So everyone as you know I am taking a Justice and Peace Studies class this semester and I am going to be very upset when it ends. Hopefully I get into my teacher's other class next semester because I have love the subject and think they are very important concepts to discuss. This was one of essays that I have written for the class about Southeast DC, I hope you enjoy it because I enjoyed writing it:
Dirty, dangerous, and unimportant are just a few of the words used by outsiders to describe Southeast, DC. The Southeast is the most crime-ridden and poverty-stricken quadrant of Washington, DC. Government officials and non-profit organizations have directed funds to improving the situation of Southeast, but no positive change will be seen or experienced in Southeast until the stigma that is associated with the area is dropped. Attacking external perceptions of Southeast, DC is a necessary step in changing the economic and social issues within the area.
I recently took a bus tour of DC, offered by the Center for Social Justice at Georgetown University, which focused mainly on Southeast. Crossing over from Northwest, where Georgetown is located, to Southeast, I was expecting to see an immediate shift from clean streets, well-manicured lawns, and prestine buildings to trash-filled sidewalks, overgrown lawns, and dilapidated buildings. Shock set in when I looked out the window and did not see run down buildings but buildings that looked similar to the ones I walk by everyday in Georgetown. Father Kemp, my tour guide, addressed that the expectations that I had are consistent with most of the population’s expectations for what many people call the dangerous or bad part of town. Father Kemp even referenced a travel guide that blatantly told people not to venture into Southeast and especially not across the Anacostia River. Fodor’s Travel Guide states, “Northwest also has most of the important landmarks, although Northeast and Southwest have their fair share.” (“Washington, DC Travel Guide”) This advice given to many tourists clearly excludes any history that can be found within Southeast, such as Fredrick Douglass’ house, the Anacostia Museum, and a myriad of other celebrations of African-American history in the city. The intentional exclusion of such landmarks in travel guides and guided tours reinforces the stigma that has been placed on that quadrant.
Southeast clearly has an abundant and vibrant history that could help revive the area if it was cultivated and appreciated. On the tour we visited only two of the historical stops in Southeast, Frederick Douglass’ house and the Anacostia Museum. Both structures directly refute the idea that Southeast lacks important landmarks, yet tourists and residents of other quadrants usually do not even know such landmarks exist. Even my tour guide claimed that there is a “huge divide” between quadrants, yet I kept questioning whether that divide was made by misperceptions. Just driving through the area I felt like I was in familiar neighborhoods. We crossed over a river that is just like the Potomac, drove past an enormous chair that is similar to the one that can be seen in front of Duke Ellington School of the Arts near Georgetown, and saw numerous brick housing structures that were just as nice as the Northwest’s million dollar real estate. Comparisons like these reminded me that I was not in a different world when I entered Southeast; I was in my own backyard.
While many misperceptions exist about Southeast, most of the poverty and crime statistics are unfortunately true. Unemployment, violent crimes, and poverty are highest in Southeast compared to DC’s three other quadrants, which is most of the reason why tourists do not visit the area. Poverty and unemployment, though, are not a problem only in Southeast. DC has the highest child poverty rate in all of the United States and an unemployment rate well above the national average. (So Others Might Eat, 2007) Much of this poverty is concentrated and blamed on the neighborhoods in Southeast. Moreover companies do not want to invest there, leaving Southeast with only three supermarkets and two sit down restaurants (Denny’s and IHOP). The only way to break the cycle of neglect and poverty in Southeast is to break the stereotype that investing and visiting Southeast is a waste. If companies do not invest in the area, then the area will continue to be impoverished. If the area continues to be impoverished, then the companies will be less likely to invest. In order to change this cycle, it must be stopped at its source, the mind-set of vendors, tourists and fellow DC residents.
The root of this cycle is not the Southeast residents, the community, or the economy; the problem is the stigma and fear that outsiders, like investors, tourists, residence of other quadrants who never travel south past the capital, and even news anchors, have toward Southeast. Driving through Southeast I saw more evidence of strong community bonds than I see in Northwest, DC. Churches, community centers, and family gatherings were abundant on the streets. Using these resilient and close-knit communities as the representation of Southeast, instead of the crime and poverty, would give the news topics to broadcast about besides crime and unemployment, would draw more visitors from other quadrants and tourists from other states, and would be a positive shift toward changing many widespread misperceptions.
Negative stereotypes and attitudes are reinforced by the drastic separation felt in DC. Kwame Appiah’s concept of cosmopolitanism, the idea of being responsible for other human beings regardless of geographical boundaries, is what needs to be accepted by each individual in DC. Through taking responsibility for fellow human beings, the divide that people feel between Southeast and the rest of DC would be eliminated. Every individual’s responsibility is to stop seeing the people of Southeast as the other and therefore, neglecting them. We are all humans, with human struggles. Whether our struggles are physical, financial, or internal, this universal struggle should unite us not polarize us further.
The end :)
Mackensey
