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Eng 102

5 Sept 2019

ILA #1

Is segregation in Baltimore City solvable? What are methods being used to integrate the

city?

Jim Crow era redlining has shaped Baltimore into the city it is today. Even though these

racial zoning laws have been eliminated for decades now- at least de jure- Baltimore is still

segregated. My first source is a New York Times Magazine article by Alec MacGillis that

investigates the causes and effects of the Baltimore Riots. My second source is a Vice News

article by Alexander Stockton and Allison McCann that discusses a program that allows for

integration in Baltimore. I used a Google search to find these sources. I picked them because

they are from large news corporations and seemed to have little bias.

“The Tragedy of Baltimore” by Alec MacGillis is an article that reports on a general

overview of the socio-economic and crime issues in Baltimore. The article begins with a story

from a family living in West Baltimore about how they arrived back at their house as the riots

had just begun. The mother’s phone had died, so she had no idea about the death of Freddie

Gray. She made her son duck and cover to avoid the chaos as they ran into their house. Two

years later, her other son was shot. The article then explains the recent history of Baltimore’s
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crime policies that led the city to the spot it is in today. The recent trials of corrupt police officers

are also mentioned in the article.

“Segregation Still Exists. Here’s How Baltimore Is Trying to Solve It” by Alexander

Stockton and Allison McCann investigates the Baltimore Housing Mobility Program, which

helps to secure loans for African-Americans looking to move into predominantly white

neighborhoods. This article explains the stark contrast between the poor neighborhoods of

Baltimore (where the large majority of residents are African-American) and rich, white

neighborhoods. It explains the downfalls of the program, including the lack of opportunities to be

a part of it. The article also mentions Ben Carson, who was a famous surgeon at Johns Hopkins

in Baltimore.

Benches around Baltimore have a phrase on them that I believe very deeply: “The

Greatest City in America”. As someone who lives just north of the city, I would love to see the

general perception of Baltimore improve. It is such a great city that has many good spots, but

people just think of it as “disgusting and a rat and rodent infested mess.” I first experienced the

topic of segregation and socio-economic inequality in middle school. While I was driving out of

Baltimore one day, we passed a large abandoned building that had “The Butterfly and the L”

spray-painted onto it. I was curious, so I did a quick google search. “The Butterfly and the L” is a

colloquial term for the segregation in Baltimore. The poor, African-American majority

communities in Baltimore make a butterfly-winged shape when looking at it on a map, while the

richer, white communities run down the middle of the city and surround the harbor, making an L

shape. This research matters to make me a more informed citizen and to increase awareness of

the issues in Baltimore

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Works Cited

MacGillis, Alec. “The Tragedy of Baltimore.” The New York Times Magazine, The New York

Times, 12 Mar. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/magazine/baltimore-tragedy-

crime.html.

Stockton, Alexander, and Allison McCann. “Segregation Still Exists. Here's How Baltimore Is

Trying to Solve It.” Vice News, Vice, 18 Apr. 2018,

www.vice.com/en_us/article/a3yq4g/segregation-still-exists-heres-how-baltimore-is-

trying-to-solve-it.