ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes key moments in Baltimore history and put Freddie Gray's particular neighborhood into the context of a few relevant concepts. It provides a timeline of key events, including ones both before and after April 2015. Racism and segregation has a long history in Baltimore. The history of Baltimore attests to long-standing issues of structural inequality, referring to recurrent discriminatory patterns in laws, policies and practices that are systemically rooted in dominant social institutions. Freddie Gray must be understood in the more specific history of black men around the country who died at the hands of police. Some of these deaths commanded huge public and press attention. During the peaceful protests immediately following Gray's death, only CNN was in Baltimore with any serious coverage, and on April 24 even the CNN correspondents and camera crews went home. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book.
