While the nation continues to look toward Baltimore as the police officers charged in Freddie Gray‘s death face trial, a local alternative weekly publication opted to take a deep dive into the segregation—of race, economic resources and state support—that define reality for many of the city’s residents.
Baltimore City Paper‘s newest issue features various city maps and explanatory features, all coded to analyze factors that contribute to segregation patterns.
Check my updated chart on the Two Baltimores: the White L and the Black Butterfly. Created by Baltimore Apartheid. pic.twitter.com/iYSwfD9yDg
— Action.Brotha.Jedi. (@BmoreDoc) May 1, 2016
In "Two Baltimores: The White L vs. the Black Butterfly," contributor Lawrence Brown dissects the structural divisions between the affluent, predominantly White L-shaped neighborhood cluster near downtown and the mainly impoverished, Black butterfly-shaped district map flanking that L. As he demonstrates, the L receives greater corporate and state support, plus a friendlier relationship with the police.
A map of who is in prison and what it costs: https://t.co/WWeKgdZJiT pic.twitter.com/fSVvXr6QUZ
— Baltimore City Paper (@city_paper) June 30, 2016
A map of the number of vacants by land area: https://t.co/KA5aymiB16 pic.twitter.com/vUemnXmoqq
— Baltimore City Paper (@city_paper) June 30, 2016
A map of unemployment in Baltimore: https://t.co/53FqHlw0o7 pic.twitter.com/VPoiynBtVF
— Baltimore City Paper (@city_paper) June 30, 2016
As the color-coded maps and accompanying stories about incarceration, land and building vacancy and unemployment tweeted above demonstrate, that racial division echoes other issues connected to structural racism and city policy. The publication also features stories about mural installation, food deserts and health disparities throughout Baltimore.
Click here to check out the stories and maps.