> I would guess a fair amount is just the whole alpha power dynamics thing.
I think that's part of it. But there's also the effect that the Baltimore system/culture, the police, the politicians, the DA/prosecution, the prisons, all evolved on top of a forced labor system. Yes, slavery. The system is inherently designed to preserve that dynamic between the enslaved population and the non-slave population. It captures kids in their youth, puts them in juvi for-profit prisons, which limits their options for work in their adulthood which then puts them at risk to re-enter the jail system (forced labor) in their adulthood. Michael Wood, a former marine and former Baltimore police officer provides an interesting collection of data. His interview here shows how the system works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5nPyf-0UMc Listen to him talking about the "Knockers", a special class of police officers.
Plus closure of shipyards, factories etc.. The local economy is pretty depressed as compared to 50-100 years back but people have families and history and don't want to or can't move so are struggling to survive or can sqeeze by enough to not move..
Taking the amtrak from DC-NY at least a few years ago there were literally miles and miles of entire blocks of abandoned townhouses.. I imagine a google street view would be a good way to see this..
Also relateed - just finished binge watching HBO's 'The Wire' - though fiction and maybe jazzed up a little, it seems fairly accurate to get a picture of how messed up things are/can be based on what I absorbed 3rd hand from living in nearby DC for a good while..
I think that's part of it. But there's also the effect that the Baltimore system/culture, the police, the politicians, the DA/prosecution, the prisons, all evolved on top of a forced labor system. Yes, slavery. The system is inherently designed to preserve that dynamic between the enslaved population and the non-slave population. It captures kids in their youth, puts them in juvi for-profit prisons, which limits their options for work in their adulthood which then puts them at risk to re-enter the jail system (forced labor) in their adulthood. Michael Wood, a former marine and former Baltimore police officer provides an interesting collection of data. His interview here shows how the system works. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5nPyf-0UMc Listen to him talking about the "Knockers", a special class of police officers.