It’s no secret that religion has built up the morals and values of society. It has given individuals a moral compass to follow, guiding them to make the right decisions and leading them to a higher purpose. Without religion, society may lose its sense of direction, and it may cause chaos and anarchy.As society moves towards new ways of thinking, such as relativism and postmodernism, the role of religion has become increasingly marginalized. Many individuals no longer believe in a higher power or absolute truth, instead, they believe that truth is relative and subjective. This new way of thinking has led to a moral relativism that has eroded society’s traditional values and institutions.

Nevertheless, the idea of relativism has its flaws. If truth is subjective, then there is no way to distinguish between right and wrong. It creates a society where anything goes, and morality becomes a matter of personal opinion. This, in turn, leads to a society that is incapable of distinguishing between what is good and what is evil, leading to a culture of moral confusion.

Moreover, society has witnessed the rise of radical social movements that threaten to dismantle the fabric of our culture. These movements aim to destroy traditional values, such as the sanctity of marriage, the value of human life, and the importance of the family. If these values are destroyed, it will lead to a society that is in disarray, with no foundation or sense of purpose.

Ultimately, the dismantling of religion poses a significant threat to society’s morals and values. Without it, society may lose its moral compass, leading to chaos, confusion, and the breakdown of traditional values. While new ways of thinking may offer alternative solutions, they cannot replace the fundamental role that religion has played in shaping our communities. We should recognize the value of religion and the vital role it plays in society’s continued growth and prosperity.

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As the Maryland General Assembly deliberates on the crucial matter of arming school resource officers (SROs) in all schools, particularly within Baltimore City, I want to emphasize my staunch support for Maryland Senate Bill 819, sponsored by Senator J.B. Jennings.

This legislation mandates that SROs, including Baltimore City school police officers, carry firearms while on school premises, aiming to fortify the safety and security of our educational institutions.

In today’s multifaceted security landscape, the presence of well-trained and equipped SROs is paramount to ensuring the welfare of students, staff, and faculty. By mandating SROs to carry firearms, we empower them to respond effectively to potential threats, thereby adding a robust layer of protection to our schools.

This bill strikes a necessary balance between maintaining a safe educational environment and acknowledging the expertise and responsibilities of law enforcement personnel. It recognizes that SROs play a pivotal role in emergency response and crisis management, and arming them appropriately can act as a deterrent to potential threats.

‘The proposed implementation date of July 1, 2024, provides a reasonable timeline for adequate preparation and training, ensuring that officers are well-equipped to handle this additional responsibility. This proactive approach aligns with the evolving nature of security challenges faced by our schools.

I strongly urge the members of the Maryland General Assembly to lend their support to Maryland Senate Bill 819. By doing so, we acknowledge the importance of equipping SROs with the tools necessary to fulfill their duty in safeguarding our educational institutions. This legislation represents a significant step toward creating a secure and conducive learning environment for our students.

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This year’s Pride Month has reinvigorated the culture wars of yesteryear with a special focus on children and the school curriculum.

As a third-generation Baltimorean, I am no stranger to Baltimore’s sizable LGBT community.  I am old enough to remember the formation of the ‘Gayborhood’ in Mount Vernon with its notable LGBT-friendly establishments like Club Hippo and Leon’s.

I am also old enough to remember the fire and brimstone sermons told at Black churches warning attendees of the evils of ‘white homosexuality’, ‘down low culture’, and gay marriage.  While my progressive friends sought to link the LGBT movement with the Black Civil Rights movement, I often took a step back and examined the complex relationship between privilege and power when it came to issues of race, gender, and sexuality. I specifically took note of gender and sexuality were amplified by some (often white LGBT) groups while many Black Baltimoreans grappled with harsh economic realities.

No doubt, both Black Americans and LGBT persons have faced historical discrimination and marginalization.  Tensions arise when it comes to differing religious beliefs and cultural values, but there is often one key fact left out of these debates, namely the stark differences between the lives of Black Baltimoreans and their white counterparts.

For decades, many poor Black Baltimoreans saw political arguments on sexuality as more a luxury than a real necessity.  Throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, organizations led mostly by white gay males sought inclusion and LGBT-friendly health services, but did little to advocate for Black families struggling with rampant poverty, the crack epidemic, and rising crime.   For many of Black Baltimoreans, issues facing homosexuals seemed distant and confined to white men living in Baltimore’s ‘White L’ communities.

The local media also did not help. They often mirrored their national counterparts and focused on esoteric battles between religious leaders and gay-rights activists.  They spoke about gay educators, gay marriage, and gay adoption, but never included the perspectives of blue-collar whites or poor Blacks living in the inner city.

It was as if our deeper concerns about unemployment and rising crime did not matter.  This was particularly true for Italian and Irish American communities in the Northeast and poorer whites in the Deep South.  Prior to the 1980s, these communities were strongly tied to the Democrat party.  With the high inflation and an increasingly post-industrial economy, these communities were in dire need of a renewed focus on economic prosperity.  Instead, they saw their Democrat Party become more concerned with pleasing increasingly vocal LGBT and feminist activists.

Enter the Religious Right who sought to capitalize on the Democrat shift and draw bright lines between Republicans and Democrats on social issues like abortion and LGBT rights.  Leaders like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson began to tap into the underlying resentment of blue-collar workers who felt that their religious and cultural values were under attack while their concerns about the economy were being ignored.  With respect to LGBT issues, conservatives had Anita Bryant, a housewife and former Miss America contestant whose outspoken opposition to LGBT rights, particularly her successful campaign to repeal a gay rights ordinance in Miami, resonated with many socially conservative Democrats.

The result was the rise of the “Reagan Democrat.” This new constituency was made up of blue-collar white ethnic communities (Irish, Italian) from the North and evangelicals from the Deep South.  Both warmed up to the Republican Party through Ronald Reagan’s embrace of socially conservative positions. They provided a crucial voting bloc that contributed to Reagan’s victory in addition to setting the stage for his conservative policies and the broader conservative movement of the 1980s. By 1984, traditionally Democrat states like Maryland voted for Reagan as did other states like Massachusetts and Mississippi.  It became a sustainable coalition that lasted throughout the 1980s rendering three consecutive terms for Republican presidents.

It is now 2023 and we are again in the midst of several culture wars on sex and sexuality.  This time, the battle is on gender ideology and transgender children.  There is little doubt that the divide falls along party lines with Republicans opposed to gender ideology curricula in the classroom and Democrats pushing this curriculum and transgendered kids in sports.

Both sides use these issues to galvanize their base.  Again, left out of these discussions are the conditions facing blue-collar workers and inner-city Blacks.  And just like in the late 1970s, blue-collar workers who vote Democrat are concerned that their worries about rising crime, the direction of the economy, and the drug epidemic (this time, fentanyl) are being ignored.  These Democrats are no longer Irish and Italian Americans, but rather Latino, Asian-American, and African American.

And also, like 40 years ago, the Left’s obsession with abortion and transgender rights allows Republicans to again create a new form of ‘Reagan Democrats’ by simply focusing on a positive economic message and a pledge to protect traditional and religious values.

Democrats would argue otherwise.  They cite their successes with same-sex marriage in 2015 as a clear example of the American electorate’s shift in supporting LGBT causes.  The problem, however, lies in the fact that this time around, arguments on sexuality do not focus on two consenting adults, but rather on children.  The stories of trans girls dominating ‘girls’ sports come all too frequently.  So too are the stories of sexually-explicit books and materials in public schools.  To top this is Maryland’s recent Trans Equity Act that allows minors to access hormonal replacement therapy and medical procedures with minimal parental consent and at taxpayer expense.

Older Democrats who bear the scars of culture wars from decades prior may suggest a truce and contend that arguments on gender inclusivity be directed solely toward adults and not children. But at this point, the genie has largely left the bottle.  The Left is hellbent on advocating a radical agenda on gender ideology at a time when more racial and ethnic minorities are turning to the Republican Party.  And so, while the culture wars rage on this Pride month, let us think ahead just a year or two where the conversation may then shift toward the queerest of voters, i.e., a new generation of Republicans who were once Black, Latino, and Asian American Democrats.

O brave new world!

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The graphic shooting of Philando Castile in 2016 shocked many of us and reminded us of the interplay between race, racism, and law. Castile was a Black man in Minnesota who had a permit for his firearm, when he was shot and killed by a police officer during a traffic stop.

“Sir, I have to tell you that I do have a firearm on me,” Castile declared before the officer shot 7 rounds, 5 hitting Castile at point blank range.[1] The following year, that same officer was acquitted on all charges.[2]

The story of Philando Castile is one of the many stories that are all too common among Black Americans, particularly those who have sought a carry permit since the June 2022 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. [3]  The recently-proposed Gun Safety Act of 2023 (Senate Bill 1) thus raises alarm and distrust, particularly among Black Marylanders who are concerned that this bill attacks the free exercise of their Second Amendment rights.  Sponsored by Montgomery County state senator Jeff Waldstreicher, the bill would prohibit anyone who has a concealed-carry permit from bringing a firearm within 100 feet of any “public” place. Senator Waldstreicher vaguely defines public places to mean “anywhere the public is gathering.”[4] There are three factors that should raise alarm and lead legislators to oppose this measure.

Geographic Discrimination?

First, the bill’s 100-foot rule overlooks the geographic disparities that exist between Black and white Marylanders.  Across the U.S., four out of five whites live outside of cities while 70 percent of Blacks and Latinos live in the cities or inner-ring suburbs.[5] For those of us who live in cities like Baltimore, nearly every venue around us is a “public” place.

In the case of my family who largely reside in West Baltimore, a “public place” can be mean a corner store, a gas station, or a liquor store—all are often within 100 feet from most of our rowhouses.  Should the suggestion be that to have a carry permit, we must then move to a more rural area where there are no corner stores or nearby liquor stores?  If so, the opportunities for Blacks, particularly Black Baltimoreans, to move to a more rural or exurb community is very limited; roughly 23.1 percent—nearly double the national average–of Baltimore City’s residents live below the poverty line.[6]

Black Concerns on Rising Crime

Secondly, the bill glosses over the fact that a January 2023 Gonzales Maryland poll found that the majority of Black respondents (35%) believe crime is the most important issue.[7]  In 2022, Baltimore City was unable to break the violent cycle of more than 300 homicides for the 8th consecutive year.

In efforts to seek protection, many Black Baltimoreans, particularly Black women, have sought to purchase a firearm for their protection. According to a 2022 National Firearms Survey, nearly half of new gun owners were women and a fifth of those were Black women.[8] These facts trigger a set of thoughts that plague many Black Marylanders who are well aware of the racial history that precedes many of our laws.  In this light, is SB1 a genuine effort to address crime in our communities or is it merely a white backlash to the growing number of Black Americans seeking carry permits?

Historical Precedent

A final factor that must be considered is the long, difficult history of Second Amendment rights among Black Americans.  This history is as old, if not older, than our nation.  During the colonial, founding, and early republic periods, slaves and even free Blacks, particularly in states south of the Mason-Dixon line, were either barred from carrying a firearm or were required to obtain a license from a government official.  Maryland made it completely unlawful “for any free negro or mulatto to go at large with any gun, or other offensive weapon . . . .”[9] In 1811, the Maryland Court of Appeals described “free negroes” as being treated as “a vicious or dangerous population,” as exemplified by laws “to prevent their migration to this State; to make it unlawful for them to bear arms; to guard even their religious assemblages with peculiar watchfulness.”[10]

The Civil War changed little in terms of Second Amendment rights for Black Marylanders.  In late 1865, Frederick Douglass complained that the ongoing restrictions on freed Blacks severely limited their newfound freedom. He urged every Black family to work towards having “ the cartridge box, the jury box, and the ballot box, to protect them.”[11] But Douglass’ words were not enough for the series of Black codes and Jim Crow laws that were enacted to keep Black Americans for owning or carrying guns.

In 1956, Dr. Martin Luther King himself sought a permit to carry a concealed gun in his car. He was denied this permit because local authorities determined that he had not shown “good cause” for carrying a firearm—even after his home was bombed.

At a meeting of Civil Rights organizers, Dr. King confessed: “I went to the sheriff to get a permit for those people who are guarding me. ‘Couldn’t get one.’ In substance he [the sheriff] was saying ‘you are at the disposal of the hoodlums.’”[12]

Conclusion

A few generations later, we are again faced with the difficult situation of restricting one’s ability to own and carry a firearm.  The caprice and cronyism that have pervaded restrictions on firearms for Black Marylanders is on full display today.  S

B1 would wield a disparate impact on urban, minority populations at a time when more Black Americans are exercising their Second Amendment rights to own and carry a firearm. If passed, Senator Waldstreicher’s bill would create two-levels of citizens: one where citizens of rural and exurb communities are free to carry firearms and another where minorities in urban centers are restricted in protecting themselves.

And should we find ourselves in the unfortunate situation where we encounter a police officer as Philando Castile did, our words that we are lawfully carrying a firearm would mean nothing.  They would come at the discretion of a police officer and a jury ordered to follow a law that unfairly punishes minorities and urban residents.

[1] DeLong, Matt; Braunger, Dave (June 21, 2017). “Breaking down the dashcam video: The Philando Castile shooting timeline”. Star Tribune.

[2] Song, Kayla (May 29, 2017). “Philando Castile case: Officer found not guilty. A timeline”. Twin Cities.

[3] New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc. v. Bruen. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-843_7j80.pdf

[4] “SCOTUS decision to strike down NY gun law has impact on Maryland.” WBAL News. https://www.wbaltv.com/article/maryland-gun-safety-act-scotus-decision-ny-gun-law-conceal-carry/42541290

[5] Brookings Institute. “Even as metropolitan areas diversify, white Americans still live in mostly white neighborhoods” https://www.brookings.edu/research/even-as-metropolitan-areas-diversify-white-americans-still-live-in-mostly-white-neighborhoods/

[6] U.S. Census Bureau (2021). American Communities Survey.

[7] “Newly released poll says crime is most important issue among black voters in Maryland.” Fox45News. https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/newly-released-poll-says-crime-most-important-issue-among-black-voters-in-maryland-baltimore-city-baltimore-county-300-homicides-crime-scene-shooting-homicide

[8] “Black Women Represent Growing Share of US Gun Owners.” Bloomberg News. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-10-06/black-women-represent-growing-group-of-new-us-gun-ownership

[9] Ch. 86, § II (1806), in 3 Laws of Maryland. 297 (1811)

[10] Waters v. State, 1 Gill 302, 309 (Md. 1843)

[11] “Frederick Douglass on the American Crisis,” Newcastle Weekly Courant, May 26, 1865

[12] King, Martin Luther. The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Volume III: Birth of a New Age, December 1955-December 1956. Vol. 3. Univ of California Press, 1992.

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The names on The Baltimore Sun homicide webpage are listed chronologically but have no features that stand out.  Beside each name is an age, a gender, an address, and a race.  Most of the names are those of young men in their 20s, Black, and dying somewhere in Baltimore’s Black butterfly.

A pattern characterizes these names–a standard English surname (Bryant, Miller, Edwards) and a uniquely-spelled first name (Dwone, Tyjuan, Deontay).  This year, there are several female names sprinkled in–Nykayla, Shanlette, Ky’Shera, Leandra—in addition to the 24 teens, ages 13 to 19 years, that were also murdered.

There are no faces associated with the names–only an age, a date of death, and an address where their bodies were found. In efforts to probe deeper, I Google each name hoping to find a photo or a social media account that will bring some semblance of life to their lifeless name.

Oftentimes, there are no images or social media accounts.  In some cases, there is a GoFundMe page where family members posthumously coronate the dead with titles like “King” or “Queen” before asking people to help cover their burial expenses.  Other searches reveal a mugshot from a previous crime.

And in some rare cases, there is an actual bio.  One of these bios was for Ameer Whyee.  In 2015, Ameer served as a high school intern with the Maryland Department of Assessment and Taxation.  Ameer stated in his bio that he was deeply honored to work as an intern.  At the Department, Ameer noted that he was “tasked with entering forms and basically seeing if a business is really a business in the State of Maryland.”  Ameer was just 21 years old when he was shot in the head near Frederick Avenue in Southwest Baltimore.

With so little known about these young Black men, we leave it to the imagination: What precipitated their untimely death?  Were they mere products of harsh urban circumstances?

Often, the lack of information on these dead young men is filled with tropes about urban decay, the war on drugs, and the newfound favorite, ‘the plague of black-on-black crime.’  Talking heads on local news outlets and on social media claim that the homicide rate is a crisis; but the feeling of outrage seems to have disappeared.  There have been over 300 murders in Baltimore each year for the past 8 years. In sum, it is nearly equal to the combined number of dead from the September 11 attacks and mass shootings at Sandy Hook elementary, Stoneman Douglas High School, and the Pulse nightclub.

But unlike those tragedies, there are no political groups formed by survivors.  There is no Jim Brady championing a Handgun Violence Prevention Act.  There is no Gabby Giffords arguing for gun control.  Frankly stated, there are no heroes coming out of the 3,000+ murders in Baltimore City.

Instead, there are pop-up candlelight vigils, makeshift memorials of Hennessy bottles and balloons, and corners with spray painted hashtags and numbers indicating when the death occurred in the year.  Eventually the balloons deflate, the Hennessy bottles are thrown away, and the spraypaint is eroded by mildew or covered over with new spray paint. Even the primary artist of those spray painted hashtags and numbers, Tyree Moorehead, was himself killed earlier this year in an altercation with police.

The mundane nature of Baltimore City’s 300+ murders raises a set of brutal questions: Do these young Black men matter?  Were their lives ever significant?  Or are they just blurred statistics buried in some overlooked webpage?

Based on the clearance rate from the Baltimore City Police Department, we know that very few of the victim’s families will see justice.  Killers will never be arrested; much less be prosecuted.  We hear about “thoughts and prayers” from politicians who after every high-profile shooting try to remake themselves into concerned uncles and pastors.  But we know that there is very little that these politicians can do and very little that they actually want to do.

In truth, the murder rate is a problem of indifference.  This indifference is not created out of futility, but rather on the lack of brotherly concern for one another.  Baltimoreans sometimes like to pride themselves on being a “city of neighborhoods,” but these neighborhoods make up a motley patchwork of race and class in a deeply-divided city.  And those divisions are further magnified at the street-level where individuals care less and less for one another.  The breakdown of the Black family has given rise to a cousin-and-nephew network of belonging.  Sadly, this new ‘family’ network has meaning only in word, but not in real familial obligations.

Similarly, the Black church has taken a back seat.  Since COVID, Black churches have diminished from once being a pillar of the Black community to now being an outlet for second-hand food and a Sunday morning club for middle-class grandmas.

And so, every day, kids and adults walk by the scene of what was once a crime scene.  The powerful spray gun of a DPW worker has managed to wash away the blood and chalk and restore the corner back to what it once was: a congregation of vacant-eyed Black men trying to hustle for a dollar.  Police drive by these young men.  So too do middle-class grandmas as they head to church services.  No one ever stops.

And so, why should we be surprised when we see the names of these Black men appear in a newspaper article on the latest murder?

We shouldn’t.  We stopped caring a long time ago.

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You got a fast car

I want a ticket to anywhere

Maybe we make a deal

With these words, Tracy Chapman begins her classic “Fast Car”, a song that I have always considered to be the anthem of American poverty.  The song speaks to the plight of a working-class woman who spends her days working at a convenience store and dreams of building a big house in the suburbs.  For many working-class Baltimoreans, Chapman’s lyrics are haunting.  With underperforming schools, rising poverty, and a homicide rate for 2022 now well past 300 for the 8^th straight year, many of us seek immediate relief through ambitious policies and politicians.  But the sad history of our city shows us that we have been promised a slew of fast cars, which on the surface appear to be game changers, but ultimately resulted in little-to-no gains for most Black Baltimoreans.

The Fast Cars of Yesteryear

In my lifetime, Baltimoreans have experienced waves of enthusiasm following the announcements of major developments. In the 1970s, there was the establishment of the Baltimore Metro SubwayLink. When the Baltimore Metro Subway opened in November 1983, only the “Northwest” line of the 1965 plan had come to fruition. This 7.6 mile segment provided service between Charles Center in Downtown Baltimore and Reisterstown Plaza in the northwest section of the city. Many in my family joked that the new subway connected Africa (predominantly Black downtown) to Israel (predominantly Jewish Northwest Baltimore). And like many Black families, we cheered on the development of the subway and with Susan B Anthony dollar coins in hand, we hopped on and off its short stretch of the city.  Subsequent extensions to Owings Mills made us think that there would be a new wave of economic development for West Baltimore.

Delayed Optimism, Persistent Poverty

But sadly, economic development never came.  Joblessness combined with the crack cocaine epidemic and rising crime presented a gloomy outlook for West Baltimore.  In 1985, then Representative Parren Mitchell of Baltimore initiated a campaign that boldly declared, “Us killing us equals genocide.” Their stickers and signs were all over West Baltimore as a reminder of the sobering realities for West Baltimoreans.  A few years after Representative Mitchell’s initiative, then-Mayor Kurt Schmoke appealed to Baltimoreans to work with police and take back the streets. But the bullets never stopped, the jobs never came, and hopelessness only grew.

The same was true with downtown developments such as the Maryland Science Center (which opened in 1976), Harborplace (which opened in 1980), the National Aquarium in Baltimore (which opened in 1981) and the Convention Center which opened in 1979 and was expanded in 1997.

Each of these projects cost millions to state and city residents.  Initial plans were billed as game changing fast cars that would sweep the entire city from its post-industrial slump.  Black families across West Baltimore were left, like Tracy Chapman’s song, to think that we belonged and that we could be someone in our own city. Again, the inequities of the city only grew and aside from a few success stories, most of us remained in the same situation as our parents, if not worse.

The fast cars zoomed past neighborhoods like my childhood homes in Harlem Park and Sandtown-Winchester.  We increasingly saw more vacant homes, higher dropout rates, and a vast swath of Baltimore’s Black butterfly be left woefully unprepared for a newer tech-based economy.

Like many of my peers, I pursued a trade and attended Carver Vocational School.  Even then, mere survival was the way of life: cash was never plenty and bills were always too much. Instead of remedies, we got even more fast cars: Oriole Park at Camden Yards (1992) and the M&T Bank Stadium (1998). While these projects brought more tourism into the city, there was a general feeling from Black Baltimoreans, particularly those residing in West Baltimore, that such development largely benefitted developers and those who resided in Baltimore’s largely white downtown and Fed Hill areas.

Are Baby Bonds the New Fast Car for Black Baltimoreans?

The new talk of the town is governor-elect Wes Moore’s baby bonds program.  Throughout his campaign, Moore pitched the baby bonds program as a way to ensure that infants born in poverty arrive at adulthood in a more equal economic situation as their wealthier peers. With this program, every child born in Medicaid—largely Black and Latino–could get $3,200.

At age 18, account holders could access the funds for allowable uses, such as buying a home or paying for school.  The concept seems like a plausible solution to the racial wealth gap, but it comes with an estimated price tag of $100 million per year, according to the Washington Post. Several questions arise:

How sustainable will the program be given economic forecasts for the immediate future?  Can we be assured that the program will last the duration of a child’s lifetime? More importantly, will this baby bonds program truly be a solution for deep-seated inequality?

Call me jaded, but I am inclined to think that the baby bonds program is yet another example of the misalignment of economic priorities.  We see the same pattern over previous decades: Black Baltimoreans are sold a bill of goods to address persistent poverty; enthusiasm among community leaders is drummed up; policy wonks boast of the vast economic potential of the new program; and an ambitious governor has just won his race.

But realities will soon set in as they have before.  And soon, we will find ourselves with a ‘game-changing’ program that fails to deliver due to delineated responsibilities among government agencies, no sustainable financing, and no system for measuring progress.   Black Baltimoreans—who are regularly cited as the ‘beneficiaries’ of these ambitious programs—will be left with the same disappointment that has now characterized programs and policies for our city.

Conclusion

At the end of the song, Tracy Chapman’s main character finds herself alone with several kids.  The character notes that she’s “got a job that pays all our bills” and orders her partner to “take your fast car and keep on driving.” The same should be said by Black Baltimoreans.

For decades, we fell for the same okie-doke, game-changer programs only to see poverty in our city rise, homicide rates rise, and schools continue to underperform.   Our narratives have been routinely used to advance the cause of ambitious policy entrepreneurs—young and hip Martin O’Malley and our newfound Robinhood Wes Moore.

As we enter 2023, it is finally time that we tell the politicians and developers—the so-called game-changers of tomorrow—that if they’re not serious about building wealth in Baltimore’s Black communities or modernizing our schools for a changing economy: Don’t stop in Baltimore, just take your fast cars and keep on driving.

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Throughout much of the past week, many of us in the GOP have been scanning the results on the pages of the Maryland Board of Elections wondering what happened?  We see the figures and then reflect on our efforts throughout the state and begin to adopt Elisabeth Kubler-Ross’ stages of grief:

1. Denial: “The election was stolen. We won, but ….”
2. Anger: “It was all the fault of ….”
3. Bargaining: “If only we had…”
4. Depression: “We will just never win in this state/county/city…”

The last stage is acceptance and that stage is what I want to stress here.  There are several components of what we have to accept that may or may not be palatable to many of my Republican friends. But I contend that until we come to terms with these aspects of our campaigning and politics, we will have a lot of nights like November 8, 2022.  Here are five things that I think we should accept and use towards building a stronger, healthier party.

1. Mail-in Ballots: Throughout much of the past two years, we have all questioned the legitimacy of mail-in ballots. We contend that there is fraud and at times, we even tried to host nightly ‘watch parties’ in the parking lots in front of drop-off bins.  These acts were largely symbolic and unreplicable.  In nearly every competitive race, candidates who had the edge on election night were wiped out because of mail-in ballots.

For years, we, as Republicans, would joke that we needed to win above the margin of the alleged fraud.  We contended and joked that in places like my own hometown of Baltimore City, fake ballots and dead voters were the name of the game.  But we often conceded that this margin of fraud was relatively surmountable.  But with mail-in ballots, we have become overwhelmed and find ourselves at the base of a giant blue wall that over the course of ‘canvassing’ sessions by the Board of Elections became far too steep to climb.

The problem lies in our approach. We continue to play a game of persuasion (“let’s get moderate Dems and Unaffiliateds to wake up and vote Republican!”) while the other side plays a game of mobilization (“let’s convert every low-propensity Democrat into an actual vote!”).  We cannot continue to ignore the roll of mail-in ballots.  We cannot rely on an outdated model of persuasion over actual mobilization. Maryland is too blue to ever give us a chance to make our case about the possibility of fraudulent mail-in ballots or the constitutionality of this form of voting.  If there is something illegal going on, contact law enforcement and file suit—don’t just post on Facebook.  But aside from those clear instances of voter fraud, we need to come to terms with mail-in ballots.  And in doing so, we need to change the way that we see voting and campaigning.

2. Candidate Training and Support: As someone who sits on a Republican Central Committee, the joke is that Joe Six-Pack pays the $50 to file as a candidate. He then comes to their first county central committee meeting demanding two things: money and volunteers.  Most central committees are broke and volunteers are even more rare.  Sometimes, we have Bill the septuagenarian retiree who sits quietly in a corner and is willing to put up signs, but Bill is just one person and often, Bill can’t commit more than 10 percent of what he says he can do.  So, after a few weeks, Joe Six-Pack is left frustrated and angered: “Why isn’t anyone helping me out?”

The answer is that central committees and the state party are weak sources of support for candidates.  Winning candidates have often built their own party outside of the actual party apparatus.  Trump built a strong base with little to no support from Reince Priebus’ and Ronna McDaniel’s RNC.  Larry Hogan formed Change Maryland two years prior to his gubernatorial run.  Most candidates should stop seeing themselves as lone cowboys in search of El Dorado—a golden city of volunteers and campaign financing.  They should instead build their base of volunteers from friends, family, and similarly-minded supporters prior to filing. It might be wishful thinking but so too is thinking that party central committees will come to a candidate’s aid.

3. Take Our Party’s Message to More Communities: For years, there has been a lot of talk about ‘growing’ our party. In 2020, Baltimore City had nine African American Republican candidates compete for local elections. It was the highest number of Black Republican candidates than any other major U.S. city in 2020.  That was a big victory. This year, the number of Black Republican candidates ballooned to over 40 across the state.  The same is true with Latino and Asian candidates.  We also saw candidates take the Republican message to non-traditional media markets: Korean newspapers, Spanish radio stations, Hindu temples, Ghanian churches, and Chinese online and print media.

In one interview with the Baltimore Sun, a Latino Democrat operative noted “of the two governor campaigns, he’s seen more grassroots efforts from Republican Dan Cox.”  That’s a big deal for Republicans and it is a great starting point by which we will grow our party with Latinos, African immigrants, and Asian Americans.  The challenge is to engage with these communities and link our principles to their concerns.  It is not easy, but in light of the losses that we are seeing with suburban white populations, it will likely be the only way that we can really build up our party.

4. The Balkanization of GOP Clubs and the Rise of the Good Idea Fairies: If I had a nickel for every time that someone in Republican circles suggested something to me, I would be in the running to become the next owner of Twitter. For months, we have seen our increasingly small Republican community break apart in a multitude of groups and a lot of internecine conflict.  There are group chats, group texts, prayer groups, and actual groups to which some people join, some are kicked off, and some are exclusive to a handful of people.  And in many of these groups is the ever-increasing number of Good Idea Fairies.  These fairies are the folks who sit on the sidelines or on Facebook and comment and  criticize (often the latter), but never do anything more.  They don’t open their pocketbooks.  They don’t knock on doors or sign wave. They just advise.  The problem is that when there are all chiefs and no Indians, we hear more about ‘what needs to get done’ and never have the volunteers to get things done.  If our party is going to be successful, the Good Idea Fairies and the balkanized club leaders need to move away from their computers and start to actually help Republican candidates.

5. Voter registration should not be seen as a side task, but as THE most important task of every Republican group. Our party numbers are declining. We all know it. We all try to lay the blame on someone or some event, e.g., January 6, Trump, Cox, etc. But the decline has been happening over much of the past two decades and too often, we are left fighting for the breadcrumbs of ‘redder’ districts and fail to realize that our bigger problem is voter registration. In Florida, we saw decisive wins up and down the ballot and should learn a key lesson: Republican central committees in every Florida county organized registration drives, adding over 553,000 voters to statewide GOP rolls since 2018, after adjusting for people who died, moved, switched parties, or stopped voting.  We need to do the same.  The challenge is that it is too easy to focus on the easy-to-reach wins: well-attended forums and rallies, and large Facebook groups.  Real wins require real numbers and those real numbers come from actually registering Republican voters.  We need a solid strategy for voter registration and need to agree that this strategy is the top priority for any Republican club or central committee.

There is much work to do and I am very much motivated to be a part of these efforts.  Our party has a strong message of hope, fiscal responsibility, and community empowerment, but we need to come to terms of what it means to be a minority party in a blue state.  We need to put in the work and not resign ourselves to voting with our feet (i.e., moving to a redder county or a redder state).  We need to fight back–smartly and boldly.  But until we do so, we will see more nights like November 8.

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