Urban Wire From protest to policy: evidence-based solutions for Baltimore and other US cities
Margery Austin Turner
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Throughout this week, Urban Institute scholars offer evidence-based ideas for policies that can make a difference for communities in Baltimore and beyond grappling with inequality and injustice.  Although this series covers a lot of issues, we by no means address all the challenges that matter.

 

Fifty years ago, racial injustices led to protests—both peaceful and violent—in cities across our country. The civil unrest and the underlying conditions that fueled it led Lyndon Johnson to create the Urban Institute in 1968.

Events in Baltimore earlier this month reflect the stubborn persistence of inequalities and barriers to mobility facing people of color in America today. Pundits have been quick to respond with their various takes on the causes and consequences, using the moment to pitch their stock proposals.

Now the protesters have returned to their homes and their jobs, and the news cameras are gone. But through their actions, people in the streets of Baltimore issued a challenge: a call for real solutions to problems facing poor, mostly minority communities in Baltimore and in other cities.

Throughout this week, Urban Institute scholars will respond to that call with a series of Urban Wire blog posts offering concrete solutions and strategies. Each post will focus on a specific challenge facing communities of color in urban America today, offering evidence-based ideas about how this challenge can be effectively tackled. We’ll draw upon our research and upon promising practices in other cities around the country.

For communities in Baltimore and beyond asking for real change, we hope this series offers meaningful ideas for policies that can make a difference. But we know full well that, even though we’re covering a lot of issues here, we by no means address all the challenges that matter.

More posts in the series:

Illustrations by Adrienne Hapanowicz, Urban Institute

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Research and Evidence Health Policy Race and Equity
Expertise Health Care Coverage, Access, and Affordability
Tags Racial and ethnic disparities Social determinants of health Racial inequities in health Structural racism
Cities Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD