“Describe what Baltimore was like when you lived there,” I said to Sera after reading about the protests, riots and Freddie Gray. My only knowledge of Baltimore comes from the terrifying musical “Hairspray,” so I was interested to learn what my wife thought of her time living there. I should disclose my wife called Baltimore home during one of the hardest years of someone’s life: seventh grade. She hated it there.

If you’re a new reader to my column, you might not know my wife grew up in six countries around the world, and she’d happily return to the village life of Papua New Guinea before moving back to Baltimore. Reflecting back on her year in Maryland brought out stories of being bullied, witnessing fights at school, not being “black enough,” and a surprising tale of reporting a gun threat to the principal. Baltimore is the reason my wife is convinced our future children won’t be going to public school.

Of course Baltimore is more than her negative memories. It has a beautiful harbor, is home to The National Aquarium (with more than 16,000 animals), and is the birthplace of Babe Ruth. A city cannot be defined by one person’s experience, just as it can’t be defined by the actions of rioters. There are in fact many good things happening in Baltimore.

Several media outlets briefly turned their attention from the burning cars, looted stores and rioters to show the community coming together to pick itself up. Volunteers took to the streets to clean up a mess they didn’t make. People took up shifts to guard vulnerable businesses. Peaceful protestors demonstrated that there was a cause worthy of the nationwide conversation.

Currently the nationwide conversation seems focused on the treatment of minorities by police officers in their communities. It’s a recurring conversation across the nation, frequently happening when a minority has lost their life due to actions taken by the police. Whether it be the story of Michael Brown or Freddie Gray, people across the country are discussing the role of police officers and what happens if someone abuses their authority. Some view excess police force as isolated issues, perhaps coincidentally involving race. Others see police officers targeting minorities and taking their power too far. These are conversations worth having, but I feel like an important piece is missing.

There needs to be a better outlet for the public to voice their concerns. It may not seem like there is a problem locally, but if leadership isn’t providing opportunities for the public to be heard in a way that isn’t intimidating, it’s hard to gauge the reality of a community. If police are routinely stepping out of line in places like Baltimore, minorities need to have a way of expressing their concern where it will be heard and cause action to be taken before it leads to protests and rioting. I’d like to think most people would reserve setting a car on fire as a last resort for getting people to pay attention to their cause. Unfortunately, it is routinely taking acts of destruction for people to pay attention. Let’s do something about it. I’d love to have a conversation on that.

Local leadership should look at these riots and protests and see these are not isolated incidents. People need a way to voice concerns, and elected officials should make themselves available to hear their messages. Someone isn’t likely to go to the police station if they feel persecuted by the police. Being in communication with the people you represent means when problems arise, change can be made before people feel the need to break a window.

One of the more powerful images I witnessed following the Ferguson grand jury ruling was of a peaceful protest here in southern Minnesota. Amid a crowd of people holding signs saying, “Black Lives Matter” and “Hands Up — Don’t Shoot” was a police chief. He wasn’t there to ensure the crowd didn’t get rowdy, but rather to demonstrate he too wanted a community where the public could trust the police and feel like the justice system was being carried out correctly.

I hope in the coming days we continue to see more communities coming together to have conversations about how to have their citizens’ voices heard. The idea of community-wide discussions goes deeper than the discussion of police force against minority groups. We’ll never find solutions to unheard problems. Speak up when you see an injustice, no matter who it involves.

 

Rochester resident Matt Knutson is the communications and events director for United Way of Olmsted County.