Tell us how you really feel about journalism David Simon…

Reading the news is an act of faith. There is an implicit understanding that the words contained in the pages, whether physical or digital, are truthful.  Many readers do not even question the reality of the words that they read, trusting the name on the masthead as an assurance. In actuality, journalism is fraught with ethical dilemmas and not all journalists are honest. Additionally, the collapse of print journalism in its traditional forms is causing the weakening of reporting across the county.  This conflicted and flawed version of the newsroom, filtered through the biases of David Simon is one of the central plotlines of The Wire’s fifth season. This scene, where they discuss the budget cuts, illustrates some of these issues.

Even though it is not a major factor until the fifth season, journalism and The Baltimore Sun are embedded in the fabric of The Wire. David Simon’s gateway to the streets of Baltimore was his time as a reporter for The Sun.  The corruption found in the fifth season is part of what drove Simon away from reporting, and on his path to the creation of The Wire.  Nowhere is this influence more visible then the fifth season. Some (like here and here) critique the fifth season as a thinly veiled letter from Simon to The Sun. It is a slice of the structure of a newspaper that journalist (and communication students) are the only one that at privy too. (Authors note: I am a communications major I have not had a single communications class that the phrase “If it bleeds, it leads,” which Gus says in one episode, has NOT been mentioned.)  The ethical issues of journalism and the struggle to shine to earn a place in a dying discipline are embodied in reporter Scott Templeton.

Scott Templeton. Image Courtesy HBO's The Wire

Templeton makes a habit of falsifying quotes, rivaling the over the edge McNulty in weaving webs of falsities. This goes against the basic ethical code of journalist.  Unlike lawyers and doctors, there is no official set of standards that journalist must swear to uphold.  This creates a gray area with journalist. However, one code that is seen, as a baseline in addition to individual paper codes is the Ethic Code of the Society for Professional Journalist (SPJ) This code breaks the proper behavior for journalist into four broader areas and further explicates those obligations.  Scott Templeton manages to break all of these, and ends up being praised for it.  The first of these obligations is to “Seek the Truth and Report it,” which seems on the surface to be the basic function of a journalist. This is the most detailed of the four SPJ principles, and involves the obvious ideas of determining the accuracy of information and spelling, but goes deeper to include ideas of journalist working to include the full range of diversity in their paper.  It also breaches the issue of anonymous sources, which is touched upon in The Wire. The use of anonymous or “background” sources is a practice becoming increasingly more common in journalism. However, this over reliance on anonymous sources can become an issue. In The Wire it allows McNulty to perpetuate his lies to his benefit, without having to take the risk of associating his name with the investigation at first.

The second SPJ principle is to “minimize harm”, or try and reduce the negative impact of a story.  For journalist, this means to show respect for both sources and subjects in their reporting, and too report on controversial or potentially damning matters in the most sensitive way possible.  SPJ also requires journalists to “act independently,” avoiding conflicts of interest or the potential monetary and personal benefits of a story.  The last, area of ethical behavior is the obligation to “be accountable,” which includes acknowledging mistakes and being transparent about the newsgathering process.

Scott Templeton blatantly does not behave in an ethical way. From the first episode it is obvious that he is fabricating sources and quotes.  It has been speculated that the character is based on real life Sun reporter and colleague of David Simon Jim Haner, who Simon accused of lying in his reporting.  Haner, an outsider to the Baltimore area brought in as new talent after downsizing was also awarded for reporting done on Baltimore’s poor.   He controversially described one neighborhood as being nicknamed “Zombieland,” claiming it was used when in fact it does not appear anywhere else.

One of the most famous cases of newsroom fallacy comes from another Marylander, a reporter at Templeton’s dream employer, the New York Times. In 2003, Jayson Blair was forced to resign from the New York Times after it was discovered he had lied in many of his stories, changing bylines, making up quotes and interview and more.  Blair was a young favorite of the editor, who had promoted him in spite of warnings from his supervisor.  Ultimately, Blair was caught. Today, he ironically works as a life coach in the DC-Baltimore metropolitan area. In this speech at William and Lee’s journalism summit, Blair recounts his mistakes and describes how they fit into the general context of modern journalism.

In the end, Templeton does not have a spectacular downfall like Blair. However, there serve as fictional and real life examples of the failing of journalism and the difficulties with adhering the ethical standards of journalism.

The N-word and the Media: Drawing a Shaky Line

One of the most controversial words in the English language and one of the most common words in The Wire are one in the same. This word has the power to unite and anger, to shame and alienate, all depending on the context that it is used in. This word has such a social stigma that it cannot even be spelled out, but is abbreviated to its first letter to reduce its powers.  Of course, this refers to the n-word.

In The Wire, scarcely a scene goes by without the word. This is especially true of the scenes on the corner. In this context, the word is often used simply as a noun. A person is “those East Side Niggas” or “my nigga.” In Season 4, during Mr. Prez’s math class, the children use it as a unit of measure, doing a measure of diving apples by saying “You’ve got seven apples, 12 niggas…” It is clear that the word has become less of a powerful insult, and more of a self-descriptor when used from within the African American community.  Some argue that this approach in media and other type of productions is a way to handle the word’s power. Comedian Lenny Bruce had a routine where he repeated the word, urging that the more times it was said, the less bitter the sting would be.  Organizations like the National Coalition Against Censorship argue against laws and book curriculum removals that would block the use of the word.

However, this comfort with the frequency of the word, or the idea that it has been taken over by African Americans to emerge a new word is contested. New York Times write Toure explained the opposite in a column in 2011, stating,

“The idea that this generation of kids has recontextualized or defanged nigga is silly. Nigga is a Siamese twin of nigger. The two words are interdependent. Nigga would have none of its edginess or power or cultural sexiness without its close relationship with the Darth Vader of American English. Nigga is nigger with an ironic twist, but the venom is still in its fangs.”

While research on the Internet did not reveal the use in The Wire as contested, the use of the n-word in media has been a historical battle. One of the most famous battles about this is the use of the n-word in Huckleberry Finn.  The book has been removed from school curriculums and libraries due to the use of the offending word.  Last year, a new version of the book was released with the word “nigger” replaced with the word “slave,” which spark outcry of “whitewashing” the book.  Marc Twain scholar Alan Gribben, who orchestrated the release of the new book, argues that its removal is actually a method to allow more dialogue about the issues discussed in the novel. Gribben believes that “for a single word to form a barrier, it seems such an unnecessary state of affair.”

Cover for Randal Kennedy's Book

In the book Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word, Harvard Law professor Randall Kennedy discusses some of the history of the n-word, but also writes as a caution against scrubbing the media clean of the word.   Somewhere between over saturation and removal lies the difficult medium, according to Kennedy.   However, this still leaves the use of the word in the HBO series in unclear ground. It raised questions about the use by white producer David Simon. While working on the Corner, his first venture for HBO, Simon clashed with African American director Charles Dutton, who was uncomfortable with the ability of a Caucasian man to tell African American stories. (More about their interesting dynamic in this article)  Potentially, people are more comfortable with the language because of the reality of the series, and how it feels less as though The Wire is less putting words in mouths and more capturing the street. However, the actors on The Wire are not afforded this allowance outside of the confines of the show. An interview ith Idris Elba, the actor who played Stringer Bell, a character not shy to the n-word, drew complaints for the use of the n-word in clips from The Wire, critiquing Elba even though he explained he did not like the word himself. What is left is an inconclusive picture of a word that as Kennedy puts it, is troublesome, and certainly strange.

Savage Inequalities: AP Tests in PG County

DuVal High School and Eleanor Roosevelt High School are three miles apart physically, but the distance that separates the lives of their students is vast.   Eleanor Roosevelt is home to one of three partial site magnet programs in Prince George’s County, MD. DuVal shows test scores and resources that are vastly lower the Roosevelt, most of the best resources going down the road to Roosevelt.  Just up 4-95 is Baltimore, the location of The Wire, which depicts the issues of education inequality, especially in its Forth Season.

A great deal of the Forth season takes place in Edward Tilghman Middle School, where a lack of resources and pressures to stick to testing has lead to a failing institution. Children are pushed through grades in a process of social promotion, and there are books that are falling apart.  Children are taught to the MSA, a result of the No Child Left Behind. This can be compared to the opulence of the private school that white detective McNulty considers sending his children to. He attends an open house. There are refreshments, and clearly a great deal of wealth. Instead of a test-based curriculum, the teachers are talking about their specialized math curriculum.

The difference is even more disturbing when two public institutions are involved, like in DuVal and Roosevelt.   The website MDSchoolReportCardpublishes demographics and highlights their vast differences.  One of the areas of difference is advanced placement testing. At DuVal, 10.2% of students took AP tests in 2011, and only 11.8% of tests were between 3-5, the passing rate. At Eleanor Roosevelt 63.3% of exams where above a 3, and 27% of  students are enrolled in tests.

The book Savage Inequalities  also discusses the problems with  the different education people are receiving.  In order to encourage students to take higher level courses, Prince George’s county has subsidized the cost of Advanced Placement Tests for all students. The argument is that the cost of tests has barred students from taking the courses. In fact, the amount of AP tests taken in PG county has risen from 2,252 in 2006-2007 to 4,037 in 2010-2011. (Toth)  Additionally, 26% of students passed with a 3 or higher, which is lower then 40% in the more affluent Howard county next door. (Toth) In an nominal effort to make sure the waiving of fees is matched with the avialabilty of classes, the school system has also created a minimum of AP courses offered at each school, between 8 and 18. (Toth)  The county is also working with the College Board, adminstrator of the Advanced Placement test to complete a full study of AP testing in the county.  (Terhune)  The county hopes to reach a goal of 75% of students taking AP tests by 2017, but so far only 43% of students are taking the test, even with the pushed emphasis. (Terhune) The money for this is being funded with $250,000 from its Maryland “Race to the Top Grant.” (Terhune) This “Race to the Top” grant is a part fo No Child Left Behind. Only time will tell how successful these measures are. However, based on previous patterns, pouring money into more forms of testing, or forcing students to take honors classes will not increase school performance. Schools like Roosevlet, who have more children interested in taking AP classes will still have more funding. After all, though the system said it is increasing testing,  it is still based on “interest” and “enrollment.” And so, the cycle will likely continue.

Terhune, Virginia. “College Board Takes In-depth Look at Prince George’s AP Classes.”Gazette.net. Gazette, 17 Mar. 2011. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. <http://ww2.gazette.net/stories/03172011/prinsch140920_32534.php&gt;.

Toth, Sara. “More Prince George’s Students Taking AP Tests, According to College Board.” Explore Howard.com. Baltimore Sun, 15 Feb. 2012. Web. 30 Mar. 2012. <http://www.baltimoresun.com/explore/howard/news/ph-ll-edbriefs-ap-0216-20120215,0,4149345.story&gt;.

Stop Snitchin’

Throughout The Wire, nothing has been a faster path to harm for a character then the perception that they were helping the police, known as  being a snitch. In the Fourth season, just seeing Bodie with McNulty was enough for his death, and Randy is mercilessly teased at school and his group home for being a “snitch.” The idea of not being a snitch is embedded in the culture of the streets.  The violence seen in The Wire for citizens who snitched, like Gant are not unprecedented, and mirror the real life story of men like John Dowdery Jr., an East Baltimore resident who cut a deal with police to be a witness in a murder charge and was shot six times.  According to the article in The Atlantic where Dowdery’s story was told, a great deal of this stems from a growing distrust of the police. This distrust can be seen by the interactions of the people of Baltimore with the police force in The Wire.  Highly publicized murders of witness murders, like the alleged one used by Carcetti as an election platform further the common idea that the police will not protect people.

Image Courtesy HBO's The Wire. Randy in his group home, about to get beaten up for "snitchin'"

Part of the issue is that the idea of not snitching has become commercialized, according to Geoffrey Canada, a youth advocate who grew up on the streets of Brooklyn.  Lyrics about snitching are embedded in several rap songs.  In an interview with Anderson Cooper, rapper Cam’ron said that he would not inform the police of criminal activity. In response to criticism after the interview aired, Cam’ron defended himself, saying

Cam’ron on Snitchin

“Where I come from, once word gets out that you’ve cooperated with the police that only makes you a bigger target of criminal violence. That is a dark reality in so many neighborhoods like mine across America. I’m not saying its right, but its reality. And it’s not unfounded. Here’s a harsh reality around violence and criminal justice in our inner cities.”

Click here for more of Coopers report

 

In Baltimore, the culture of “not snitching’” was crystallized in an underground 2004 DVD called Stop Fucking Snitching. The DVD, contained clips of drug dealers threatening snitches, and a local rap personality saying To all you snitches and rats … I hope you catch AIDS in your mouth, and your lips the first thing to die, yo bitch” (Atlantic Article)  The video which resulted in T-shirts, The articles of clothing with the Stop Snitching emblem infiltrated court rooms, appearing on the families of defendants. It also appeared in several rap songs, and popularized the cultural norm. In reaction to this DVD, the BPD released a counter campaign called Keep Talkin’ where they aim to tell the people from the stop snitching video that their intentions have failed, as the video itself has served to inform police about the identity of key players in the drug game. The BPD video discusses how they arrested several people in the video.  (Baltimore Sun)

This culture against snitching makes it difficult for police, as seen in The Wire, where an emphasis is put on trying to “flip” witnesses.  In order to counter this, the Metro Crime Stopper Movement was developed in the 1970’s by a police officer frustrated with the difficulty of convincing witnesses to share their stories and has expanded across the country.  Metro Crime Stoppers allows many ways for people to offer anonymous tips, even receiving rewards without ever sharing their names.  Recently, they have enabled the use of text message tips.  However, this is not enough to keep those who help police from living in fear, and the extensive list of “snitches” that have been murdered or harmed shows this is not unfounded.

Hamsterdam and the free market

The constant refrain for the downtrodden is that they need to work and enter in the system of capitalism.  However, drug dealing is not only capitalism but the free market in its purest form. In Season Three of The Wire, Bunny Colvin concentrates the drug dealers into confined places, where they can sell drugs without constraint and create a microcosm of the free market in its purest form.  It is an experiment in modernity. This video gives a good overview of the Hamsterdam plot line.

The structure of capitalism is based on a classed society, with those achieving high and those struggling to get by.  In Hamsterdam, there are the middle level dealers, who form the Hamsterdam bourgeoisie, and the hoppers/lookouts who are the proletariat.  Capitalism is based on the highest amount of efficiency, and the way to make the most amount of surplus value. This is why the hoppers are let go when they are no longer valuable. Capitalism is constantly finding new ways to improve, and reduce the positions of those involved. In some forms of capitalism, this is the mechanization and the use of machinery to replace human skills. (This can be seen with Frank Sobatka’s disgust with the mechanized dock in Season Two)

Capitalism is also based on systems of competition. In Hamsterdam, the different drug dealers are brought together, shouting over each other to be heard in the market. The whole operation is meant to deliver the drugs in the easiest and most efficient way possible, and to have people remain loyal to their organization. The whole Hamstedam ordeal is said to make money for the drug dealers at incredible return rates. Hamsterdam is isolated, but full of competition. This is nothing but pure capitalism, with no extenuating factors.  The creation of the drug industry leads to other forms of capitalistic ventures, such as Bubbles and his shirt cart, and other people peddling items in the streets. However, Hamsterdam shows the dark side of free capitalism, as Bubbles is accousted at night and Johnny becomes absorbed in the world of Hamsterdam.

In an interview, David Simon explained that he “[believes} in capitalism as the only viable motivating force to create wealth. But I believe that there have to be certain social frameworks that allow for a distribution of a share of that wealth throughout the classes.”  This is reflected in his treatment of Hamsterdam in The Wire, which can be seen as a praise of the benefits of capitalism, and how if it is not monitored it can propagate negative items, such as making it easier for addicts to obtain drugs.  However, Hamsterdam had to die because Simone believes “raw, unencumbered capitalism, absent any social framework, absent any sense of community, without regard to the weakest and most vulnerable classes in society – it’s a recipe for needless pain, needless human waste, needless tragedy, and ultimately a coarsening of our society.”   This conflicting view is embedded in The Wire.

The show itself can also be seen as an example of this. According to this article, in order to be the most efficient and offer the best product, company HBO creates its own original shows in edition to having deals with popular movie studios.  It was created as a product of capitalism, to fill a space in the market by pioneering cable television.  However, HBO does contrast some aspects of capitalism, as it gives products more of a chance to mature before canceling products that are immediately successful. Overall, it has allowed HBO to be successful, perhaps indicating a positive example of the moderated version of capitalism Simon talks about: an emphasis on quality and not just delivering instant profits. However, as a piece of media, The Wire is ultimately a product to be marketed. Although it was more critically acclaimed then popular with audiences, it has continued to gain revenue, through the sales of DVDs.  The Wire as a product has been sold in the market, through licensing deals, and trickling down to independent sellers. Ironically, one of these sellers offers as T-Shirt that says Hamsterdam, using capitalism to sell capitalism.

Image courtesy Spreadshirt.com

Violence on Television

A women in a pink and white jacket rides up on the back of a motorcycle to a group of men standing on a Baltimore street corner and before anyone watching can comprehend, she opens fire. The whole incident occurs in a matter of seconds.   Violence is a hallmark of The Wire, from the flashing blue and red lights of a murder scene that served as the  opening sequence of the entire series. The Wire depicts people who have been stangled, throats slit and beat up to the point of emergency room visits.  All of that is in addition to frequent portrayals of gun violence. The Wire ’s position as a cable show gives it more freedom to show the amount of violence that often pushes the line between realistic and gratuitous.   Without the constraint of advertisers placed on basic networks, cable networks such as HBO have a reputation for edgier content.

The presence of violence in the media is a trend that concerns many and has been blamed as a catalyst for real life crimes.  The infographic bellow explains some conflicting data about the increase in the depiction of crime in television and rates of real life crime.  While these numbers demonstrate an undeniable increase and prevalence of violence on television, the impact of this trend is debated.

Image courtesy yourlocalsecurity.com

Image courtesy yourlocalsecurity.com

One worry is that when viewers are  exposed to more violence on television, they become more fearful of the world around them. This is known as the “Mean World Syndrome,” a part of  “Cultivation Theory” proposed by George Gerbner. (For more on Cultivation Theory and Mean World Syndrome check out the video The Mean World Syndrome:
Media Violence & the Cultivation of Fear) The idea of  the “Mean World Syndrome” is that seeing a world on TV filled with shootings and crime will make people distrustful of their own environment. In actuality, as the inforgraphic points out, people are 200,000 times more likely to be murdered on television then in real life. The violence on The Wire can cause the belief that on every corner in the streets of Baltimore there are shootings and drug dealers and breed a fear of the whole city.

Another worry about exposure to violence on television is that it may desensitize people to violence. [1]After watching two and a half seasons of killings, the gun violence on The Wire may seem less shocking. Further, this level of violence may become normalized and seem to be an inevitable fact of life.[2]  In The Wire , the violence in the show is a steady theme, and the viewer needs to be able to digest killings quickly to keep up with the pace of the show.  The question lies in whether this extends to viewers feelings about violence occurring in the real world.  Violent games and television shows have also been proven to result in higher aggression in children and teens, but those study results are debated. [3] This clip from the Mean World documentary discusses phenomena of desentization to violence.

In truth, a viewers reaction may include some combination of the two ideas. Its difficult to watch The Wire and not think about the danger and crime in Baltimore, but that is clearly part of the series intent.  However, a viewer cannot be upset about every violent act in The Wire , or it would make the show impossible to watch. The emotional relationship developed with characters like D’Angelo, Wallace and Frank Sabotka prevents the viewer from becoming completely detached to the violence either.

 

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[1] 2 3 Brad J. Bushman and L. Rowell Huesman “Effects of Violent Media on Aggression,” in Handbook of Children and the Media, eds. Dorothy G. Singer and Jerome L. Singer (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication, 2012), 231-248.

 

 

Jobs for Ex-Offenders: Staying out of The Game

In Season Two viewers of The Wire are introduced to Cutty, a Barksdale solider who has recently been paroled after 14 years in jail. Avon gives him contact information to slip back into his life on the corner.   However, time in jail and getting cheated out of the money on his first package cause Cutty to try and make it straight working as a manual laborer.  He discusses his situation indirectly with his supervisor, who is the only other person in the landscaping crew who is not Hispanic. Discussing how the labor is a good deal of work with a limited pay off juxtaposed with seeing the comfortable, nice car of drug dealers is too much for him.  Cutty quickly falls back into the game and the 4^th episode closes with him disappearing into a party, absorbed by the strobe lights and the temptations of drug dealing.  In a scene right before his release, Cutty is initially hesitant to take information for a job from Avon. This shows the internal struggle between keeping straight and falling into old patterns, which began for Cutty while he was still in jail.

This is a common struggle for ex-convicts. Numbers for recidivism are high, especially for African American Males. For African America males, 74% are arrested for another crime within 3 years of being released, a quarter within six months.Within three years, about a third are back in prisons.  (Bureau of Justice Statistics)  These numbers indicate that many of those who leave the prison system are unable to break the cycle of illegal behavior, likely out of necessity.

This necessity rises from the uphill battle that is obtaining a job with a criminal record.  A study of prisoners  by the Urban Institute indicated that eight months after imprisonment, only 65% of those released had found employment at any point, and only 45% were currently employed at the time of the study.  The study indicates the difficulty of revealing a criminal past to an employer. The study also indicated “the most successful strategy for long-term employment was returning to a previous employer.” (Urban Institute) When the previous employer is in an illegal industry, such as Cutty, this can provide another barrier to living a clean life.  Cutty, and those in similar situations do not have that resource to fall back on. In the study, the income source of 35% of those released was illegal activity, and the number was greater eight months out of prison then after two. This shows the commonality of the weakening of resolve seen in a less gradual time frame for Cutty.

There are  a limited number of  low-skill positions in the work force to begin with. (see previous post) However, those with criminal records face even more of a difficulty finding employment. Part of the issue lies with the unwillingness of employers to hire ex-offenders and the lack of job seeking skills.  Different governmental organizations, including the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the National Institute of Corrections (NIC), and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Correctional Education (OCE) have worked together to create work-training programs to better offer ex-offenders the skills for the workforce.  (Dept Justice)  Different programs, like the CEO (Center for Employment Opportunity) program in New York, outlined in a program spotlight here, provide temporary work placement and interview and job skill training.

Another way to try to aid the work placement issues for those who have served time is the Work Opportunity Tax Credit Program (WOTC) program.  This program incentivizes the hiring of different types of socially disadvantaged people, including those receiving certain types of public benefit and ex-felons.  Employers who hire qualifying workers receive a credit of “25% of qualified first-year wages for those employed at least 120 hours but fewer than 400 hours and 40% for those employed 400 hours or more.” Programs like this and CEO can be the support that people like Cutty need to stay out of the game. In spite of this, the recidivism numbers show that often, the temptation and necessity is too great. Additionally, it may be difficult to find information about the programs that are available.

 

Cutty disappears back into the world of drugs. Image Courtesy HBO's The Wire

 

The Struggle for Employment

Image Courtesy BLS

The second season of The Wire focuses on the loss of industrial and blue-collar jobs in the inner city,  using the plight of the stevedore to exemplify this phenomena. This processes is especially hard on cities based on manufacturing and industry, like Detroit and Baltimore. (For more on Detroit’s deindustrialization, check out Thomas Segrue’s book The Origins of Urban Crisis) However, The Wire takes place at the turn of the century, and after the recent recession, rates of unemployment are even higher. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the 2011 unemployment rate was 8.9%.  The unemployment rate in Baltimore City itself is 9.1 as of December 2011, up from 7.1 in 2003, when season 2 takes place.   This is the end result of the long process of deindustrialization, where manufacturing jobs moved out of the cities and out of the country. Cuts to manual labor positions have left an underclass of poor workers, with limited or no skills.  The question left unanswered by The Wire is how these workers go about trying to find new employment beyond the streets. The figures that seek legitimate lower income employment outside the drug trade are periphery in The Wire, like Gant, the handyman murdered for speaking the truth about D’Angelo in season one.  In the end, as the high unemployment and The Wire show, these opportunities are few and offer little safety from the dangers of the city,

Here is an important scene in The Wire,  where union leader Frank Sobotka hits on many of the issues with deindustrialization and the lack of skills that make is hard for workers to find stable employment:

For the last year I have volunteered at LIFT-DC, a local social service organization (there are several around the country)  where college students work with low income, mainly un/underemployed DC residents.    A lot of what volunteers do with clients is helping create resumes and cover letters, and search and apply for jobs.  Many of those who come into LIFT have extensive work histories in industries like construction and maintenance, and have held semi-steady employment until economic changes left them without a job.  For many, they have spent their whole lives in one industry.  Many clients, especially younger ones, have moved around brief positions in several service industries. This reflects the growth of the service industry, another symptom of deindustrialization. At LIFT, many of the jobs applied for are at grocery stores or hotel chains.

With such a large pool applying for a decreasing labor market, employers have responded by adding confusing personality and memory tests for applications and making applications online. For workers raised in low income families and applying as middle-aged men these applications that are often very difficult to complete. What is left is a bleak picture. There are little to no jobs and it is difficult to obtain employment no matter how many applications a worker will send in.  At LIFT, we are trained to tell clients frustrated with the length of the job search that  “the job search is a job itself,” requiring time and diligence, Additionally,  changes in technology leave these workers further behind.  It is a job market that only leaves room for Bruce’s son, raised with the lucky combination of education and the circumstances of his parents. For the lower income children of blue-collar workers and any who worked for jobs that no longer exists the odds are difficult.  This difficulty crosses racial lines and neighborhood lines, from the docks of Locus Point to the high rises of East Baltimore, where people have been shunned by a system that does not give them the tools to achieve.

“I ain’t….some fuckin’ project n✷✷✷✷”

Image Courtesy HBO's "The Wire"

Early in Season 2, Nick Sobotka tells his cousin that he doesn’t want to sell drugs because  he ” ain’t standing out on no corner like some fuckin’ project nigger so’s I get popped for pocket change.”   Not too much further into the season, Nick is heavily involved in drugs. That statement is crucial to understanding Nick’s character and the racism of many in comparable situations to him.

The de-industrialization of urban centers left many impoverished, taking away employment and industry, affecting all sects of city-dwellers. People from blue-collar backgrounds had the rug swept from under their feet, and are trying to make money in an increasingly automated world where hours are disappearing. This city structure disadvantages low-income people of all races. Season Two of The Wire shows the interplay between the impoverished African American towers, where the only way to make money seems to be drugs, and the docks of the stevedores, who eventually reach the same conclusions. Nicky Sobotka, a longshoreman caught in a generation where jobs are few, is ultimately drawn into the drug trade.   Multiple times, Nicky touts the fact that he is white, implying that this differentiates him or even makes him better.

While many think about the racism of Jim Crow laws and privileged slave owners, there is a strong history of animosity and racism between Caucasians and African Americans in close economic situations.  Historically, lower class Caucasians formed the backbone of organizations like the Neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan and were the driving force behind laws that oppressed African-Americans.   In unstable or bad economies, like those that have befallen the dock workers, this phenomenon grows worse according the Southern Poverty Law Center. In fact, over the last decade, part of the era depicted in The Wire, hate group membership has gone up by 54%. The Southern Poverty Law center was founded by Morris Dees and Joe Levin, the two Alabama lawyers who took cases together in the Civil Rights era, officially becoming chartered under the name in 1971.  More on their history can be found here. Still focusing on taking civil rights related cases,  its has expanded further to  be an organization which fights and monitors hate crimes, and publishes a Hate Map that displays the location and nature of organizations throughout the United States. Here is a picture of the Hate Map for Maryland. The fist symbol and purple start represents Black Separatist groups. The other groups are neo-Nazi, KKK, and skinhead organizations.

Courtesy SPLC

Part of this white working-class racism likely has to do with the threat of encroachment.  While it may adopt elements of inherent genetic spirit, it may stem from a place of worry, that an “other” is seen as taking away economic opportunity from “us .”  These ideas are further explored in Edward Said’s book “ Orientalism,” which focuses on this process of creating a divide between the Western “us” and the Eastern “other,”  A scene in Season 2 Episode 7, illustrates the privilege Nick assumes from his whiteness:

“Hey, Frog. Come here. No, seriously. Come here. First of all, and I don’t know how to tell you this without hurting you deeply, first of all, you happen to be white…Second, I’m also white. Not “hang-on-the-corner, don’t-give-a-fuck white,” but “Locust Point I.B.S. Local 47 white.” I don’t work without no fuckin’ contract.” (Here is it on YouTube)

For Nick, Frog’s “street” behavior is not typified as white.  He is breaking social norms and being disgraceful to whites by “acting black.”  Nick further differentiates himself, by using his status as a union member to further distance himself from the African American street dealers. He is not just a low street level white like Frog, but also one with moral standards—a union man. Even though he is as much in the game as Frog or Bodie, Nick feels as though he is a higher caliber person because he is white.  This is the same attitude found in the hate groups monitored by the Southern Poverty Law Center.  While, in no way are all blue collar workers or even Nicky are dangerous racists, many may just be one more pink slip or negative encounter away from the edge of hate.