D.C.’s digital divide is no longer about lack of access to high-speed Internet — it’s about people not signing up, a new study finds.
An American University Investigative Reporting Workshop study, published Thursday, shows that although nearly all of D.C. is wired for high-speed Internet access, there are entire neighborhoods with extremely low adoption rates, meaning very few households are signed up for service. John Dunbar, the study’s author, says the District’s “very deep” divide “absolutely has to do with wealth.”
“If you have a low income, you just don’t subscribe,” he says. “If you look at the city, it’s an adoption divide. It’s really obvious and it’s really disturbing.”
The study breaks down broadband adoption rates by Census tract, rating connectivity on an ascending scale of 1 to 5. An interactive map (see below) details connection rates, Internet providers and income levels for each Census tract: Continue reading →
Hate Crimes Against Whites And Latinos Rise In D.C. Last year saw a 70 percent increase in hate-based crimes. In 2009, there were only two such reported crimes. And Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy Lanier says gentrification may be behind some of it. Although most of the crimes have been based on sexual orientation, race-based crimes against whites and Latinos are on the rise. (WAMU)
More Latinos in U.S. Identifying as Indian An increasing number of people from Latin America are self-identifying on Census forms as indigenous rather than Hispanic, both because of increased awareness and an actual growth in indigenous immigrants. “Hispanic is not a race,” activist Carlos Quiroz says “Hispanic is not a culture. Hispanic is an invention by some people who wanted to erase the identity of indigenous communities in America.” (Colorlines) Continue reading →
There are ways to stretch a dollar or food assistance even further, and it mostly involves buying smart, in bulk when possible, and investing a lot time in cooking, according to Jodi Balis, Capital Area Food Bank‘s nutrition education director. She spoke on the Kojo Nnamdi Show about strategies to cook low-cost meals and her $16 grocery bag:
“When we train our partner agencies at the food bank, this has been brought up as well: if somebody is homeless, and they don’t have access to cooking equipment, what can you make?” Balis said on the show. “That really is a challenge.”
Balis said the answer, at least somewhat, may be in no-cook meals. That includes making burritos with vegetables and cheese, and hearty salads with ingredients like romaine lettuce, carrots and sunflower seeds.
The food bank does have a thin no-cook cookbook, she added. But the size of the book shows that perhaps there aren’t many options available to those without a kitchen.
Black and Jewish D.C. youth have gone on summer civil rights pilgrimages for years. Here, Susan Barnett and Elia Emerson, pose on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1997.
The relationship between the African American and Jewish communities is long and complicated, with periods of collaboration and discord. But one group of black and Jewish D.C. youth is looking to bridge the gap that has grown in recent years.
The teenagers, members of non-profit Operation Understanding DC, boarded a bus Wednesday morning and will spend 23 days retracing the path of the Freedom Riders as part of a civil rights pilgrimage.
There is a history of black and Jewish Americans working together, particularly during the civil rights movement. For instance, Jews were involved in the establishment of the NAACP and participated in non-violent protests. Locally, Jews joined Howard University students in 1960 to push Glen Echo Park, then an amusement park, to desegregate. But the positive relationship between the two communities has declined in recent decades as legal civil rights victories were won but class and racial disparities grew.
‘One-drop rule’ persists Americans view biracial people as belong more to their minority group rather than as being equal members of both groups. This is according to a new study by a team of Harvard psychologists, who examined conscious and unconscious reactions of people. (Harvard Gazette)
D.C. Council To Scrutinize Hate Crime Reporting Nearly 85 percent of reported hate crimes in the District are based on the victim’s sexual orientation. The City Council will hold a hearing this week to find out whether police are doing a better job in reporting the crimes or if there is indeed an increase in hate crimes based on sexual orientation. (WAMU)
A Murder, 7 Convictions And Many Question Marks The brutal murder of a woman in an alley in 1980s D.C. left the city in shock. But some are questioning the guilt of one of the men convicted in the case, Christopher Turner. There was no physical evidence at the time of the trial, only eye witness accounts. A judge has recently ordered DNA tests of the woman’s clothing, and witnesses who signed statement recanting their 1980s testimony will go before a judge this fall. (NPR)
After the Latin bubble burst… Remember the Latin Explosion? What happened to it? Music critic and author Ed Morales writes that after Sept. 11, 2001, Americans were more inclined to push “other” cultures out, rather than embrace them. (The Star-Ledger)
Michigan’s Ban on Race in College Admission Ruled Illegal A federal appeals court struck down Michigan’s ban on affirmative action in college admissions. The ban, which was put into place as an amendment to the state constitution, had been approved by 58 percent of voters. The only way to change it would be through another statewide referendum, and “this places a big burden on minorities who object to it,” judges ruled. (CBS News)
A high-rise may be built on the parking lot of an affordable senior apartment building in the U Street neighborhood.
Jair Lynch Development Partners is proposing to build a nine-story, 95 unit building next door to the Paul Laurence Dunbar Apartments at 15th and V Streets NW. Last year, the developers partnered with residents to buy the senior building. As part of the developer’s current proposal, the senior building would get some upgrades but maintain its Section 8 senior housing status. Residents reportedly support the project, which still has a few more approvals to get before it can break ground.
The new building may be much more expensive than the Dunbar apartments as it doesn’t have the same U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requirements attached to it. Although it’s unclear at this point how much the units would go for, this is the same developer behind Solea Condominium just up the road. Units in that building were selling for around $600,000 when it opened in 2008.
The site of the senior building has a storied history — it was once home to the Dunbar Hotel, built in the early 1900s and the District’s premier hotel for elite African Americans. The affordable senior apartment building was built on the land in the 1970s, and it’s remained Section 8 even as the surrounding neighborhood saw housing prices skyrocket. A look at the proposed new building, sandwiched between the Dunbar apartments and St. Augustine Catholic Church, the oldest Catholic black church in the District, shows the same stark contrast between new and old buildings seen throughout D.C. Jair Lynch Project
D.C. is a city full of tours, from riding around on Segways to learning about ghosts. But it’s also a city divided over issues of race and class — and whether what’s happening is gentrification or revitalization — so why not have some tours on that, too?
Enter ONE DC “Shaw Gentrification & Resistance Tour,” which takes place at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday. Participants will walk around Shaw and learn about the neighborhood’s history. They will also hear the organization’s perspective on D.C.’s changes: that development has negatively impacted longtime residents. The self-described progressive group aims to address the “structural causes of poverty and injustice” with a “deep analysis of race, power, and the economic, political, and social forces at work in Shaw and the District.” Anyone wanting to participate in the tour is asked to contribute $10, with the proceeds going to the Asian/Pacific-Islander Domestic Violence Resource Project.
This isn’t the first such tour on gentrification in D.C. Does anyone know of a revitalization tour focused on the flip side?
Race: Are We So Different? Facts From the Exhibit and Beyond If you missed our preview of the new Smithsonian Museum of Natural History exhibition on race, check out 15 facts that can be gleaned from a visit, including the creation of whiteness and how geography and exposure to sun has resulted in various skin tones. (The Root)
A new study shows that the disparity in care for D.C.’s black and white stroke patients isn’t due to institutional bias, but addressing the problem may involve “culturally tailored” outreach programs.
Georgetown University researchers found that African-American patients in the District were one-third less likely than white patients to receive tPA, the medicine needed to treat the most common type of stroke. Dr. Chelsea Kidwell, medical director of the Georgetown University Stroke Center, authored the study. WAMU reports:
Among the reasons African-Americans are not receiving tPA as often, Kidwell says, “is that the African-American population does not get to the hospital in time. They don’t call 911.”
Also, Kidwell says, African-American patients are more likely to have existing medical conditions, like high blood pressure, that would make tPA unsafe for them.
“[In] patients who do arrive in time and are eligible for treatment, there in fact is no racial disparity,” she says. “So our finding is important in showing that there’s no institutional or medical care bias in treating patients.”
About 75 percent of black stroke patients interviewed in the study called a friend or relative before calling 911. And nearly half of those who received delayed care reported it was because they didn’t think the symptoms were serious.
The Friendship Archway is next to the commercial space with what may be the city's most expensive rent.
The storefront with the highest retail rent isn’t in Georgetown or Dupont Circle — it’s in Chinatown.
That’s according to DCMud, which reports that the only vacancy on the corner of 7th and H Streets NW is going for $250 to $300. That’s a lot. Georgetown businesses typically pay $100 to $120 per square foot, and Union Station, which currently has the city’s highest rates, leases space for about $200 per square foot, DCMud reports.
Although many of Chinatown’s most visible businesses are national chains, the neighborhood still has a number of small, family-owned restaurants, harkening back to a time when Chinatown still had a sizable immigrant Chinese population. But given the increase in retail rates in the neighborhood, those longing for a resurgence of mom-and-pops joints may want to look elsewhere.
