Racism in Baltimore

Today someone asked me if I was not hiring him to bag leaves for me because he is black. He was essentially accusing me of racism. I was perplexed by his question (accusation), to say the least. I told the guy (let's call him Roger) that I like to do my own yard work - it has nothing to do with race, but the fact that I'm young and healthy. Why should I hire someone to do work that I can do myself? I would have said no to anyone; and I have. I reminded Roger that I wouldn't be living in this neighborhood (which is primarily black) if I was racist.

I started thinking about this issue. Why did Roger assume that my choice not to hire him had anything to do with race? My neighbors also do their own yard work. Does he accuse them of racism when they do their own work? That would be rediculous, considering they're black. Why did Roger feel justified in making these accusations? Is it because he wasn't happy that I said no and so, out of frustration, he played the race card? He even stated that others told him I had said no to them as well. Yes, that's right - because I want to do my own yard work and don't see why I should pay someone for work I can do myself!

This is the first time since I've lived in Baltimore (over 5 years now) that someone has accused me of racism. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. In a racially divided city like Baltimore, it was bound to happen sooner or later, but the form it took surprised me. I didn't see it coming. This was probably the 4th time Roger asked me if I wanted him to do yard work for me - and each time I've said no (today he happened to catch me while I was out standing out on my front porch). Did he think I was going to say yes if he just kept asking me long enough? Did he think he was going to wear me down? Why did he assume that I should hire someone to do my yard work? Is it because I'm a white female? Does he think that most white females think yard work is beneath them? Is this a cultural bias on his part?

It is hard for me to understand why people feel compelled to play the race card when they get an answer they don't like. I remember a situation from high school when two African American girls were trying out for one of the cheerleading squads. They weren't chosen. Then they turned around and accused the selection committee of racism because they weren't picked for the squad. Why couldn't they just accept that maybe they just weren't good enough? Or maybe there were other girls that had more dancing/cheering skills? Unfortunately the committee or whoever was in the decision making role caved in and then put them on the squad. That's really a shame because it's just reinforcing people's ideas that the decisions were in fact race related, when they in fact weren't. My roommate also told me about situations she's had where African American men have asked her out on dates. When she's said no, they've accused her of racism. Why can't people just accept no for what it is, a no? It most likely has nothing to do with race. My roommate said that she said no, not because of their skin color, but because of their attitude.
Anyway, the whole experience was really disturbing to me and it took a while for me to calm down. I decided to do some research on the history of Baltimore - and the issue of race in Baltimore.

Some interesting facts and data about Baltimore (mainly from Wikipedia):

• Baltimore was the second largest city in the nation until 1870, when it was surpassed by Philadelphia. Baltimore remained one of the 10 largest cities in the United States from 1790 until about 1970. The city and metropolitan area currently rank in the top 20 in terms of population.
• It was among the top 10 cities in population in the United States in every census up to the 1980 census. In a 2005 census it was proven to be the city with the largest population drop alongside Detroit and Washington DC, losing over 84,000 residents between 1990 and 2000.
• As of 2005, the population was 641,943, down slightly from 643,304 in 2004, but higher than the century-long low of 636,251 in 2000. The Baltimore–Towson metropolitan area, as of 2004, was estimated to have a population of 2.6 million.
• Baltimore's population peaked at 949,708 in the 1950 Census, which ranked it as the sixth-largest city in the country, behind Detroit and ahead of Cleveland. For the next five decades, the city's population declined while its suburbs grew dramatically, bottoming out in 2000 at 636,251. In the 21st century, the city's population has stabilized and is once again rising, mostly due to revitalization efforts in many city neighborhoods.
• The racial makeup of the city was 64.34% Black or African American, 31.63% White, 0.32% Native American, 1.53% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.67% from other races, and 1.47% from two or more races. 1.70% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
• There were 257,996 households out of which 25.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 26.7% were married couples living together, 25.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.0% were non-families. 34.9% of all households are made up of individuals, and 11.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
• The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 87.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.9 males.
• The median income for a household in the city was $30,078, and the median income for a family was $35,438. Males had a median income of $31,767 versus $26,832 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,978. About 18.8% of families and 22.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 30.6% of those under age 18 and 18.0% of those age 65 or over.

Historical facts about race and Baltimore:

• From 1810 to the Civil War, Baltimore was home to the largest concentration of free black people in the United States. In 1860, before Lincoln had freed a single slave, more than ninety percent of the city’s black population was free. Free black people achieved a critical mass in Baltimore at such an early date that they enjoyed a long head start over black communities elsewhere in which to construct their own collective life. Blacks had their own churches, private schools, social clubs, charitable institutions, and fraternal organizations, and eventually they would have their own labor unions, banks, business firms, and newspapers.
• Prior to the Civil War, Maryland was a slave-holding state. During the Civil War, Maryland was officially part of the Union (North), but kept slavery legal. Pro-Southern sentiment led to the Baltimore riot of 1861, when Union soldiers marched through the city. After the riot, Union troops occupied Baltimore, and Maryland came under direct federal administration — in part, to prevent the state from seceding — until the end of the war in April 1865. This was considered a necessary move by the Union to prevent Washington DC, from being completely surrounded by seceded Confederate territory.
• Baltimore is located just below the Mason-Dixon Line, which is the line of demarcation between the free and slave states. It is the cultural boundary between the North and South. The popular definition of the "South" is more informal and is generally associated with those states that seceded during the Civil War to form the Confederate States of America. Those states share commonalities of history and culture that carry on to the present day. The "border states" of the Civil War- specifically Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware roughly form the northern boundary of the "South". These states have a history of straddling the North-South divide, which was made clear when they did not secede during the Civil War even though they allowed slavery.
• After the 1954 Supreme Court's decision in Brown v. Board of Education, Baltimore schools were integrated. Prior to that time Baltimore schools were segregated.
• African Americans have been a majority in Baltimore since the mid-1970s.
• Although African Americans have been a majority in Baltimore since the mid-1970s, the city has only elected one black Mayor. In 1999 he stated that Baltimore was a “city where issues of race continue to be important, but they are issues that no one wants to talk about. It’s almost as though people would like to ignore the fact that race continues to be a significant factor determining the quality of life in the city and the metropolitan area.”
• One author states, "the city is hardly innocent of racial discrimination. It has a history of legally sanctioned segregation, and when it lost the force of law, segregation retained the force of habit. In the aftermath of the Brown decision, whites abandoned public education for the suburbs or private schools. Today the public school population in Baltimore City is eighty-eight percent African American. There are scarcely any stable, integrated neighborhoods" and "Baltimoreans harbor prejudices, some of them just as poisonous as the ones I encountered in Boston, but unlike Bostonians, most Baltimoreans don’t insist on telling you about them."

Considering the history of Baltimore, perhaps I shouldn't be angry that Roger accused me of racism. I don't know his life or his history. I don't know how much racism he has encountered in his life. If he grew up in Baltimore, chances are he's experienced quite a bit of racism. Although it makes me angry that I was put in such a position, I really can't blame Roger. He doesn't know me. He doesn't know my thoughts, history or upbringing. He doesn't know that I've spent years of my life living in other countries and advocating on behalf of people from other countries and of all ethnicities (including Asians, Africans from all parts of Africa, Eastern Europeans, Russians, etc). Little does he know that I grew up in one of the most ethnically diverse parts of the U.S. He has no way of knowing whether I'm racist or not. He just jumped to conclusions based on the fact that I'm white and telling him that I don't want to hire him.

Interesting sources:

http://www.urbanitebaltimore.com/sub.cfm?issueID=42§ionID=4&articleID=542

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baltimore

http://www.urbanitebaltimore.com/sub.cfm?issueID=42§ionID=4&articleID=534