President Hrabowski penned an article for the Washington Post this week reflecting on societal inequalities. Drawing on his experiences in the Civil Rights Movement, he compares the struggles of today’s society to challenges present in the 1960s.
“I am stunned and saddened by the growth of inequality in our society and the fact that many children have simply stopped dreaming about the future,” Dr. Hrabowski wrote as he recounted how many families are stuck in poverty and gains in post-secondary education are unevenly spread. “Yet I also remind myself how far we’ve come,” he continued. “If we don’t count our progress, we lose sight of the lessons we’ve learned, and we run the risk of losing hope.”
Dr. Hrabowski pointed to Baltimore as a place to find hope, saying “I’ve lived and worked here the past 40 years, and I see the many ways this region reflects the country’s progress and its challenges.” Describing Baltimore as a prosperous city with a number of African-Americans in leadership roles, he also recognized the city’s challenges with high unemployment and poverty rates.
“The challenge now is to reflect on how we can extend the gains of the past 50 years to even more Americans,” Dr. Hrabowski said. “We now have the opportunity — indeed, the responsibility — to look again at public policies in such areas as education and job training, housing and transportation, drug enforcement and incarceration.”
Read “Need a reason to believe there’s hope for racial progress? Look to Baltimore” on the Washington Post.
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