March 8, 2012 | 12:35 PM | By

DCentric Picks: ‘How To Be Black’ Reading

Alex Lee / Courtesy of HarperCollins

Baratunde Thurston is author of the new book, "How to Be Black."

What: A book reading by Baratunde Thurston, author of “How to Be Black.”

When: Doors open at 6 p.m., and the event starts at 7 p.m., Thursday.

Where: Sidwell Friends School’s Quaker Meeting House at 3825 Wisconsin Ave. NW.

Cost: Free.

Why you should go: Thurston, a comedian, social critic and digital director for The Onion, grew up in D.C. In his new book, “How to Be Black,” Thurston uses plenty of humor to touch upon the complexities of growing up black in America, with the District as a backdrop. He also writes about growing up in Columbia Heights before it was gentrified.

FILED UNDER: Culture, Books, DCentric Picks
March 8, 2012 | 11:15 AM | By

Five Facts About D.C.’s Gap Between Rich and Poor

401kcalculator.org / Flickr

The District continues to have one of the largest gaps between the rich and poor. Income inequality in large cities is higher only in Atlanta and Boston.

Top earners make 29 times more a year than the lowest earners, according to a new report by local think tank DC Fiscal Policy Institute. Researchers examinesd2010 census data and found some startling figures that illustrate the city’s income gap. Here are five facts about the District’s gulf between rich and poor residents:

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FILED UNDER: Income disparity, Race and Class
March 7, 2012 | 1:41 PM | By

Black Beauty Salon Catering to Whites

Businesses that have been in gentrifying neighborhoods long before rising property values and changing demographics are in precarious situations. Some adapt successfully to the new market, while many others don’t.

Chet Bennett, who owns a beauty institute in D.C., has opened a new beauty salon and spa along the U Street corridor. But rather than just serve black clientele, he’s reaching out to nearby white residents as well. “To be a successful business,” he tells the Washington AFRO, “you must adapt to the changes and don’t give up.”


“We want the newcomers of the surrounding neighborhoods to know that we cater to all textures of hair and skin whether they are Asian, Caucasian, or African descent,” said Bennett. “Don’t get caught up on the hype that Black hair stylists can’t do straight hair because we’re Black. We are accustomed to doing it all from bone straight to natural hair.”

Read more at: www.afro.com

March 7, 2012 | 10:07 AM | By

Poor Children, Rich Neighbors

Hawkins / Flickr

Columbia Heights is an economicaly diverse neighborhood, home to luxury high-rises and public housing.

Researchers have long noted the ills of growing up in a neighborhood of concentrated poverty — graduation rates are higher lower, access to healthy food is more limited and violence is more common.

“Neighborhoods of concentrated poverty are really hard on children,” said Gwen Rubenstein, deputy director of DC Action for Children, who ran the recent Kids Count report that found that concentrated poverty has dropped in D.C. She noted that children from upper and middle class families who live in high-poverty neighborhoods have an increased chance of being poor as adults.

But do poor children benefit if they live in neighborhoods of concentrated wealth? It’s a question that hasn’t been explored much in D.C. but one worth asking, given that the city’s childhood poverty remains high — one in three District children lives below the poverty line. At the same time, fewer kids live in neighborhoods of concentrated poverty now than a decade ago, but it’s not because their families are faring better. Rather, as more affluent people moved into neighborhoods that once had high poverty rates, more poor children are finding their neighborhoods transformed into wealthier places.

There’s a reluctance “to talk about concentrated privilege,” Rubenstein said. “Areas of concentrated privilege and poverty — we need to be talking about it and what it means for a community.”

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FILED UNDER: Around the City, Childhood Poverty, Wealth
March 6, 2012 | 9:11 AM | By

New Report Details Racial Disparity in School Punishment

A U.S. Department of Education report to be released later today will detail how racial minorities face harsher punishments in school than white students. More than 70 percent of students involved in arrests or cases referred to the police in the 2009-2010 school year were black or Hispanic, the Associated Press reports. The report, which is based on data from schools that serve 85 percent of the country’s children,  will also detail racial disparities in who is expelled or suspended from school.

Locally, black children in the D.C.-metro area are suspended at a much higher rate than white students. While poverty may play a role in the disparity in suspension rates, there may be some unintended bias against black students. Black students may also be attending schools with more punitive leadership styles.

  • jiffy-icon
  • Source: Ap

“The sad fact is that minority students across America face much harsher discipline than non-minorities, even within the same school,” Education Secretary Arne Duncan told reporters.

Duncan said some school officials might not have been aware of inconsistencies in how they handle discipline, and he hoped the report would be an eye-opener.

Read more at: hosted.ap.org

March 2, 2012 | 1:01 PM | By

How Racial Stereotypes Changes With Age

Streeter Lecka / Getty Images

People are more charitable toward young black children than older black children, according to a new study published in the journal of Social Psychological and Personality Science. Researchers examined data from a large, online charity that solicits donations for school projects. Proposals that included photos of older black children — sixth through 12th graders — didn’t get as many donations than proposals with photos of younger black children. For white children, an opposite pattern exists.

“What we show is as you grow toward adulthood, you come to represent your group in a much stronger fashion. People perceive you more in line with your group stereotypes.” says Deborah Small, one of the study’s authors. “Young children, we don’t penalize them by their [group's] stereotypes. Their ‘groupness’ is not fully formed yet.”

For African Americans, that means teenagers are more likely to be associated with stereotypes of being lazy, thus less deserving of sympathy and charity than young black children or white children, the study’s authors note.

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FILED UNDER: Children, Race, Sociology, Stereotypes
March 2, 2012 | 10:03 AM | By

D.C. Officials Want Redskins Back, But What About That Name?

D.C. officials, including Mayor Vincent Gray, are in talks to bring the Redskins back to the city after the team left for Landover, Md. 15 years ago. The idea: that the team’s headquarters and training facilities open in Hill East, near RFK Stadium.

Just as with the “Linsanity” craze, talks over relocating the Redskins to D.C. has revived a debate over whether the team’s name is offensive. As Washington Examiner columnist Harry Jaffe points out, the D.C. Council passed a resolution in 2001 that the Redskins should change its team name because it “is offensive and hurtful to many Native Americans” and “to all people who reject racial stereotypes and bigotry as socially and morally unacceptable.” And it looks like some elected officials, such as Ward 6 Councilman Tommy Wells, still view the name as a sticking point.

@TommyWells
Tommy Wells
And as much as I care about the team it’s hard to get over the fact the name is racist
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March 2, 2012 | 9:19 AM | By

Bullying and Black-On-Black Crime

Anti-bullying campaigns have gained more and more attention, with much of the current conversation focused on the LGBT community. The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates writes that it’s also worth looking at the racial component of how we talk about bullying. “If you are a black kid growing up in urban America, as I was,” Coates writes, “you can expect to have a consistent and enduring relationship with violence.”


I want to focus on how we talk about the young people who daily endure this reality. We don’t see them as victims of bullying so much as victims of the latest dance craze. Consider “black on black crime” a phrase which assumes a kind monolithic unity which has never existed among any known carbon-based organism. For matters as slender as a failed party invitation, we invoke “bullying” and thus invoke a kind of failure of society. But for matters as crucial as murder we offer “black on black crime” and thus strictly invoke the failure of black people.

Read more at: www.theatlantic.com

March 1, 2012 | 2:54 PM | By

DCentric Picks: Persian New Year Celebration

Lia / Flickr

A haft sin, or traditional table setting, was on display at last year's Freer and Sackler Galleries Now Ruz event.

What: Now Ruz, or a Persian New Year celebration

When: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sunday

Where: Freer and Sackler Galleries at 1050 Independence SW.

Cost: Free, although some of the musical performances require free tickets. The food is available for purchase.

Why you should go: The annual event is held weeks before Now Ruz, or Persian New Year, an ancient festival. The museum will offer typical Persian New Year activities and attractions, including fire-jumping and traditional “haft sin” table displays, as well as classical and contemporary musical performances, photo booths and Persian food.

 

FILED UNDER: Around the City, Culture, Museums, Freer and Sackler Galleries, Persian New Year
March 1, 2012 | 12:11 PM | By

Finding Out About Group Homes and the Fate of the Peaceholics Buildings

The number of group homes in Ward 8 has been a point of contention among some residents in recent weeks. Such homes and shelters are actually called community residential facilities, and there are a number of reasons why group homes and transitional housing opens in Ward 8, including zoning, market forces and government-funding that has to be spent in low to moderate income communities.

Eleven D.C. agency representatives showed up to a Ward 8 community meeting last week to discuss the presence of community residential facilities in the area. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Sandra “S.S.” Seegars, who is running for the Ward 8 City Council seat, organized the meeting. And she, among other ANC commissioners, were vocal in their opposition to more homes opening in their communities.

Part of the ire from some local officials comes from the lack of notice they get when such facilities can open in their communities. In the past, Ward 7 Councilwoman Yvette Alexander proposed that ANCs to be notified when a group home was proposing to open. John Hall, director of D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development, which helps fund some community residential facilities, said moving forward ANCs would be notified when those submitting proposals for group homes don’t include a letter of support from the ANC. “I’m open to that,” Hall said. “With the next [request for proposals], we can do that.”

Not everyone opposes such group homes, such as ANC 8D02 Commissioner Olivia Anderson, who attended last week’s meeting.

“I came here to get information on group homes. As I’m sitting here, I’m hearing, ‘These children. These children.’ These children are our children, from our community and we need to welcome them back,” she said. “Not all these kids going to transitional housing are problematic kids.”

The most recent high-profile project includes a building at 1300 Congress Heights Street SE, spearheaded by nonprofit Peaceholics. The District government sunk $5.5 million into three vacant buildings that were intended to be fixed up and house “troubled” men between 18 and 24. The buildings could soon fall into foreclosure.

The borrower has until April to pay back the District. Hall said during last week’s Ward 8 community meeting that his agency is preparing to take over the buildings if the first lender can’t. If that happens, Hall said the Congress Heights building would become “quality affordable housing,” rather than community residential facility, as initially planned. He said the District has “gone down the group homes route with these projects before. I’d be a fool to go down that route again.”

FILED UNDER: Around the City, Affordable Housing, Group Homes, Peaceholics, Ward 8