By guest blogger Sadako Red [see disclaimer]
[June 24, 2016] I can see the Potomac River from my office in Washington D.C. but it’s the view I see of government that is most eye opening because I see the real story. Lately the U.S. presidential race has heated up over the issues of race and gender, inequality, the 1%, etc. But the best stories are local and one of the most interesting involves the City of Baltimore and the downright rotten leadership that burdens this once great metropolis. I wrote about the mayor and its police chief earlier and how they helped stoke the fires of racism, mishandling of the police department, and the resulting spike in crime.
However, some good news for a change. The third of six police officers, accused in the death of a local thug Freddie Gray, has been acquitted of all charges. This officer faced the most serious criminal offenses but the Maryland State Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby failed to establish a credible case against him. The police say the charges against these officers were a kneejerk reaction to what others consider needless police-on-black violence sparked originally from the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. Attorney Mosby shot to national fame when she charged those officers. However, those with inside knowledge of the situation said she brought the charges to help herself and the mayor politically.
What do the mayor and Mosby have in common? Simple, they are both black and both Democrats. Now, I’m the first to say that leadership and our professional conduct should be color blind; one of the foundations of our country. But that is not the case in the City of Baltimore and the reason I say things there are stuck on stupid.1 What is done there is very much based on race. The negligence of Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake during the riots in that city is now legend but her popularity among blacks in the city has increased along with that of Mosby.
Of course, any large city needs effective and strong, experienced leadership. When times are tough, quality leadership is needed that much more. When things are going well, any leader will suffice but when bad things are happening, only the best leadership will get you there. In Baltimore, the city was doing well and Rawlings-Blake rode into office on promises to make things better for blacks in the city. This included bringing in a friend to be the new Police Chief, Anthony Batts (she later had to remove him from the position).
To make matters worse, the city agreed to a $6.4 million dollar settlement with Brown’s family to settle civil claims. The decision was criticized because an early analysis showed the police did nothing wrong and that Freddie Brown was responsible for his own death while he attempted to self-injure while in custody of the police. Yet, the decision to pay was praised by the previous major Kurt Schmoke; yep, also black also a Democrat. The pattern is clear and is largely why many people across the United States no longer trust their government. This is all about race and the City of Baltimore is still stuck on stupid. Will anyone learn from this?
You can find me on the web. Just look and find my writings on “leadership”.
Author: Sadako Red
Disclaimer: I chose the pen name Sadako Red in order to remove any notoriety reflecting on my other real job as a very senior executive in the Department of Defense. Naturally, my opinion is my opinion only and despite DoD wanting to associate with my fine work, they cannot have it. Trust me, they want it. Trust me, they can’t stand for it.
Sadako Red’s Previous Posts:
- Weak Leaders, Politicians, and Racism …
- City of Baltimore and Race: Stuck on Stupid
- Lead by Example and Show Some Dignity!
- Fear: Racist, Sexist, Homophobe Accusations
- The U.S. Army, Race Relations, and Manhood
- Race: Leadership and the Lack of Leadership
- A Failed Management Culture in the VA
- Race Trumps and Leadership Fails
- Race, Character, and the Government
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- U.S. Army Lieutenant General Russel L. Honore made headlines when he made the comment “don’t get stuck on stupid.” In the aftermath of Hurricane Rita in New Orleans, Louisiana he told a reporter not to get stuck on stupid in reference to a dumb question about the government response to the hurricane. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russel_L._Honor%C3%A9