I'm having mixed feelings as I follow the events which have been mounting in Baltimore, one of the historical cities of the U.S. Because Baltimore is a city in which I have spent a part of my life. If you ask me to summarize Baltimore –where I lived for a short, but a dense period of time, - I would describe it as a cold, gloomy and black city. The melancholy which has permeated the structures and people of the city, whose soul has virtually withdrawn, is of a disheartening type. And you realize this gloom more heavily amongst the black population, whom you interact with at all stages of the daily life.

In this respect, if you were to ask me to add another word to describe Baltimore, I would say “divided.” In fact, you take notice of the gap between the people of the city before long. The fact that the gap is mainly between the black and white people is one of the realities which could be easily comprehended.

There is no doubt that these realities harbor numerous sociological and economic dynamics till today. After all, what is behind the incidents which grew with a spark is the dynamics in question to a great extent.

If we were to approach the matter in economic terms, we could start with the fact that the city, which is located in the center of Maryland, -“the richest state of the U.S.”- has a lower income per capita compared to the average in the state. The rate of those living under the poverty line, which is 1/4 in Baltimore and 1/10 in Maryland, is another indicator. Therefore, we are talking about a city where inequality is intensely felt in the context of the state.

Inequality is also at a critical level within the city itself. According to the latest existing data, while the mean earning of a white person is 61,000 dollars, this number is 34,000 dollars for the African American population in the city. Furthermore, we can also say that the blacks come to the fore in terms of the issue of the poverty line.

It is possible to express that one of the most prominent reasons for the aforementioned income gap has to do with the gaps in the workforce. For instance, while only 10% of the white men between the ages of 20-24 are unemployed, this number is 37% for the blacks of the same age cohort, a critical level… There are various different factors behind the obstacles for African-Americans –who make up 63% of the city's population- to access employment, be it quantitative or qualitative.

And these factors, in my opinion make up the actual point of focus.

At this point, one of the relevant factors without a doubt is the issue of education, which is experienced especially by the black population across the city. The relevant inferiority of the education level and the fact that it does not coincide with the city's economy is one of the most critical points in my opinion. In fact, employment opportunities, which have largely shifted towards the services sector with the withdrawal of the industry in the past few decades in Baltimore, have moved it to a different level in terms of quantity and quality.

For instance, world-renown Johns Hopkins University and Hospital, the apple of the desperate city's eye have become important sources of employment during this process. In this respect, the fact that the job positions in Baltimore are more demanding compared to the past in terms of education and skills also limits the employment opportunities of the related population.

During the period I lived in the city, I saw the “BELIEVE” slogan wherever I went. It was a campaign which aroused people in the first half of the 2000s in Baltimore. The Believe campaign attempted to create societal motivation to the people of the city through imposing the positive message of having confidence in one's self, through slogans written in newspapers, billboards, TV channels, garbage bins and everywhere one looked at.

Alright, but what would the Baltimore people believe in? The answer may sound interesting, but in my opinion it is a point which must be highlighted as we are talking about these developments:

The people would believe in the reduction of marijuana addiction, and crime rates linked with this. Because it was about time to say “stop” to the marijuana addiction, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of youth each year and violence intertwined with this.

In fact, one of the most frequently used words of the advertisement which was the starting point of the campaign was “enough.” While the ad emphasized the desires of a small child, it shook our hearts and brains in the scene where the innocent sister of the protagonist child was killed on the street for nothing.

In short, the starting point of Believe had to do with the urgent and terrific necessity for having decent and healthy individuals in the city, and ultimately a trustworthy society.

If we do not underscore the main reason behind the income and employment issues after a decade today, which is criminal tendency, we would leave a huge chunk of the puzzle out.

This truth especially applies to the African-American society at the highest level. Besides economic issues, the black fear, which has surged with weak family ties, –even more so the “lack of family”- lack of education and cultural issues had long been pervaded in the society. The imprisonment rate of the population is also way above the average…

However, it could be said that the initiatives which sped up with the Believe campaign have achieved some things till the present day. Because it was possible to see how much both the state and the people who have embraced the initiatives through the display of the slogan in school buildings and police emblems, and the public who wear Believe t-shirts.

On the other hand, although it was a success to reduce the crime rate as a result of the initiatives in the city, it must be pointed out that it still has a quite high imprisonment and crime outlook compared to the U.S. in general. For example, it is thought-provoking to see that Baltimore is at the top nationwide in terms of imprisonment for marijuana related crimes.

Therefore, what lies in the ground of the incidents which surged in Baltimore lays the heavy accumulation of long years. While the role of inequality-related issues cannot be denied in the incidents, the explanation for the unacceptable vandalism which burned the city down is hidden in the crime and violence potential I had mentioned. At this point, it is not difficult to see that a group which served political purposes has also fueled the chaos through the exploitation of such combination.

Of course, putting everything aside, it is evident that whatever has happened will again harm the disadvantaged circles of the city. Difficult days await the idiosyncratic city of Baltimore, which is currently going through a vicious cycle. As a matter of fact, it will be even more difficult to “believe” in a city where the vandal soul has been exposed will be tougher from now on. It will never be possible to pay no attention to the smoke that is left behind.

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