September 23, 2010 | 10:16 AM | By

Talking about, not to each other.

FILED UNDER: Around the City, Gentrification, Race and Class

Yesterday, Prince of Petworth (a blog I respect greatly, run by Dan Silverman) published a guest post called “B.J. on the White People Moving in”, by Danny Harris of People’s District– another blog we’ll look at, later today. For now, I want to focus on PoP and the charged discussion this post generated; it got so hostile that at one point, commenters were attacking Silverman for even hosting it. What angered everyone so much? This:

“You can think what you want about what I am saying, but I see everyday how my neighborhood has changed, and how blacks and whites are treated differently. My neighbors, these white kids, threw a party with music until four in the morning with a hundred bikes locked up on the street that blocked people’s driveways and made a big mess. Didn’t no cops show up. I had a cook out with my friends in our backyard and the cops stormed through the alleyway and broke it up because we were being loud. How am I supposed to understand that? Tell me that I shouldn’t be angry about what I see. I’ve been living in this place my whole live and now some new comers tell me how to do what I do.

“When you step into a neighborhood, you need to step correct. If not, you can’t expect no one to respect you. A lot of these white people need to learn a thing or two about respect and how our neighborhoods work before they come in and try to change things. I ain’t being racist, I am just being real. You know what I am saying.”

Reactions to this post were passionate and mostly negative. The majority of commenters attacked B.J. for several reasons, including: being racist, reverse racist and entitled. Some people got nasty with remarks which criticized his inability to “speak proper english“, others speculated that unlike the gentrifiers, he probably didn’t even own a home. Ugly stuff. A minority of commenters expressed sentiments like this:

I love all the hate for POP for printing this. It just makes BJ’s point for him. Gentrifiers don’t care to understand what their neighbors are feeling. What they are feeling may be completely misguided, unfair, whatever, but the feelings are REAL. And it’s clear that most people here could give a rat’s ass about talking to their neighbors to get to know them and smooth out the misconceptions and instead just want to yell “Reverse Racism!” and justify their own isolation from realities.

It’s an important conversation and a sad confirmation that especially after the Mayoral primary, many parts of this city are very divided.

About the author

DCentric was created to examine the ways race and class interact in Washington, D.C., a city with a vibrant mix of cultures and neighborhoods. Your guides to the changing district are reporters Anna John and Elahe Izadi. View all posts by Anna →

  • Zack

    You're right, it is an important conversation. And it's unfortunate that it was begun on a site that doesn't necessarily accomodate conversation. I like PoP (and, like you, respect it), and I'm not criticizing it. Good for him for raising an issue. But the majority of people that comment on that site talk at each other rather than converse. And when the issue is presented in this format, it does absolutely nothing to help the understanding of it. I would hope that the commenters on that site aren't necessarily indicative of the present state of this discussion … and from my personal experience they aren't. But it does give the wrong impression. (I thought about posting this comment over there, but, ya know, it would just get lost, I think).

  • Guest

    It's always messy when two cultures come together. The clash takes people out of their comfort zones and stokes personal insecurities… Even something as simple as greeting protocols can leave people unsure of how to act. Faced with these difficult situations, too many people on both sides decide unconsciously that it's easier to ignore one another (which only makes it more uncomfortable and leads to confrontations). It's a lot easier to call the police anonymously than it is to walk outside and ask someone politely to turn down their music or their voices. But the consequences of doing what's easy only escalate the tensions.

    Instead of arguing over who's right on a message board, we need to do what is within our control — which is to push ourselves to go outside of our comfort zones and deepen the lines of communication between ourselves and our neighbors (no matter where we come from)

  • Waiting for the change

    We recently bought a home in the Georgia Avenue/Petworth area…and since then we've had 2 vehicles (Scooters) stolen, and our car broken into…. It hasn't even been a 6 months and our “NEIGHBORS” have taken about $5000.00 and countless days of our lives away from us (not to mention our sense of security) . Should I be TOLERANT of this…of them…of BJ's f-ed up value system?!

    Fine by me. I will start living a self-serving lifestyle with a blatant disregard for others. I will bully people with threats and if I see something I want, I am going to take it. I will lie and hate the system and guiltlessly exploit society. I will steal from you if I can get away with it. My kids will raise themselves, because I don't have time to be a father. I don't care about them, so they aren't my problem. Finally… I am buying a gun…and the next time I hear my window breaking…I am going to do some target practice.

    I'm sorry that BJ came from a background where people had to carry the burden of poverty…and it is sad that black-culture's exploitative, predatory fronts offer them a sense of protection. Their defense is the burden however, and I will not carry it. I don't need to “Step correct” to make my way in a neighborhood… I just need to be respectful of people and I am allowed to expect that in return.

    As soon as the ignorant 'have-nots' in my neighborhood stop stealing from me…and forcing me to live in fear. As soon as that happens, I will stop hating them and their sad, blighted culture.