... about the malaise in America's inner cities, by Harvard sociologist Orlando Patterson in today's Times. Patterson spreads the blame around, casts current events in historical context, and actually proposes solutions. There is something in here for everybody, and also something that will probably make everyone angry, which suggests to me (who is neither a sociologist nor a historian) that there is is a lot of truth in this piece.
Note also yesterday's editorial in the Times discussing the racist historical roots of Baltimore's current problems. When we first moved to Baltimore, I was struck by how much like a patchwork quilt the city is -- a true city of neighborhoods, cheek-by-jowel with each other, each distinct socioeconomically, architecturally, atmospherically and, often, racially. Baltimore's neighborhoodiness can seem quaint, but the Times editorial gives us the sinister side of the story.
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