Free Republic

When Target announced that it was opening a store in Mondawmin, a predominantly Black neighborhood in Baltimore, a city struggling with crime and poverty, it seemed like a ticket to a turnaround. And from the start, it was a practical success and a point of community pride. The store, which opened in 2008, carried groceries, operated a pharmacy and had a Starbucks cafe — the only one in this part of Baltimore’s west side. People came from across the city to shop there, helping to soften the Mondawmin area’s reputation for crime and the looting that followed protests over the...

flashback 4/3/2020 There’s lots of talk about being too tough on crime. As Michael Bloomberg ran for president earlier this year he faced criticism for his “stop- and-frisk” policy when he was the mayor of New York City. Gov. Larry Hogan was at odds with the Maryland General Assembly during this year’s legislative session over his support of mandatory sentencing for gun violations. When Hillary Clinton ran for president nearly four years ago she was forced to apologize for once saying there were predators in the black community. Likewise there are well meaning progressives who are concerned about discriminatory policing,...

Recently, near the close of a spirited community forum on black and Latino relations in South Los Angeles, a young black man in the audience stood up and proudly, even defiantly, shouted that he was a member of the Minuteman Project. This is the fringe group that has waged a noisy, gun-toting and headline-grabbing campaign to shut down the Mexican border to illegal immigrants. GOP conservatives and immigration reformers denounce their borderline-racist rants. But the group's rhetoric didn't faze the young man, nor many other blacks in the audience who nodded in agreement as he launched into a finger-pointing tirade...