When I started blogging regularly again I told myself that when it came to issues of the District, I wouldn’t be controversial or negative. That lasted two weeks and a day. Below is a link to a story I read in DC blog “Prince of Petworth (Petworth is a neighborhood in DC close to where I live).” The original story comes from another DC blog where residents talk about issues important to them. Or in the following case, embrace racial stereotypes, thus continuing to diminish the reputation of this city. Before I rant, you should read. Here’s the link:

http://www.princeofpetworth.com/2009/11/derek-on-being-the-stereotype-by-danny-harris/

Now, wasn’t that satisfying?

The first line triggered my “angry button.” “You white folks…” implies that only white people read blogs. Yesterday I wrote about embracing your negative-side. Embracing that you are a walking stereotype (to the point of openly admitting such and boasting that you meet the requirements) is not, in my book, a positive action. If I were a former drug dealing, 32 year old “father” of 5, I would be hell bent on making something more of my life than I already had. But I’m just “judging” according to Derek, because living here is “hard as shit.”

No, Derek, living in Burkina Faso is “hard as shit.” You know, adult literacy rate of 20%. Life expectancy of 48 years. 6 doctors for every 100,000 people. You know, all that “shit.” The neighborhoods where Derek grew up and for some ungodly reason continues to live, are not fun and no, they’re not nearly as easy as where I grew up. There is such a high concentration of poverty “across the (Anacostia) River.” There’s gangs, drugs, crumbling schools which are still in use, horrid representation (Marion Barry everyone!), and a lot of racial tension between white cops and the roughly 95% black population.

I don’t live across the mighty Anacostia, but I do live in a world where common sense rules all. There is not a 25 foot high electric wall keeping people in Anacostia, Barry Farm, Congress Heights, etc. barricaded into their communities. I understand the cultural importance of staying true to who you are and the neighborhoods that become a part of who you are. What I don’t understand is how anyone can acknowledge their short comings, talk about how they are a product of their “hard as shit” neighborhood, and then choose not to, you know, get the heck out of the neighborhood. The saying, “If you hang around the barbershop long enough, you’re bound to get a haircut,” rings true here. If you are prone to poor decision making, maybe you should disconnect yourself from the influence which has led you wrong your entire life.

I don’t want to stereotype. Liberal white men walk a fine line when they talk about issues that ultimately come back to race. And it makes us really uncomfortable. It makes us uncomfortable to criticize. It makes others think that we’re racist if we do. But when I read a post like this one, with lines like, “The closest many people will get to success here is being a teenage mom or a drug dealer,” I want to throw up. Because that’s just not true (and since when was having a child deemed a success?). And a mentality like that is just a crutch for unsuccessful people to be able to blame their surroundings. You make your own bed in life, period. Especially at the age of 32. This post by Derek is immature. Having an “it’s not my fault, it’s yours” mentality in this situation is what has led to the decades of urban decay “across the river.”

So what’ the solution? For one, education is a really cool thing. Life is not over for a 32 year old. While Derek says that he has a job and is trying to make right, he also mentions that, “You certainly not going to get nowhere if you play by the rules here” and “If you’re not caught up in the loop, which is politics, you out of the game unless you want to sell drugs or get a lame-ass job that pays you nothing,” so I’d like to know what his job entails. “Lame-ass jobs that pay you nothing,” become less lame jobs that pay you more when you have credentials and work experience. For the vast majority of people not only in the District, but all over, life is not handed to them. At some point, you have to tie your shoes and walk on your own. Whether that is getting a college degree or mastering a trade or involving yourself in community building, most people who accomplish anything in life get there on their own. There’s plenty of time for Derek to make something of himself. There are a bevy of educational opportunities in this city and in its surrounding counties in Northern Virginia and Maryland.

“People in DC need to care about what is happening on these streets and in these projects. For all of you in other neighborhoods, especially the white folks in Northwest, there ain’t no difference between us. It’s what’s in your heart that matters.”

With the first line, I could not agree with Derek more. I certainly don’t agree with anything he says more than I do that line. This city of transplants is often far too concerned with shopping in Georgetown than it is in a row of crumbling storefronts on Martin Luther King Jr. Ave SE. For most people, “over there,” is a world away. But there are real people there, who do want a better life, who do want the neighborhoods that generations of their family grew up in to thrive the right way. Not people like Derek, who would clearly rather blame “the system,” than his own poor decisions in life. But parents who want their children (who they live with) to be able to raise their sons and daughters in a cleaner, healthier, safer, and better place, without having to move them away. It’s about more than clichés and stereotypes. This is how people live. And it could be so much better for them.