Race, Class, and Politics in the Cappuccino City by Derek Hyra

Author:Derek Hyra [Hyra, Derek]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
Published: 2017-03-30T00:00:00+00:00

The Increasing Significance of Class: Hair Salon or High Culture?

One of Shaw/U Street’s prominent bloggers is a gay newcomer whose Internet site, Fifth and Oh, is named for the intersection of 5th and O Streets in the neighborhood. In one of his blog posts, he discusses how community issues frequently turn “into a racial thing.” He adds, “But here’s the thing: I don’t think it’s quite that (pardon the expression) black-and-white. There are quite a few white folks around here who stuck it out through the drug wars as well. By no means are all of the ‘gentrifiers’ (a term I really despise) white. Take my little condo development, for example: The developers were black, the realtor (and all his team) were black, the settlement attorneys were black, and half of the home owners are black.”53 In other words, in gentrifying Shaw/U Street, upper- and middle-income African Americans are taking part in guiding the community’s redevelopment, and this can conflict with the interests of lower-income African Americans.

While race and sexual orientation are important for understanding Shaw/U Street’s political debates, intraracial class difference, based on income, wealth, and educational distinctions, is also a significant factor in explaining divides and tensions in the community, as well as the trajectory of its redevelopment. E. Franklin Frazier’s controversial book, Black Bourgeoisie, laid out the importance of class for the Black American experience in the twentieth century. He wrote, “The single factor that has dominated the mental outlook of the black bourgeoisie has been its obsession with the struggle for status.”54 Frazier’s claim was mainly based on his observations of Black Washingtonians. Since the publication of this classic text, the Black middle class has tripled, and many African Americans have attained great wealth, while others remain part of the Black underclass.55 The importance of intraracial class distinction in Shaw/U Street is illustrated by the relationship between two fourth-generation Black Washingtonians, Wanda Henderson and Roy “Chip” Ellis.

Henderson, who has long dreadlocks and a warm personality, comes from the lower-income segment of DC’s Black community. Much of her childhood was spent in a public housing project located just north of Shaw/U Street. For the last twenty years, she has owned and managed a local hair salon.

Henderson’s salon used to be at 1201 U Street; however, rising commercial rent prices forced her off the community’s main business thoroughfare. She chose the intersection of 7th and T Streets for her next location because of its cheaper rent; it also had high foot traffic, owing to the nearby Shaw/Howard Metro stop. Moreover, Henderson knew the owner of the building, and thought that after she established herself she might be able to make an offer to buy it.

Many of Henderson’s friends thought she was crazy to move her business to this particular location, as it had been an open-air drug market for decades.56 When Henderson first moved there, the area was full of illicit activity, forcing her to push through crowds of drug customers and loiterers to get to her shop.

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