The Mount Pleasant riots began on May 5, 1991 after a police officer shot a Salvadoran immigrant. Last week’s Metro Connection took a look at what happened during those two tumultuous days, and today’s Kojo Nnamdi show featured a discussion around the legacy of the riots for D.C.’s Latino community.
The riots, which also spilled over into Columbia Heights, left a lasting mark a neighborhood that has changed dramatically in the past 20 years. We take a look at Mount Pleasant today:
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Mount Pleasant was the epicenter of riots that began on May 5, 1991, in response to a police shooting of a Latino man. The neighborhood is now a quaint enclave in Northwest.
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An influx of immigrants fleeing El Salvador’s civil war in the 1980s and 1990s settled in Mount Pleasant and Columbia Heights. Here, a woman shows her Salvadoran pride during the 2008 Fiesta DC festival in Mount Pleasant.
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Jose Quevas, owner of Distribuidora El Salvador Del Mundo, has been on Mount Pleasant Street for 23 years. He said there are more businesses on the street than two decades ago, “and now with the Metro, it brings more people here.”
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The Columbia Heights Metro Station opened in 1999, which helped change the landscape of the entire area. Big retailers and luxury apartment complexes soon followed.
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Walter Martinez has been living in Mount Pleasant for more than 35 years. He’s seen the neighborhood change from predominately black to being mostly Latino in the 1990s. He said the Metro station and Columbia Heights development helped spur an influx of white residents. “That’s how this got to be a more expensive place to live. Before, our apartment, a 2-bedroom, was $300 [a month]. Now, it’s $1,300.”
