Dr. Bhatt discusses "safety" in Baltimore

Thu, 30 Apr 2015 16:40:01 -0400

Excerpt from "Keeping 'Us' Safe in Baltimore" as posted in The Huffington Post blog. The full article can be found here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amy-bhatt/keeping-us-safe-in-baltimore_b_7181428.html

I've been obsessively following the news and social media over the past few days in Baltimore. Over and again, the question of "safety" keeps coming up from residents and outsiders. As a Baltimore city resident and a parent, I can't help by wonder: what does it mean to be safe?

I live in Federal Hill, a neighborhood adjacent to the site of this week's protests in the Inner Harbor. It was one of the first to be redeveloped and is central to the city's re-branding as historic and hip. This neighborhood is more than 80 percent white and has a median income of $93,000 (compared with Baltimore's median income of $38,000). The community associations are active, and there are several beautifully kept parks, grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants, shops, and a well-maintained library within walking distance from my home. We have access to the highway, regular public transit, and adequate public schools. This neighborhood has one-third the crime rate of the rest of the city.

As protests erupted across Baltimore's downtown and northern sections of the city, both peaceful and violent, the alarm bells sounded across the city's neighborhoods listservs and community groups. On Federal Hill, there were businesses that suffered broken windows and theft, but there were no incidents of violent encounters or residential disturbances. Volunteers came out across the city in waves to help with cleaning up streets and businesses.

Despite feeling a marginal impact from the protests, I've been reading and hearing people in my neighborhood (and others like mine) asserting that "we need to take back our city" or work "to make Baltimore safe again." It's clear who "we" are in these statements.

But what are we actually talking about?