The Downward Spiral of Baltimore: How the Black Butterfly and the White L were created
Charles D. Jackson
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION | PROGRAM MANAGEMENT | ADVOCATE | FAITH-BASED/COMMUNITY LIAISON | INSTRUCTOR | FACILITATOR | ORGANIZER | SPEAKER
White Flight
After years of forced segregation created by redlining which denied mortgage loans to Black residents, white Baltimoreans began to leave the city in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Property Value Goes Down
Real estate speculators known as Blockbusters drove down property values by scaring white residents out of their homes. White residents sold their properties at a deep discount and those same properties were often leased to Black residents. “In turn the tax base of the city collapsed” (Orser, 1999, p.4)
Services Suffer
Baltimore City services are historically underfunded due to the lack of a tax base including the public schools. Because higher poverty means high crime, Baltimore City crime prevention costs more.
California Newsreal states Rock Bottom includes “highways, prisons, waste storage, toxic facilities”. Currently, Baltimore has a Highway To Nowhere, whose construction displaced hundred of Black Baltimoreans and an incinerator has been linked to health issues.
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