April 26, 2011 | 8:49 AM | By

Tasty Morning Bytes – Easter Monday Stabbing, Anarchy at Anacostia Metro and Prejudice in Dupont

Good morning, DCentric readers! Here, have some links to go with that coffee:

Youth suffers stab wounds in fight at National Zoo An update to the story we posted yesterday, about violence on a day traditionally celebrated by African American families at the zoo: “The fight broke out about 3:30 p.m. near the Small Mammal House, authorities said. Zoo spokeswoman Jodi Legge said zoo security ejected an unspecified number of people, many of them juveniles, as a result of the fight. Legge said the zoo, with a capacity of 25,000 visitors, was “extremely crowded” Monday.” (The Washington Post)

Witness: Saturday commute had beating at Anacostia station, rowdy teens at L’Enfant Plaza Witness saw up to nine men kicking and beating a woman: “The second witness to Saturday’s attack, who also says she no longer rides Metro, said the District’s transit system was “too unexpected,” and “too chaotic” for her. She described Saturday’s scene as “anarchy,” and wondered why authorities weren’t reviewing cameras or proactively posting themselves at stations where trouble has cropped up before. “I feel like I can get kicked out of Metro for eating french fries,” she says, “but someone could assault me in the Metro and that’s OK.”" (tbd.com)

14th & You: Corner of 14th and Corcoran Gets “Cleaned Up” “Many of you have commented over the past couple of years about the individual who had made his home at the northeast corner of 14th and Corcoran streets. The individual, whose name is Michael, had amassed a rather large and unsightly collection of–for lack of a better word–”stuff” that was taking up a rather substantial portion of the sidewalk and treebox and creating a public health hazard…as of this weekend, Michael’s belongings were gone from the sidewalk.” (14th & You)
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April 25, 2011 | 6:03 PM | By

Teen Stabbed at Zoo’s Easter Monday Celebration

A teenager was stabbed today at the National Zoo, on Easter Monday, a day traditionally celebrated by African American families:

Update - stabbing - 2900 blk Connecticut av NW - EMS transporting - 1 teenage male - priority 1 - serious, potentially life-threatening
April 25, 2011 4:28 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@dcfireems
dcfireems

According to this report, the boy was wounded several times. A similar incident occurred on Easter Monday in 2000, when seven young people were shot.

The tradition of celebrating Easter a day late at the zoo originated over a century ago:

The free gathering, which dates back to the 1890s, almost as far as the White House Easter Egg Roll. Oral history says that black domestic workers were required to work on Easter Sunday, so Monday was the day of family celebration. And since the White House in those segregated days either didn’t allow or strongly discouraged African-Americans at its egg roll, the District’s black residents created their own.

FILED UNDER: Crime, National Zoo
April 25, 2011 | 3:03 PM | By

D.C. Special Election Round-Up: Race-Baiting, Apologies and Discrimination

The special election to fill an At-Large seat on the D.C. City Council will be held Tuesday, and a demographic shift could result: depending on the results, the council may be majority white, majority black or have its first Hispanic member. And since no D.C. election is complete without race and class issues coming to the fore, here is a quick recap:

–The latest back-and-forth originated after Sunday when Democrat Vincent Orange was out in Ward 8, handing out fliers developed by a group of residents that included this statement: “He walks like us. He talks like us…” The incident led to some pondering over what it means to walk and talk like Orange, and also denouncements over such a tactic.

DC is making some progress. Race cards not drawn until final weekend of the election. Very sad to see that happen at all.
April 24, 2011 4:33 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite
@DaveStroup
Dave Stroup

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FILED UNDER: Elections, Bryan Weaver, Patrick Mara, Sekou Biddle, Vincent Orange
April 25, 2011 | 9:30 AM | By

Tasty Morning Bytes – Shiftless Whites, Black and Bleak Easter, Working at the Carwash

Good morning, DCentric readers! Welcome back from your weekend.

Charles Murray and shiftless, lazy whites “In a recent lecture titled “The State of White America,” libertarian scholar Charles Murray spotlighted a series of self-destructive behaviors that he thinks are rapidly destroying the social fabric of the nation…“I’m not talking about inner-city blacks or all the other populations that have been the topic of so much discussion over the past decades.” No, he was talking about white people — a group that has long managed to deny the extent of its character flaws by projecting the worst of them onto black people. Now, the cat was out the bag: White people can be shiftless and lazy, too.” (The Washington Post)

Obama Family Attends Easter Services in D.C. The president and his family worshiped at one of the oldest churches in the city; it was founded by freed slaves in 1863. “The first family entered Shiloh Baptist Church in the Shaw neighborhood while members of a choir dressed in black, white and gold sang “Total Praise.” Mr. Obama shook a few hands and hugged members of the congregation as he and his wife, Michelle, and their daughters, Malia and Sasha, walked to a second-row pew.” (Washington Times)

Bleak Easter Weekend For Georgetown Harbour Restaurants Formerly flooded harbour was closed for one of the busiest “brunch” days of the year: “Many disappointed families and tourist groups were politely turned away by security guards at the entrance to Washington Harbour…”It’s a big loss of revenue for us”, said Jimmy Phomsivilei, manager of Bangkok Joe’s dumpling restaurant. ‘Were always very busy down here on Easter” he added.” (WUSA Washington, DC)
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April 22, 2011 | 1:20 PM | By

A $26,000 Student Bus Pass

Art by a special education student from the Bronx.

Flickr: vanessastories

D.C. doesn’t have adequate programs to serve children whose needs cannot be met in an ordinary classroom, so we bus them elsewhere. At great cost, apparently:

The city has 4,000 special-needs students who are served by Individualized Education Programs, and must be bussed to schools around D.C. and as far as Baltimore. This year, the mayor requested $150 million for tuition to those private programs, which is a $7.8 million decrease from last year. And just to get them there, the budget includes $93.6 million for 74 bus lines–that’s $26,000 per student per year.

Which makes leased Navigators look like peanuts.

FILED UNDER: Education, Government, Children, Money
April 22, 2011 | 12:41 PM | By

Which D.C. Ward Has The ‘Ideal’ Racial Make-Up?

Lamenting over D.C.’s changing mix of residents (read: more white people, less black people) have raised some questions: isn’t this just increased diversity? And isn’t that supposed to be a good thing?

Courtland Milloy included this interesting point in a Tuesday column:

“Surveys show that when asked, blacks, on average, say the ‘ideal’ neighborhood racial composition would be about 30 to 35 percent black,” said Roderick J. Harrison, an associate professor of sociology and anthropology at Howard University.

Why? Because blacks derive significant benefits from living among middle-class white people, such as better city services, better schools and higher-quality stores.

Moreover, 30 percent is large enough for blacks to create a comfort zone that blunts the effects of white prejudice but small enough not to trigger white flight.

A 2009 study by researchers at New York University noted that “the strongest predictor of resistance to racial integration among whites is prejudice, whereas the strongest predictor of black avoidance of white neighborhoods is fear of discrimination.”

Flickr: Bill McNeal

Ward 1, which includes neighborhoods such as Columbia Heights, is D.C.'s most racially diverse area.

So which D.C. neighborhoods most reflect this “ideal mix?” It seems Ward 1 comes closest; although no one group maintains a majority there, 40.8 percent of residents are white, 31.5 percent are black and 20.8 percent are Hispanic or Latino. As for the socioeconomic makeup of the ward, 41 percent of households make $75,000 or more a year; 28 percent make $35,000 to $74,999 a year; and 31 percent make below $34,999.

But you still have to live in the neighborhood in order to derive the benefits that more whites and richer people bring. Nordlie1, a commenter on a DCentric post explaining why so many black residents have left D.C., writes:

“Losing a majority (of black folks) ” “More diverse (white folks)” = (politically correct:) gentrification. All the same. Bad thing when it displaces poor black people.

FILED UNDER: The People, Census 2010, Courtland Milloy, Demographics, Diversity
April 22, 2011 | 8:29 AM | By

Tasty Morning Bytes – A Georgetown Bartender Sues, Interracial Dating, Oblivious Rich People

Good morning, DCentric readers! Here are the five things we are perusing, right now:

Former DC Mayor Sharon Pratt Unable To Deliver Letter To Obama To Advocate for D.C. Voting Rights "Former District of Columbia Mayor Sharon Pratt has been foiled in her efforts to hand-deliver a letter to the White House expressing her support for DC voting rights in Congress…The letters asks President Barack Obama to display the district's "Taxation Without Representation" license plates on his official vehicle, as former President Bill Clinton did. Pratt says she'll get the letter to Obama even if she has to "have a pigeon deliver it to him." (myfoxdc.com)

Georgetown flooding spurs class-action suit on behalf of restaurants "(Gary Mason) filed the suit against D.C.-based MRP Realty on behalf of Charles Holcomb, a bartender at one of five restaurants that suffered heavy damages and have been closed since the flood Monday morning…(Mason) said the dollar amount is based on projections of how long people will be out of work. “We’re very sympathetic to the hardship this is imposing on a lot of low-income people,” he said. (Washington Times)

Harassment Because My Boyfriend's White "There is little difference between street harassment in Cairo and in urban areas like DC: these men are usually young, uneducated, disenfranchised, and disrespect for women is an inter-generational issue ignored or condoned by families and communities. The need to control women and constantly threaten their security is one only felt by men who feel weak in other facets of their lives. Black women, all women, should not have to negotiate public space to get from Point A to Point B." (beachbumchronicles.blogspot.com)

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April 21, 2011 | 7:24 PM | By

On Your Mind: A Shooting Near U Street

Flickr: IntangibleArts

14th and V Streets, NW.

Shots were fired at a busy intersection near U Street today. Two men were wounded in a drive-by shooting; neither had life-threatening injuries, according to Council member Jim Graham. A woman told NBC that a stray bullet hit the window of her apartment above Busboys and Poets while she was home having lunch. A conversation about whether the shooting would have gotten as much coverage had it been in a poor neighborhood ensued on Twitter.

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FILED UNDER: Around the City, Crime, Gun Violence, U Street
April 21, 2011 | 2:29 PM | By

What can vouchers do for D.C.?

Flickr: NCinDC

Sidwell Friends.

Two weeks ago, Congress struck a last minute budget compromise to avoid a government shutdown. Part of that deal included restarting a voucher program in D.C. that had ended in 2009. Over at The New Republic, Matthew McKnight wonders if vouchers can provide a viable alternative to public schools–especially when the quality of private schools can vary dramatically:

Tuition at the city’s most elite, highest-achieving private schools are far too expensive for both the previous voucher allotments ($7,500 per year) and the increase proposed in the new bill ($12,000 per year). A smaller number of students were able to make up the difference from other funding sources in order to attend the more costly private schools. But, this means that most students with vouchers can only afford to attend private or parochial schools that, in many cases, are only marginally less bad than their public schools.

Lower school tuition for Sidwell Friends, the private school the Obama children attend, is nearly $32,000 for the 2011 school year. Sidwell offers financial aid to nearly a quarter of its student body–awarding an average of $20,965 to eligible students– but tuition is only the first hurdle to cross. McKnight interviewed an African American senior at the prestigious school who discussed feeling like an outsider who had to overcome obstacles like “sharp racial imbalances”…and that Senior wasn’t even a voucher student.

FILED UNDER: Education, Children, Politics, Race and Class, Schools