Baltimore has a black mayor. And black police chief. And a majority black police department.

[PinkPotus]

How the hell can we admonish ferguson voters for not electing black local government officials when it doesn't seem to matter? The institutional racism is present no matter what, even with black local government.

That's what institutional racism means.

[BainsBane]

1. Read this

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/04/29/david-simon-on-baltimore-s-anguish

[nadinbrzezinski]

3. Awesome read, thanks

added to the list of stuff I am keeping.

[enough]

4. I was put off reading this because Simon was initially quoted with some sanctimonious

thing about how rioting demeaned the legacy of MLK. But this interview is nothing like that. It's the most powerful description of the situation with the police that I've seen. And you're right it goes a long way to answering the OP's question. Thanks for posting this.

[libdem4life]

2. It's about Power and Control. Sometimes it's women, or gays, or racial...but we all know where the

main power structure resides. It's changing...thanks in part to the lowly cell phone.