Comments on: In Your Words: Who Are The Native Washingtonians?

By: Soulshadow55

Soulshadow55 — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:10:00 +0000

Coco and Jwms922: I’m right there with you two. I was born in D.C. In my case at Columbia Hospital for Women. I’m a third generation Washingtonian. I grew up in D.C., went to D.C. public schools and graduated from UDC. Although some of my family members have moved to P.G. County I’ve never lived anyplace else. I always say they are going to have to take me kicking and screaming!! I love D.C., I love the energy of the City, I love being able to walk anywhere I want, I love the corner stores and neighborhoods. I love the kids playing on the streets and riding their bikes all over the neighborhood. If you grew up in the suburbs I think it would be better to answer that you grew up in the Washington, D.C. area, but you’re not from D.C. I was blessed to be able to buy a house in my old neighborhood and stay where I grew up. But I know that I’m a dinosaur as all my old friends and school mates are gone. They’ve been pushed out by skyrocketing rents and gentrification. I think what bothers me about the attitude of some of the new people who’ve moved into D.C. is that they seem to think they’ve come to rescue D.C. from the ignorant heathens. Now it’s their time and their responsibility to take it back. Like the City is too good and too important to be occupied by all these black people. Some of the new people in my neighborhood look at me like I have two heads because I’m black and still live in an area where in 1996 a row house went for $159,000 but now sells for $600,000. I don’t care the suburban attitudes of people who think they can tell you what color you can paint your house or whether you should be able to add a second or third story to it. Those nosy, self-important people who love to mind everyone else’s business. Those are the people who I fear are increasingly moving into the City. As well as the people who don’t understand that native Washingtonians have a history here in D.C. that they see being washed away. Everyone understands that progress has and will come but the level of sensitivity and understanding lacking.

By: Jwms922

Jwms922 — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 13:30:00 +0000

If you would ask any native
Washingtonian who is the godfather of soul they would simply say Chuck Brown if
you would ask them who is the mayor for life they would say Marion Barry if you
were to ask them where is the big chair they would simply say good Hope road
and Martin Luther King Avenue. If you
were to ask them where was new Jack city they would simply say Clifton
Terrace. If you were to ask them on
Friday’s where do they hand dance they would say everybody knows at the Château
on Benning Road. If you
were to ask them what hospital were they born and the answer Freedmans you
would know that they mean Howard University
Hospital. If you were not born at a
hospital within the boundaries of Washington, DC
you are not a Washingtonian and if you did not go to one of the schools within
the boundaries of DC until adulthood after being born at one of the local
hospitals then you’re not a indigenous native Washingtonian. Be proud of where you came from and claim the
skin you are in. Life is beautiful!

By: kelli

kelli — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 18:24:00 +0000

what a pointlless argument to have! that’s my take. people should spend more time being kind to others and less time fussing about who’s in & who’s out.

By: Ollie Pooeater

Ollie Pooeater — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 18:27:00 +0000

This issue and discussion could be the stupidest veneer for a lack of basic self esteem that I’ve ever seen. Is this seriously the best you can do? Argue about who’s “native-r”?

No one cares that you’re a native and being a native doesn’t earn you a gold star. If it even got 1 person laid, I’d be floored.

Is this a serious discussion blog, or a discussion for 14 year olds?

By: Sally

Sally — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:43:00 +0000

My father was born and raised in Washington DC, as was his father before him. My sisters and I were all raised in DC and attended DC public schools. Though we live outside DC today, I take great offense at someone who calls themselves a “native Washingtonian” but was actually raised in Maryland or Virginia. My family had a perspective of Washington from the 1900′s thru the 1970′s that few who lived outside the city could possibly identify with.

By: Be

Be — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 21:33:00 +0000

i think part of the problem is that a lot of people are ashamed at where their parents chose to raise them. yeah, who wants to say I’m from largo. very few people. to say you are native to dc means not just a passive connectedness to the vibe of the city, like, yeah i partied here and i remember ibex or the old 9:30 or whatever. but a connectedness to the land, to the schools you came up in. to the streets and parks you played in. and lets face it, it also means that you, or your parents went through and survived some really tough times.. at least for a big swath of the city.

being native to a place is sometimes different to where you feel at home. to me, dc is home. i’ve been here 20 years and i’m staying. but i’m not a native here. never will be. when i tell people where i’m from, i say the town. not the major city that was 20 minutes down the road. but the specific place i came up in.

By: gtsix

gtsix — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:11:00 +0000

Native means you were born and/or raised in the city. If you were not born / raised in DC, you can’t be a native. Long term resident is a person who has resided in DC for a significant period of time.

If you were born and raised in VA, then take pride in your native VA status – don’t claim DC. Same goes for MD. People who live in Silver Spring cannot claim they are from DC anymore than people who live in New Jersey can say they are from NYC.

A resident of SS or Alexandria can easily say they are from the DC area or DC region – that is totally fine, as this is discussing an area/region and not a city.

There is nothing wrong with saying DC native or long term resident – it means you have been here for a long time and have seen/lived the history/changes of this city. That is very different from moving here – neither better nor worse, but the lived history/knowledge possessed is different.

That saying, I do describe myself as a long term resident but I would never claim to be a DC native.

By: Coco

Coco — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 19:01:00 +0000

Edit:* White, Black, and Brown
folk I did not mean to discount the white native story… their native story is also a thriving part of DC.

By: Coco

Coco — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 18:01:00 +0000

I’m a native Washingtonian. I was born here (DCPS graduate!). Live here. I work here.

To many Native Washingtonians, it is insulting that people from MD and
VA –claim native status. This, I believe, has a lot to do with class
and the way that MD and VA has always seen DC as inferior– growing up
people from outside DC would say things like “how many people have you
seen die?” “oh, you live in the murder capitol of the world” thus many
Natives from DC, hold onto to their native status dearly and do not
allow MD or VA to claim any part of it. I could go on about the way that
the MEDIA has started portraying this region as the DMV and how much DC
natives hate it– but this is neither the time or the place.

My job has taken me into the depths of the gentrification/urban
renewal– whatever you call it– issue, and I have seen how hard it is
for non-natives to penetrate the community. The “us” vs. “them”
perspective is alive and well in most of DC. This is because many of
its native residents want to hold onto DC’s history– their native
story– their life here in DC prior to renewal that is so often
forgotten.’

Unfortunately though, I feel that because of the transient and the
new population many people believe that the can re-write the history
of this city and redefine something that is not theirs to redefine.

DC has natives– people that have struggled to survive, Black and Brown
folk, that have seen the MTP riots, the 90s crack era come and go– and
now want their voice to be heard just as loudly as everyone else.

By: Amanda Lee

Amanda Lee — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:58:00 +0000

That’s the thing you have pride but it’s not from D.C. because your family is from elsewhere. I have family from foreign who care a less about this issue but on my other side my have family from D.C., U.S.A. who do. Would you want someone from Jamaica claiming Trinidad because it sound similar or “samething” ??!! I think notttt