‘A renaissance in Baltimore’
Congressman predicts a ‘new normal’ following Freddie Gray protests
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings, a Democrat who has represented Baltimore since 1996, emerged as a key force for calm during the riots that erupted in his city last month after the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-yearold African American man who had been arrested by police. Cummings lives in West Baltimore near where Gray was apprehended April 12, an area that was also the epicenter of the unrest after his death a week later. In a recent 35-minute interview, Cummings attributed the violence to multiple factors, including historical mistrust of police, lack of economic opportunity, and low educational attainment. Still, Cummings is hopeful for the future of his city. Below is an excerpt, edited for length and clarity. What’s the biggest misconception people have about Baltimore? A lot of people just assume that Baltimore is [the HBO crime drama] “The Wire,” and it’s really not. There are areas in Baltimore that certainly reflect “The Wire.” As a matter of fact, the area at West North Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue — which is near where I live and was the source of so much chaos during the week or so — is in the area where “The Wire” was filmed. So when people think of Baltimore, they don’t think of all the wonderful things we have going for us, like Johns Hopkins University, the No. 1 hospital in the world; a wonderful zoo; great attractions; the Inner Harbor; and a lot of very nice neighborhoods; and people who are very friendly. Like any city there are going to be problems. But at the same time, there’s a lot that makes a city a great city, and I do still believe that Baltimore’s a great city. Is Baltimore back to normal? I don’t think it’s necessarily back to normal. History will determine whether it will ever be the same. In a way I hope it is never the same. I hope that we’ve reached a new normal. I hope that new normal is one where we take a mirror and put it up to ourselves and find a way to make sure that all of our children are properly educated. I hope it’s a new normal where people don’t fear the police, but establish a type of trust with police — and by the way the police work to establish a trust with the community — so that there is a cooperative relationship, and people view police truly as those who are to protect and serve and not people who they fear. And I think that you are going to see a renaissance in Baltimore. I see it coming already. I cannot begin to tell you the number of philanthropic organizations and the private corporations that have come forward, the universities, and all kinds of institutions saying, “We want to help.” So we’ve got to now take this moment, created in large part by the death of Freddie Gray, and turn it into a movement. You had particular credibility in Baltimore on the night when they tried to impose the first curfew and you were on the streets with the bullhorn. Can you explain why you were able to bridge the sides between the police and the community? First of all, I live in the community. And they know that if you watch me carefully or listen to me, you heard some things come from my mouth that you don’t usually hear a lot. And one of the things was … “I love you.” They know I care about them. And they also know I respect them. A lot of times I think you get respect if you give respect. So often, a lot of people in our community, the community that I live in, don’t feel respected by the police. How concerned are you that businesses will be reluctant to invest in the communities that were most affected by the unrest but are also most in need? Certainly that concerns me. When the CVS drugstore was burned down, one of the first things I did was get on the phone with the top national people at CVS, Rite Aid and some other stores and basically begged them not to leave us. And the reason why I begged them not to leave us is because I know the jobs associated with those institutions, those drugstores. For example, that the one right there at West North Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue, that’s one where a lot of senior citizens get their medicine. Forty people — from the community mainly — work there. And CVS has agreed to come back. I really think that if Baltimore handles this right — and I do believe that they will — I think that businesses will be glad they came to Baltimore because they will know that we went through some things, we addressed our Police Department, through this and issues that it may have.... They will know that all of us are laser-focused on reforms, everything from recreation centers to looking at our school systems to providing training for young people who may want to go into various types of jobs and may not have the reading level or math level that they desire — just dealing with the whole systemic issues in our city. The future’s very bright for Baltimore. I’m going back tonight because I’m going to be meeting with some gang members and talking to them about what they want to see in our city and the types of reforms they want to see. Do you have an ongoing relationship with gang members? Are the gangs that are normally rivals coming together or are you meeting separately? They are coming together because they realize it makes no sense for them to be fighting each other. They need to be working together to build up Baltimore and make it a better city, and I’m very glad to see that. Do you think that gangs have previously been a positive force for the community? I don’t think so. I mean, I’ve seen some of the negative things that have happened.... I can’t tell you that I have that opinion that they have been a positive force in the past. But it sounds like you believe that there is a possibility that they can be a positive force. I know for a fact that they can be. When it came to getting people off of that corner at night, the people that helped me the most were gang members.