Portlandia vs. The Wire: In all of 2013, Portland (72% white) had 16 homicides; In January 2014, Baltimore (64% black) already has 22 homicides

Portland, Oregon is 72 percent white. A city of more than 603,000 people, blacks represent just 6.3 percent of the population. In fact, Portland is one of America’s whitest big cities. [Census ranks Seattle among whitest big cities, Seattle Times, 4-23-11]

If Democrats kill people, why were there so few murders in 72 percent white Portland in 2013?

Bodymore, Murderland Baltimore, Maryland is 28.2 percent white. A city of more than 621,000 people, blacks represent 63.6 percent of the population.

The two cities are best represented in pop culture via the television programs Portlandia and The Wire; both are expressions of the type of community a majority white or a majority black population will create.

Did you know that in 2013, the city of Portland registered only 16 homicides? [Portland's 16 homicides in 2013 are fewest in more than 40 years, The Oregonian, 1-03-2014]

Did you know that in 2013, the city of Baltimore registered 235 homicides? [Batts: Crime Dropped for "Everyday Citizens" in 2013", Baltimore Sun, 1-2-14]

The cities are roughly the same size in population, both voting overwhelmingly for Democrats. Yet if New York City had Baltimore’s murder rate, 3,160 people (invariably, almost all black, since that’s who is being murdered in Baltimore… by other black people) would have been killed last year.

Furthermore, did you know that as of January 28, 2014, 22 people (almost all black) have been killed in Baltimore? [Baltimore shooting marks deadliest start to year since '07: Homicide detectives investigating double shooting near Pimlico Race Course, Baltimore Sun, 1-29-14]

 Translation: a one-month period (well, less than a month) in 63 percent black Baltimore is far deadlier than a 12-month period in 72 percent white Portland.

So while the American Thinker will publish stories with inane headlines like Guns Don't Kill People, Democrats Kill People, in reality it should read, “Guns Don’t kill people, Black people kill people.” The black police commissioner of Baltimore admitted this much (though he was lying about “motive”), when Anthony W. Batts said [Batts: Crime dropped for 'everyday citizens' in 2013, Baltimore Sun, 12-31-13]:

"It's not throughout the city as a whole," Batts told WBAL-TV of the violence. "It's very localized and unfortunately, it's with African American men who are involved in the drug trade and 80 to 85 percent of the victims are involved in the drug trade going back and forth."

In Portland, crime is always relatively low.

In Baltimore, 90 percent of registered voters identify as Democrats; Portland is well known as one of the most left-leaning populations in America, but with only 6 percent of its population being black, the same societal problems found in a 63 percent black city are absent.

A city almost the same size as Portland, 63 percent black Baltimore had one of the highest murder rates in all of America in 2013... in January of 2014 (as of the 28th) there have been more homicides here than in all of 2013 in Portland...

In Portland, HIV/AIDS is hardly a crisis (save for the black population); meanwhile, in 63 percent black Baltimore, efforts are underway for the city government to distribute more free needles for drug users as a way to fight HIV/AIDS [Baltimore wants to give out thousands more needles to drug users: Effort to curb HIV is one of mayor's top bills in General Assembly this year, Baltimore Sun, 1-14-14]

And while many of those homicide suspects in Portland had precious little racial connection with the majority population of the city, almost every murder suspect in Baltimore in 2013 was either a black male or female.

Blaming the drug trade on murder and crime in Baltimore is a national pastime (a way to deflect from the obvious dysfunction and poor impulse-control found in the majority black population), but it’s a well known fact white people in Portland consuming vast amounts of marijuana and other items purchased from the black market.

Why, then, if Baltimore is besieged by ‘drug’ violence, is the city of Portland free of such ‘drug’ violence?

In fact, Baltimore seems to be free of ‘drug’ violence; instead, black violence permeates throughout the rotting corridors of the city [Motive known in few city homicides, police data shows, Baltimore Sun, 1-4-14]:

Just three of Baltimore's 235 homicides in 2013 have a known drug motive, and police say 30 of the victims were verified gang members, year-end statistics show. 

As the year came to a close with an increase in homicides and shootings, Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts said in television interviews that up to 85 percent of the victims of the city's gun violence were black men involved in the drug trade.
He was not available for further comment. 

Black males made up 84 percent of the city's homicide victims in 2013. And while officials say that drugs and gangs fuel much of the violence in Baltimore, detectives investigating the deaths verified drug motives in just three of the cases, according to police records. The motive is listed as unknown in 164 cases, the records show. 

The refrain about drug ties is drawn from the criminal records of the victims. Police Department data indicates that 74 percent of the homicide victims last year had a drug arrest on their record and 86.4 percent had been arrested for some crime. 

Among homicide suspects, 86 percent had criminal records and 72.5 percent had drug arrests. 

Gang ties, not tracked by the department before 2013, were determined in 66 cases, and 30 of the victims were listed as gang members.

The motive is known: it’s called being “disrespected.” [The trauma of gun violence: Dr. Edward E. Cornwell III, trauma chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital, describes gunshot wounds as "more and more a juvenile disease.", Baltimore Sun, 3-12-2000]

In 63 percent black Baltimore; it’s a yearly tradition for the black mayor to call upon the citizens of the city to stop the violence and do something to make the community safer. [Mayor calls on citizens to do their part to fight violence: Rawlings-Blake says 'all-hands-on-deck' effort is needed, Baltimore Sun, 1-8-14]

In 72 percent white Portland; it’s a daily tradition to enjoy safe streets, clean parks, spotless public transportation, and a thriving downtown nightlife.

 Blaming Democrats for gun violence is an easy thing for to do for those still wedded to the notion of racial equality, and hoping the ghost of Martin Luther King will deliver black people from the “liberal plantation” and safely guide them to the Republican Country Club.

But the earth isn’t flat. The earth isn’t the center of the universe. Race is real.

The conditions of Portland and Baltimore prove this. 

Two cities, almost exactly the same size in population. 

Only difference: one is more than 70 percent white, the other is almost 70 percent black.