i guess the question to both of you is if you re going to change these laws in maryland or be an example for the rest of the nation, ou talk about this as something that s logical because it might be overpunished in some places or do you stress the fact this is not just war on drugs but war on black and brown peop people? to ben and then dave. you look at the enforcement patterns. we talk about the violence in our city. i didn t start out planning for this to be a big issue. dave made the argument for about a quarter century. then something funny happened. i asked a retired member of the baltimore police department rkts he just retired to go talk to commanders across the city that he knew. ask them why violence was surging in our city.
traumas. there is this much african-american history in american life, this much free african-american history in american life. and you there s very few periods in american life where you can look at black people and say you ve had a chance to catch up. from slavery, to social and cultural violence, to jim crow, to mass incarceration, war on drugs, which is basically a war on black and brown people. you go down the line to now, and say black people, we just want you to turn on a dime or turn on a decade and pull it together an get over it. cultural memories don t work that. let me bring in naz here. i know because i get a lot of tweets when these town halls, when they air and i read them all. there are a lot of people who
believe me, he goes out of his way to be nice to me. because you re you. [ laughter ] but it is your responsibility as the patient. you cannot separate which i think what you re getting at is kind of personal responsibility from historical traumas, right? there is this much african-american history in american life, this much free african-american history in american life. and you there s very few periods in american life where you can look at black people and say you ve had a chance to catch your breath and catch up. from slavery to systematic widespread social and cultural violence, to jim crowe, to mass incarceration, war on drugs which is basically a war on black and brown people. you just go down the line all the way until you march up now. and you say, black people, we
because you re you. [ laughter ] but it is your responsibility as a patient, you cannot separate, which i think you re getting at is personal responsibility from historical traumas. there is this much african-american history in american life, this much free african-american history in american life. and you there s very few periods in american life where you can look at black people and say you ve had a chance to catch up. from slavery, to social and cultural violence, to jim crow, to mass incarceration, war on drugs, which is basically a war on black and brown people. you go down the line to now, and say black people, we just want you to turn on a dime or turn on a decade and pull it together an