I Stand With Baltimore!

July 28, 2019

8:26 AM

I had not heard nor read of Pres. Trump’s horrible comments until this morning. I had not heard his disparagement of one of the cities in our beloved BALTIMORE-Washington Conference.

I concur with those who wonder why the President reserves terms like “infested” for references to Black and Brown people and the places they live.

Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling

Baltimore is the most diverse city in the great state of Maryland and home to some of the hardest working and most creative minds in the region. She is an urban city with urban challenges, and yet she rises!

We have amazing clergy and laity who lead in Baltimore through love, compassion, dedication, creativity and a commitment to serve all of her citizens, including and especially the most vulnerable. Name calling and racist rhetoric does not feed, clothe, heal, strengthen or empower a city. It does not unite; rather it divides and leads to the kind of othering that lies at the root of Baltimore’s deepest challenges.

It is unacceptable for the President, who is the leader of THIS U.S. city as well, to berate and disparage her and one of her representatives. Rep. Elijah Cummings is a National treasure and one of the hardest working and most productive public servants in Washington. Perhaps instead of bashing him through racialized comments, Pres. Trump should stand with him to invest in this economic hub.

Our quadrennial theme is, We Are One, and right now we are all Baltimoreans. We stand with this historic city. We stand against her disparagement. We stand with those who live and work to bring her best forward every day. We. Are. Baltimore!

#IstandwithBaltimore #BMorestrong

Bishop LaTrelle Miller Easterling serves as the resident episcopal leader of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. This post is republished from her Facebook page.

Comments (2)

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Baltimore

Last year PBS aired a program about the rodent problem in Baltimore. The murder rate is out of control. The previous mayor resigned over a corrution scandal. Except for the inner harbor area this city is the very definition of a dysfunctional city. It is led by inept and corrupt leaders. The police have been demoralized and hamstrung. President Trump was absolutely correct in his remarks.

Kevin more than 5 years ago

Ignoring Obvious Facts To Play The Race Card

Oh the righteous indignation of the Bishop-of-Baltimore as she condemned President Trump’s critique of Baltimore
"But anyone who took the walk that we took around this neighborhood would not think you were in a wealthy nation, you would think that you were in a Third World country,” in the clip from the press conference.
He continued, "But today what we're talking about is a community in which half of the people don't have jobs. We're talking about a community in which there are hundreds of buildings that are uninhabitable. We're talking about a community where kids are unable to go to schools that are decent."
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Ooops! Sorry. My mistake. Those were Bernie Sanders words in 2015 about Baltimore. But, I challenge her to publish her righteous indignation response to Bernie Sanders’ critique.
Of course, she had none. Sanders is a liberal socialist who is exempt from liberal criticism!
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Trump countered the always extremely critical Cummins by pointing out the fruits of his vineyard: the high crime rate, high murder rate, decimated buildings and demoralized police force of Baltimore. Bishop can throw all the churchie clichés and charges of racism she can muster at Trump, but she cannot cover the realities of failed liberal leadership.
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Trump mentioned NO color or ethnicity, he wrote of the facts only. As always, the liberals play the race card; its all about racism. No, it is not. By any measure, more of the dead in Baltimore and Chicago are people of color, killed by people of color. Deal with it - obviously, Cummins has not!

Reese Turner more than 5 years ago