In Key Bridge Collapse, Baltimore Lost A Piece Of Its Cultural Identity

The deadly collapse of the historic Francis Scott Key Bridge has shaken Baltimore to its core.

바카라�What happened was kind of a travesty,바카라� said Joe Wade, a retired port worker who remembers fishing near the bridge as a child. 바카라�I바카라�m not a crier, but ... I got emotional.바카라�

Baltimore was a port long before it was incorporated as a city 바카라� and long before the United States declared its independence from Britain. Many of the city바카라�s brick rowhouses were built to house fishermen, dockworkers and sailors. They earned a reputation for being pioneering and tough, unafraid of rough seas and long days.

It바카라�s a cultural identity that persists among modern-day watermen like Ryan 바카라�Skeet바카라� Williams, who makes a living harvesting crabs from the Chesapeake Bay.

바카라�We바카라�re rugged and salty,바카라� he said. 바카라�You build your own life.바카라�

Williams relied on the Key Bridge to connect his small maritime community outside Baltimore with Maryland바카라�s Eastern Shore, the lifeblood of the state바카라�s robust seafood industry. Many of his friends and relatives used the bridge for their daily commutes.

Scott Cowan, president of the International Longshoremen바카라�s Association Local 333, said the union represents about 2,400 people whose jobs now hang in the balance. Shipping traffic through the Port of Baltimore can바카라�t resume until the underwater wreckage has been cleared.

바카라�They always say it바카라�s the port that built the city,바카라� said Cowan, who followed in his father바카라�s footsteps when he became a longshoreman decades ago.

The disaster early Tuesday marks the latest blow to a city whose storied history often gets lost in conversations about its more recent struggles: poverty, violent crime and population loss.

Six members of a roadwork crew plunged to their deaths after a 985-foot (300-meter) cargo ship lost power and crashed into the bridge, eliminating a key piece of Baltimore바카라�s skyline and halting maritime traffic to one of the east coast바카라�s busiest ports.

In the aftermath, some experts questioned whether the span바카라�s supporting columns should have been better protected against the gigantic container ships that would routinely pass by them. But Baltimore is an old city with aging infrastructure that often receives little attention from national politicians.

Officials have promised to rebuild the Key Bridge, but that could take years.

바카라�This is no ordinary bridge. This is one of the cathedrals of American infrastructure,바카라� U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said during a news conference in Baltimore earlier this week. 바카라�So the path to normalcy will not be easy. It will not be quick. It will not be inexpensive.바카라�

A Storied History: Francis Scott Key, And Generations Of Dockworkers

Baltimore became a global leader in shipbuilding early on in its history. It later became a major transportation hub with the addition of a railroad line connecting the east coast to the Midwest and beyond.

During the War of 1812, British forces attacked Baltimore in hopes of weakening its industrial and maritime prowess. But American troops successfully defended south Baltimore바카라�s Fort McHenry, and the invasion inspired Francis Scott Key to write the national anthem after he witnessed an American flag flying defiantly overhead following a night of heavy bombing.

More than 150 years later, construction began on a bridge that would be named in his honor.

The Key Bridge opened in 1977, spanning 1.6 miles (2.6 kilometers) at the entrance of Baltimore바카라�s harbor and allowing residents to traverse the waterway without driving through the city. It provided a direct connection between two working-class, water-oriented communities that formed during World War II 바카라� when nearby steel mills produced hundreds of massive warships to aid in the defense effort.

Baltimore바카라�s history is rife with iconic characters, from debaucherous pirates and corrupt politicians to the treasured poet Edgar Allan Poe and jazz legend Billie Holiday. Through it all, the port was a relative constant.

It has allowed countless people to earn a decent living by showing up and putting in the hours, including immigrants and other disenfranchised groups. And it has remained an economic engine, adapting and evolving even as other local businesses have shuttered amid declines in industrial production.

It currently processes more cars and farm equipment than any other port in the country. Last year alone, it handled $80 billion of foreign cargo, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said at a news conference earlier this week.

바카라�The collapse of the Key Bridge is not just a Maryland crisis. The collapse of the Key Bridge is a global crisis,바카라� he said. 바카라�The national economy and the world바카라�s economy depends on the Port of Baltimore.바카라�

The Loss Of Life Falls On One Of Baltimore바카라�s Hardworking Communities

The men who died in the collapse were filling potholes during an overnight shift. While police quickly stopped traffic after the ship sent a mayday signal, they didn바카라�t have time to alert the construction crew 바카라� a group of Latino immigrants in active pursuit of the American dream.

Two survivors were rescued almost immediately and divers recovered two bodies the following day. The remaining four victims are still missing and presumed dead.

Advocates say their deaths take on larger significance in the context of the myriad challenges facing immigrants in the U.S. The men were performing a physically grueling job for relatively low wages. They were laboring during nighttime hours to avoid inconveniencing Maryland commuters.

It comes as little surprise that these already disenfranchised workers are the ones who ended up paying the ultimate price, said Krish O바카라�Mara Vignarajah, president of the Baltimore-based immigration services nonprofit Global Refuge. Immigrants will almost inevitably be involved in rebuilding the bridge as well, she added.

The workers came to Maryland from Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras, seeking higher wages and better opportunities for themselves and their families.

By settling in the Baltimore area, they added to a long history of immigration that has played a key role in shaping the city바카라�s culture and commerce. That history is inextricably linked to the port.

Between the Civil War and World War I, Baltimore became one of the country바카라�s largest points of entry for European immigrants. In 1868, an immigration pier opened in south Baltimore not far from the historic battlefield that birthed the Star-Spangled Banner.

Many immigrants passed through the city on their way to the Midwest, but others stayed and put down roots. Those without specialized skills or advanced education worked on the docks and in the railroad yards, often alongside African Americans who came north to escape slavery. Their contributions are memorialized in the Baltimore Immigration Museum, which occupies a historic building constructed in 1904 to house European immigrants.

바카라�Baltimore became a real melting pot of cultures,바카라� said local historian Johns Hopkins, who directs the nonprofit Baltimore Heritage.

In more recent decades, Latino immigrants have settled in and around Baltimore, though other cities have received larger influxes, likely because they바카라�re experiencing more job growth.

CASA, an immigrant advocacy group based in Maryland, has been in contact with two of the families whose loved ones are among those still missing. Both men 바카라� Maynor Suazo Sandoval and Miguel Luna 바카라� were husbands and fathers who left their home countries over 15 years ago.

바카라�These construction workers are absolutely essential,바카라� said Gustavo Torres, the organization바카라�s executive director. 바카라�In a time when there is so much hatred against the immigrant community, we look to the quiet leadership of Maynor and Miguel and appreciate how they uphold our society so that Americans can live comfortably.바카라�

A Key Thoroughfare

Many port workers and thousands of others used the Key Bridge on a daily basis.

Along with their neighbors, they awoke Tuesday morning to news of its demise and quickly logged onto social media, still in disbelief. They watched video footage showing every detail of the catastrophic collapse, replaying the horrific sequence until it finally seemed real.

Seeing a major piece of their city바카라�s infrastructure crumble like a toy left some Baltimoreans with an uneasy sense of shock, jolted by the realization that anything can happen.

In the days that followed, many residents stopped at various vantage points near the collapse site to survey the wreckage and pay their respects. Some recalled watching the bridge take shape in the 1970s, arching majestically across the water.

바카라�It was always there. It was a landmark,바카라� said Niki Putinski, who spent years living in a small residential neighborhood at the base of the bridge. 바카라�I just didn바카라�t think something could bring it down like that.바카라�

The whole city is grieving, said Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, whose father moved to Baltimore as a young man to work at the port. But there바카라�s a reason Baltimoreans are known for their grit and perseverance, Scott said.

바카라�You can바카라�t talk about Baltimore 바카라� past, present and future 바카라� without talking about the port,바카라� he said. 바카라�And this will be the latest example of Baltimore bouncing back. That바카라�s really ingrained in us here. We don바카라�t give up, we ignore the noise and we keep that gritty chip on our shoulder.바카라�