TGR: WJZ TV 13’s Mary Bubala Puts Racism, Baltimore’s 800 lb. Gorilla, on the Table

Photo: Facebook

By Doni Glover, Publisher

www.bmorenews.com

www.facebook.com/doni.glover

www.twitter.com/donibmorenews1

www.instagram.com/bmorenews

www.youtube.com/donimortonglover

“When they show you who they are, believe them.” – Maya Angelou

(BALTIMORE – May 6, 2019) – So, it’s official. Some white people in Baltimore want a white mayor. In my opinion, though, the only real black mayor since Kurt Schmoke was Sheila Dixon. Although not white on the outside, their actions did not serve the black community in Baltimore one iota.

At the end of the day, WJZ TV 13’s Mary “Had a little gaffe” Bubala’s recent Freudian slip illuminates the historic racism that has been in play in Baltimore, the home of the Father of Segregation, from the very beginning. You know, we watch these TV news anchors day after day tell us news from a white perspective. We try and play like it’s not, but it is. The news tells us how white people feel; we get a sense of what is important to them and what is not.

These TV personalities seemingly become like family; that is, until the real them comes out.

And while the white media does employ African Americans, trust me when I tell you that theirs is an uphill battle every single day – similar to a black cop’s struggle. I imagine that they would want to be able to speak like a Roland Martin or a Tavis Smiley on issues affecting black folks, but American racism consistently demonstrates its preferences and warns against such a deed.

Tamron Hall stood up against NBC. Roland Martin has stood up. And they both were sat down when they dare questioned the status quo. For blacks to be black is considered blasphemy!

Let’s be clear, Bubala represents a story line I have spoken about time and time again. I repeatedly write about how the white media in Baltimore is covertly and overtly racist. This particular time, there was no filter. And no matter how attractive Bubala might be on the outside, a sinister heart is all we saw. It was simply unforgettable. In a week where history was made by an African American woman in Annapolis, we are reminded by words used by Bubala and those by Harford County Democratic Delegate Mary Ann Lisante that racism is alive and well.

Frankly, racism is simply too prevalent in Baltimore to be ignored.

There are 11 months between now and next April’s Baltimore City mayoral primary election. Between now and then, there is only one person who dominates the mayoral scene: Former Mayor Sheila Dixon. Say what you want, but this next election has her name all over it.

Granted, there will quite likely be a lot of candidates claiming that they’ve got the right stuff. However, can they pull together the money, the team, and the name recognition by next April’s election?

I did a Facebook LIVE on Saturday from Penn-North. I felt compelled to go there – just blocks from my home – to see for myself what the typical scenario is like. You remember Penn-North, right? You know, the epicenter of international media attention featuring Baltimore politicians, activists and preachers during the 2015 unrest?

Well, to my surprise, there was no politician at Penn-North. There were no activists and there were no preachers. Having lived in that 1600 block of West Baltimore in the late 80s and early 90s, that block once had a lot of character. Instead of being littered with addicts, it was blessed with businesses up and down the block. It was respectable.

Today, the Arch Social Club on Pennsylvania Avenue has its biggest challenge ever. How can it operate successfully when drugs are rampant just outside its doors?

Since Freddie Gray’s death in 2015, one would think this corner would have gotten a lot of attention by now. Former Mayor Catherine Pugh was up there during the riots; after all, it was her district. Congressman Elijah Cummings was, too. Delegate Nick Mosby was the City Councilman at the time. They were all at Penn-North during the unrest, but yet, Penn-North is worse than ever today. Trash and drugs are ubiquitous, yet nobody has done a thing.

North and Charles, however, has seen a steady stream of attention over the past few years. It looks quite different from the kind of behavior at Penn-North. It’s called the Tale of Two Cities. And the 800 lb. gorilla in the room is institutional racism, kind of like WJZ TV 13 anchor Mary Bubala’s question recently about the three African American female mayors: Sheila Dixon, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, and Pugh.

There is one thing I can appreciate about her question, though: She brought up the topic of race.

So, since we’re on the topic, let’s explore it a little more.

For one, and some white people really need to stop this: Sheila Dixon was the only African American female mayor elected by black people in Baltimore. Neither Blake nor Pugh were black mayors. So, please stop it! Blake and Pugh were the picks of the white Democratic establishment who had no use for the majority African American citizens in Baltimore – no more than their protégé Martin O’Malley.

O’Malley’s claim to fame, besides the furniture he clipped from the Governor’s Mansion, is arresting one in six Baltimoreans. Nationally, he is the dude who finally made it to the national political scene with less than 1% of the Party’s and didn’t know a Shiite from a Shi’ah from a Kurd from a Sunni. It was embarrassing.

Locally, though, O’Malley wreaked havoc on Baltimore and still has the audacity to still try to be a player. It’s my understanding that he helped Rashurn Baker’s disastrous run for governor and he just tried to help Maggie McIntosh become Speaker. Gotta admit, though: This guy won’t give up until he ruins the entire world.

Blake’s dismal understanding of the black community, one cannot forget, led to the first riots in 47 years. And Pugh has been scandalous her entire political career. So, Bubala and the rest of the people who think we had three black women mayors should take a seat – several seats.

A black mayor would be able to go to Penn-North without a bodyguard or TV cameras. A black mayor would know that the kids are in freezing classrooms. A black mayor would know that new recs make better sense than a $10 million failed Gran Prix race that netted zero profits. A black mayor would have never let the police commissioner close the Mondawmin Metro Station at the same time Douglass High School students were getting out of school because that means that they would have no way home during the Freddie Gray madness.

As a matter of fact, any moron should know that.

But, when you talk about a black woman – the first thing that comes to my mind is the mother of civilization who is extremely proud of her children, including the black ones. Repeatedly, slurs are thrown around in the media. Innuendos are subtly made. Bubala made a major blunder suggesting black women, the most loyal voting bloc, are not capable of leading.

Such a statement infers that black women are bad, and, obviously, white people are good. Right?

It’s always easier to look at someone else’s mistakes, instead of one’s own. A prime example is how Bubala and her other mainstream colleagues were the worst journalists in history for missing the Gary Brown investigation three years ago. It was incomplete. Bubala nor any of her colleagues found out where the $18,000 Gary Brown gave came from, after his indictment and his being prohibited from becoming state Delegate. The money came from somewhere, but for three years, we had no mention of it. Then, once Pugh’s book scandal opened up, the FBI and the IRS raided Brown’s house.

You get it?

The State of Maryland’s prosecutor failed to find out where the money came from, or, if it did, it didn’t do its job and report it. Why?

I’ll tell you why. Pugh was never a black mayor and was put there by white men, like the board members at the University of Maryland Medical System. Pugh and her minions stole the election with chicken boxes and hundred thousand dollar loans. Yet, the mainstream media did not say a word, including about the Election Day riot at Pugh’s West Baltimore office. The story was buried.

It is hard for me to feel sorry for a person who was doing dirt for years, like Pugh. I have never thought she actually cared about the people. She puts on an excellent front, but when it came time to face the music, Pugh resigned via text. She took the cowardly way out, and consequently embarrassed the fine white people who put her in office.

Since we’re being candid about race, the truth is that the mainstream media has never respected black people in Baltimore like it should. It is very disrespectful and disingenuous. The Baltimore Sun, on countless occasions, has unequivocally shown us who they are. Sure, there are a couple of people who tend to get it right, but let’s be honest, the Sun has never been a friend to black people like it was to Martin O’Malley. That man did no wrong in their eyes.

But Sheila, oh no! They want to paint a picture of her – the same way DC Mayor Marion Barry was demonized. Barry, I am reminded, returned as mayor anyway.

And that is exactly what some white folks are afraid of, and for the life of me, I don’t know why. Are they afraid that Sheila will get this city where it should be?

Are they afraid that Sheila knows what she’s doing?

What exactly are white people so afraid of? I just can’t figure it out.

Too often, this double-standard idea is flagrantly pervasive. For instance, Baltimore County has had nothing but white male county executives. At present, Johnny Olszewski has to raise taxes because his predecessor, Kevin Kamenetz, gave the false impression that everything was fine. Obviously, it wasn’t. So, shouldn’t we too question the abilities of the white males who have run Baltimore County?

Maybe, it is finally time for Sheila to tell us the story behind the story. Maybe she should just name names.

Sheila Dixon faced her trumped-up situation, took the punishment – including not being able to run in the very next election. Remember that?

Why? Sheila wasn’t allowed to run for mayor immediately following because the white male dominated establishment that she obviously intimidates knows that she is no push-over. Bubala did us a huge favor addressing race in Baltimore. Her actions are evidence of the systematic racism that permeates every layer of society – from the emergency room to Social Services to Central Booking to the halls of the State House.

Baltimore Mayor J. Barry Mahool, the Father of Segregation, would be proud of Bubala. So, too, is Martin O’Malley. However, Adrienne Jones’ ascension to Speaker of the House on Wednesday is also evidence that despite 439 Maryland General Assemblies where white men have dominated, a black woman supported by most of her black colleagues – and with the help of the Maryland Republican Caucus – upstaged O’Malley’s pick, MIntosh.

This is a new day in Maryland. This is a new day in Baltimore. Black people’s eyes are opening to the game that has been played on us by people who clearly never loved Baltimore. Since her tenure in office, I have personally watched Sheila Dixon continue to be in the streets helping people. I have witnessed her help several businesses grow. I think she has learned so much about the challenges faced by small businesses, especially when it comes to the realm of Minority Business Enterprises.

You will never hear the Sun say just how important it is to help small black businesses. Yet, we already know that as black businesses prosper, they can hire more black people. And we certainly need jobs.

Sheila also knows about the burgeoning needs of the addicts and the homeless in Baltimore, including this new population of whites who have flocked to Baltimore from other counties and states looking for dope. She is the kind of mayor that can pro-actively find solutions for this new phenomena hardly touched by Bubala or any other so-called journalist in Baltimore. We hear about the “squeegee kids”, but you will not hear Bubala or anyone else in mainstream news talk about the white addicts in allies and vacant homes in East and West Baltimore’s black communities.

However, let one black man look high and lost in Bolton Hill and he will get more police attention than all of the white addicts combined.

Baltimore has a race issue that has nothing to do with anybody else except those white people who choose to ignore it along the black people who make excuses for it. Once again, slavery ended over 150 years ago, so why are people, like Bubala, still acting this way?

WJZ TV 13, the station that hired the first black TV anchor in Baltimore, has an image problem that needs fixing, because it clearly has no respect for the people of Baltimore.