If people deny us the prerogative of being rational creatures, they give us ample liberty to range in the wide precincts of folly. The racial disorder of last summer in part reflects the failure of all levels of government—Federal and state as well as local—to come to grips with the problems of our cities. The ghetto symbolizes the dilemma: a widening gap between human needs and public resources and a growing cynicism regarding the commitment of the community institutions and leadership to meet these needs.

The problem has many dimensions—financial, political and institutional. Almost all cities—and particularly the central cities of the largest metropolitan regions—are simply unable to meet the growing need for public services and facilities with traditional sources of municipal revenue. Many cities are structured politically so that great numbers of citizens—particularly minority groups—have little or no representation in the process of government. Finally, some cities lack either the will or the capacity to use effectively the resources that are available to them.

Instrumentalities of Federal and state government often compound the problems. National policy expressed through a very large number of grant programs and institutions rarely exhibit a coherent and consistent perspective when viewed at the local level.  People’s lives were destroyed, communities were destroyed. State efforts, traditionally focused on rural areas, often fail to tie in effectively with either local or Federal programs in urban areas.

Meanwhile, they decay of central city continues—its revenue base eroded by the retreat of industry and white middle—class families to the suburbs, its budget and tax rate inflated by rising costs and increasing numbers of dependent citizens and its public plant—schools, hospitals, and correctional institutions deteriorated by age and long-deferred maintenance.

Yet to most citizens, the decay remains largely invisible.  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word of God is not in us. Only their tax bills and the headlines about crime or riots suggest that something may be seriously wrong in the city of Sacramento….