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What a bizarre thread. I think the OP was consistent from the beginning in saying SOME, not all, locals behave horribly. And that's really not debatable. Nor is the fact that some are well educated or just nice and perfectly respectful.
I get that there's a shift underway and the 40 year black majority is giving way to something more diverse, so people feel particularly defensive over what will be lost, but not sure where this visceral desire comes from to circle the wagons and defend bad behavior simply because those people happened to be born near you. I think some people are really engrained in an outdated race-based, black-versus-white worldview, when in reality we live today in a mostly class-based multicultural society with lingering impacts of a previously mostly race-based society.
While buppies tend to have their own subculture going on, they often frequent the same clubs, lounges ,and cultural events as Asian / white /Middle Eastern professionals. Certainly never got the impression thr black professionals are trying to impress white people. That seems to be an insecurity of other folks.
There's not some visceral hatred of successful black people here. I think people are pretty adept at telling the difference between a black guy in a suit reading a magazine riding the Metro versus someone blaring music and yelling the n-word over and over. You can see the negative reaction to the latter by all and the nonchalance to the former.
Also - why can't people talk about the future of the city without having to focus on the fact that there are people less well off than they are? I mean, that's not the topic of the thread and the OP even devotes his time to helping people in that situation. Pretty sure he's aware. The way to fix it is to help people find their own path.
Blue,
I respect your opinion but what he failed to acknowledge in his message is the fact that Buppies in DC is not something new. Black Washingtonians created the term Buppie so to speak way before gentrification. I am an educated, black DC native that went to an HBCU and a local white university for grad school. I now work for a Fortune 500 company and I love the fact that the city is changing for the better and I take offense at someone coming in from the outside giving me a BROAD generalization about DC when they have only been here a hot minute. You have a huge native population of black people in DC that are upper middle class buppies that do not participate in the same cultural events/clubs/lounges as asians/whites/etc.... These are the people who are not opposed to gentrification but they also will not relinquish their culture and traditions. They coexist with Yuppies in every aspect of life in DC.
I respect your opinion but what he failed to acknowledge in his message is the fact that Buppies in DC is not something new. Black Washingtonians created the term Buppie so to speak way before gentrification. I am an educated, black DC native that went to an HBCU and a local white university for grad school. I now work for a Fortune 500 company and I love the fact that the city is changing for the better and I take offense at someone coming in from the outside giving me a BROAD generalization about DC when they have only been here a hot minute. You have a huge native population of black people in DC that are upper middle class buppies that do not participate in the same cultural events/clubs/lounges as asians/whites/etc.... These are the people who are not opposed to gentrification but they also will not relinquish their culture and traditions. They coexist with Yuppies in every aspect of life in DC.
Ok. That makes more sense now. I mean, DC was really the birthplace along with Harlem of the educated black professional. Guess I didn't get the impression he was negating that long-standing presence here by pointing out the problems but I did just skim the posts.
I agree. With the amount of transplants setting up shop, I have even noticed a stigma against speaking like a native, especially amongst the buppie crowd. The fear, to be honest, is that you will be associated with native (re: poor) Washingtonians, which can hurt your appeal in the long term.
DC will likely begin to have a definitive accent and such with some old washingtonian undertones.
Quote:
Originally Posted by DginnWonder
I don't CARE what white people think of me! Why is this even discussed?! I don't CARE what they think of me, and they don't care what I think of them. Stop obsessing about white people! Good GAWD!
UGH!
If you really don't care about what White people think, then why on God's green earth would you make the above statement?? Come on champ just admit it, you're insecure about what "transplants" think of you. I have a very strong DC accent and I could give a Sh&^T about what you or these other "transplants" think about me. I mean who the F!! are they to judge anybody. I know who I am and I know where I'm from and I'm proud of that fact. How is having a Native DC accent going to hurt your long term appeal. Who are you trying to appeal to???
Ok. That makes more sense now. I mean, DC was really the birthplace along with Harlem of the educated black professional. Guess I didn't get the impression he was negating that long-standing presence here by pointing out the problems but I did just skim the posts.
No. He's misinterpreting what I have written. Read my posts and you'll see how flawed his logic is. WHY would I downplay the already established black middle class, if I plan on being one of them?
If you really don't care about what White people think, then why on God's green earth would you make the above statement?? Come on champ just admit it, you're insecure about what "transplants" think of you. I have a very strong DC accent and I could give a Sh&^T about what you or these other "transplants" think about me. I mean who the F!! are they to judge anybody. I know who I am and I know where I'm from and I'm proud of that fact. How is having a Native DC accent going to hurt your long term appeal. Who are you trying to appeal to???
The two have little to do with each other...You all are just trying really hard to start making sense now lol
Why do you feel that having a Native accent hurts your long-term appeal??
Who are you trying to appeal to and why??
The native accent actually got recognized in the mainstream. Cleveland Brown's accent IN the Cleveland Show from FOX is actually taken from the DC area - or should I say "urrea." Watch an episode. He says, "Tury" for Terry, etc.
Well I did like the original question/post from the OP but this thread was hijacked about 3 pages in so it's pointless to go on here.
It's unfortunate that that happened, but I still ask that we try and push forward.
What are your predictions for the near future of DC?
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