"We don't have thugs in Baltimore," Rawlings-Blake said. "Sometimes my own little anger translator gets the best of me..."
Her original use of the term "thugs" came on Monday night as she talked about the people engaging in violence amid protests over the death of Freddie Gray, a black man who died after suffering injuries while in police custody:
So are there thugs or not?What we see tonight that is going on in our city is very disturbing. It is very clear there is a difference between what we saw over the past week with the peaceful protests, those who wish to seek justice, those who wish to be heard...and -- the thugs, who only want to incite violence and destroy our city.
I'm a life-long resident of Baltimore and too many people have spent generations building up this city for it to be destroyed by thugs...
To dismiss these uprisings as mere thuggery and criminality is to delegitimize and pathologize black rage.
The term, often used to describe African American men in a negative way, has often been bandied about by conservative pundits and media outlets. And, as Salon pointed out, is part of a larger lexicon employed by right-wing politicians as a coded way to appeal to white voters.
However, Rawlings-Blake isn't alone in her use of the term to describe the violent undercurrents that have accompanied the Baltimore protests.
On Tuesday, President Obama used the term when he blamed "criminals and thugs" for tearing up Baltimore -- a fact that conservative media outlets took great pleasure in emphasizing. Obama's comments, made during a press conference, denounced the violence and lauded the peaceful demonstrators and city organizers with good intentions.
"My understanding is you've got some of the same organizers now going back into these communities to try to clean up in the aftermath of a handful of protestors -- a handful of criminals and thugs who tore up the place."
I haven't checked today whether Mayor Rawlings-Blake is saying there are, or are not, "thugs" in Baltimore. On the other hand, it's not yet noon.
UPDATE: Here is a thug protester taking time off from his productive job in order to safeguard the Constitution.
Rioting erupted after the funeral of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, Maryland April 27, 2015. Shannon
Leave a comment