Thursday, May 10, 2012

WP: Ward 5 Election Comes at an Anxious Time

I've been reading and rereading this article while discussing it with friends over email this morning. It's Washington Post coverage of Ward 5 just prior to our special election on Tuesday. Maybe I'm groggy from the meds, but there's a lot that strikes me as absurd about this article. Take a gander, and tell me if I'm off.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wilds sounds like a paranoid schitzophrenic.

And if you go interview folks hanging aorund a neighborhoods in the middle of the day, you're bound to get "interesting" responses from the locals.

Anonymous said...

Forgot to mention that this is a typical race-baiting article from WaPo. Similar articles are found every few months!

oboe said...

“You can’t raise kids in a condo,” Anthony Davis, 53, said as he looked toward the development from the steps of a rowhouse that his family has owned since 1964. “The message is obvious. They don’t want us here. It’s not even subliminal racism. It’s obvious racism.”

Good stuff, WP.

oboe said...

From the WP piece:

Another Democrat in the race, Frank Wilds, 67, poses a serious threat to Hunter and McDuffie by stressing a message of seasoned and reliable leadership.

Ah, that sounds nice...

Wilds countered that the term “progressive” is a “code word that comes from Bloomingdale and comes from Brookland” and is offensive to many African American voters.

“I resent it. . . . You can be a progressive in Bloomingdale and a progressive in Brookland, but you are talking about Ward 5,” Wilds said. “They are using it as a code word to divide up this ward.”


Ah, so "seasoned and reliable" means being a divisive, race-baiting asshole. Got it.

Anonymous said...

Typical WaPo race-baiting article. Generalize about the whole community from one racist "man on the street" interview.

Michael in Ward 5 said...

Ward 5 resident here, and I'm black.

I just cancelled my subscription to the Post.

That paper just keeps getting worse and worse.

charles said...

I canceled the Post years ago and this story is neither well-researched nor well-written. But I can understand how some longtime residents would no longer feel welcome by newer residents in certain neighborhoods. In fact, some of the comments on this blog give that impression.

oboe said...

When economic classes commingle, resentment is the likely outcome. Particularly when each group can label the other "The Other".

Flip you point on its head: can you also understand how some of the newer residents might not feel welcome by some longtime residents in certain neighborhoods?

Perspective-taking is something of a lost art, it seems.

Trinidaddy said...

Can't we all juss get along??!
-Rodney King

Anonymous said...

i just hope we don't get another round of riots up and down H street....

oboe said...

i just hope we don't get another round of riots up and down H street....

If we do, it'll look a lot more like the Brooks Brothers riot of 2000 than the riots of '68.

You should take a look at the Census profile of DC sometime.

H Street Landlord said...

Great post Charles.

Anonymous said...

I don't know, my impression of the article is that it pretty much reflects the range of views in the neighborhoods, for better or worse. If the Post's reporting ignored ignorant opinions, it would be ignorant.

Anonymous said...

I watched the LA riots closely. It really seemed like 10% of the people were "angry" and the rest were in it for the free TVs and other electronics. I can easily see it happening again, although on H Street in 2012 they'll be stealing fish tacos and PBRs.