Reflection 1: Oh Washington...

Ah, my first blog post. I don't know if I'm the only one who didn't respond to the first response question, but I must say it was entirely my own fault. In the syllabus, it said we can talk about blah blah blah, AND SO ON. This seems a little too open ended, for it tempts me to right absolute nonsense. But I won't, for Explorations seems to be a quite promising class. And Jackson's too cool to disappoint.

What has struck me most about the last couple of weeks is our study of the city of Washington, D.C. Before coming to school here, I didn't know D.C. had so many problems. I knew of the high crime and poor school systems, but I didn't know why. Now it seems clear to me: no one really cares about D.C. residents. As we have discussed inside and outside the classroom, there are several tell-tale signs. One that we have witnessed first hand is the metro system. It is quite clean and easy to use, but it obviously caters to the suburbs outside the city lines. It's primary purpose is to bring commuters in and out of the city. The lines stretch out from the suburbs into the heart of D.C. and quickly loop around and out. Maintenance (elevators go down, trains are delayed) always seems to happen whenever I want to go somewhere, not on commuters' time. The most telltale sign is the striking difference between the red and green lines. The red line caters to the nicer north section of town. It has consistent air conditioning, and the demographic of the passengers is what I like to call "pale". But once you switch trains onto the green line at Chinatown, it's a whole different story. The cars turn muggy and uncomfortable from lack of AC. The trains seem to come less frequent. Most of all, the people are different. It seems that the closer you get to Anicostia, the "darker" it gets. It was shocking to me to see the immediate shift in demographics once you hit the green line. I won't say that I was uncomfortable, for I grew up in a very diverse neighborhood, but I was sensitive to the fact that I was witnessing an essential characteristic of the city first hand. Seriously, do all the black people of D.C. live in the south east quadrant? It seems that way. When I stepped into Anicostia from the Metro during Discover D.C., I must tell you, I have never seen a denser population of African-Americans in my LIFE. I say this because where you find people of color, you usually find different colors, like Hispanics. But this wasn't the case, and it surprised me. It's like all the cities black people were squished into Anicostia. The gentrification of D.C. has really pushed the black people out of the city.

DC puts on such a front for the rest of the world. Outsiders only know of the striking monuments, museum, and movers-and-shakers of government. Before coming here I didn't know of the ghetto, the issues in development, or the general plight of D.C. residents. This is our nation's capital, so it makes sense to put our best foot forward. However, as the capital, it should display the way America treats its citizens. Washington D.C., in my book, is making a poor example.