A Different Baltimore

As a professor of sociology at Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) for more than four decades, I was pained to see the unrest that engulfed parts of the city in the aftermath of Freddie Gray’s death.  Additionally, I was dismayed but not surprised by the media coverage, and the monolithic and stereotypical images conveyed by newscasts and commentaries.  So often, these images take on a life of their own, even though they do not represent the vast majority of my students as well as the vast majority of Baltimore’s residents.

Earlier in my teaching career at BCCC, I asked students in my Introduction to Sociology class to respond to the following question:

If someone were to write your life history, what would we learn about barriers to success and our ability to overcome these barriers?

One of my students, an African-American male, wrote:  “You would learn how a young man in a single parent home with a mother on drugs found a way to escape poverty and take care of himself since the age of sixteen.  And you would learn how a young man like myself has already reached one of his goals in life, and that is living to be 25 years old.”

When I read this response, I was “blown away.”  Growing up in a middle-class white neighborhood in a suburb of NYC, I had never even considered living to see 25 as a goal.  As I continued my career at BCCC, I encountered a variety of perspectives and life experiences, including:

• “All my life I have been negatively stereotyped.  As an example, my teachers in elementary school told me that I wasn’t smart and that I would probably end up in prison.”
• “When I go into stores, I am watched by merchants who assume that I do not have any money and I am looking for something to steal. If I am standing outside in my neighborhood and I have nice clothes on, police harass me because they believe I am a drug dealer.”
• A while ago, one of my students named William, an African-American male in his mid-twenties, came to see me in my office. He wanted to explain why he did not attend our last class.  William proceeded to tell me that he was shot twice two years ago, once in the back and once in the abdomen.  The bullet in his abdomen is still lodged there, because it cannot be removed by his doctor.  The pain from the shooting gets worse during changes in weather.  That particular day, the pain was too much.  William’s three test scores up to that point were 59, 74, and 91.  William’s attendance in class was excellent, even though there are times he gets “down and depressed.”
• Phone message: “Professor Bucher.  This is Tavon.  I wasn’t in class today, because I had a family emergency.  My brother was shot and we stayed in the hospital all last night.  I was calling to see if we are having our exam on Thursday.”
• “Freddie Gray could be my son.”

Other student perspectives:

“I really didn’t think that African-Americans at BCCC were very interested in education.  And what I found out is that they’re single parents, they’re working, and they’re going to school.  And I’m thinking to myself, I have no right to say I’m getting stressed out about school.”

“Going to BCCC is a way for me to experience the things some Blacks go through, because I am White and do not experience the same prejudices.  I would probably ignore such issues if it were not for my sociology class and the speakers who visit BCCC.  It is important for me to listen to such topics in order to not be persuaded by some to have negative attitudes and ideas about people of color.”

These diverse perspectives and experiences counter much of what we see in the media.  What amazes me about my students is their resilience, intelligence, and perseverance.  This is the Baltimore I know and love.

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