The fire and the fuel

YOUNG black men out in the streets at night, lines of police officers dressed for a riot, cars ablaze, stores looted, the morning-after platitudes about coming together: the recent scenes in Baltimore (pictured) recall similar ones in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014, Cincinnati in 2001, Los Angeles in 1992 or half a dozen cities in 1968.

The Baltimore riots were sparked by the death of Freddie Gray, a black man, in police custody. But the underlying cause was more complex. Wali Uqdah, a retired prison officer in the city, says: “It’s a building up of hostility. It’s not about just one incident; it’s like if I leave a pot on my stove, and I go outside, it’s just going to get hot and hot until it boils over. There’s no jobs, no income, no good schools…”