Will The Few Become The Many?
Photography and Text by © Joseph Young
Will the Few Become the Many?, Southeast Washington, DC, 2017. © Joseph Young
In Ward 7 and 8 of Southeast Washington, DC residents have felt a sense of largely being removed from the gentrification boom taking place west of the Anacostia River. There, one working-class community after another have fallen to college graduates and young families. First, under the radar and then slow and steady, then they're all their is. Now, because of the ever increasing cost of housing, millennial are scrambling for a foothold east of the Anacostia River, one of the city's remaining less expensive real estate markets.
The optimism once felt by Ward 7 and 8 residents has turned to anxiety although gentrification is not yet an imminent threat. Many call those Wards home despite the day to day difficulties faced by some. The possibly of being forced out, as evident by the hoard of housing speculators that are descending on the neighborhoods, is a major source of displacement pressure and fear that loom over the entire community. The fear is also compounded by the fact that low-income housing units are scarce in the city. Others, like Barry Farm, are slated to be bulldozed to make room for millennials. Where will working-class families be forced to run then? Will they leave the city altogether in search of another low-income housing project?
Many of the photographs in this essay were taken on Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, located in the Southeast section of the nation's capital. It is a majority African American community where more than 150,000 residents are walled off by the Anacostia River from the rest of Washington. To even the casual observer here on the avenue there are clear signs that King's dream of racial justice has turned into a nightmare by barriers that exclude the other Washingtonians from participating in the prosperity of the city. For some, those barriers prevent residents access to greater employment opportunities, small business development, suitable housing, high quality educational facilities healthcare services and a supply of supermarkets choices.
Sadly, there is a mere 27% home ownership rate east of the Anacostia River. In other words, nearly 75% of ward 7 and 8 residents are renters.
Now, on top of all of that, this community is faced with the prospect of being forced from their homes by millennials who are gunning for cheap real estate. There is deep resentment among blacks, and they are caught between resignation and resistance. This photography essay tells the story of this southeast Washington community that is surrounded by the forces of an encroaching gentrification. The shadow of gentrification will be there for years to come. But it's no secret they are running out of time.
Ace of Spade, Southeast Washington, DC, 2017. © Joseph Young
Some may think they are witnesses to the start of gentrification in their ward 7 and 8 community, but, in fact, change started nearly a century ago. It started with the racially discriminatory Federal lending policy of redlining (1934-1968), the practice of FHA (Federal Housing Administration) backed banks and insurance companies denial of mortgage loans to predominate black communities. It limited opportunities for Black home ownership despite even the individuals credit worthiness. At the same time, opportunities for white home ownership flourished. (This is one more reason that explains why white family wealth far exceeds that of Black family wealth and the reality of white privilege.) Relining also perpetuated residential segregation, coupled with restrictive covenants (1920s-1948). Restrictive covenants refer to the legally binding agreement among neighbors not to rent, lease or sell real-estate to certain groups, usually Black people. These were nationwide practices. Between 1934 and 1968, more than 98% of FHA backed mortgage loans were given to white Americans.
Although the policies of redlining and restrictive covenants have been abolished, there past policies coupled with the present discriminatory home lending practices shape life in predominate Black communities, including wards 7 and 8 in Washington, DC. Other services, such as, quality healthcare or even food choice, insurance and education are impacted today by those practices.
The Dog Everyone Loves to Hate, Southeast Washington, DC, 2017.
© Joseph Young
Anacostia is one of the many Southeast Washington communities. It is home to the Anacostia Metro Station, Anacostia Community Museum and Fredrick Douglass Historical Site. It is showing signs that change is coming. Often, millennials walking their dogs through Southeast Washington, are sure signs of gentrification. It goes beyond dogs, however. It goes right to the bitter core of race and class in America. In the sense that this is one more instance of this working-class community being walked over. And, of course, with gentrification comes dog parks, bike lanes and alienation from police as though there was not enough of that already.
Musical Chairs, Southeast Washington, DC, 2017. © Joseph Young
If developers can get a foothold in Southeast Washington, the results will be devastating--as it has been on the changing landscape of Black communities in other parts of DC. The effects will include the lost of political, cultural and religious institutions. Developers will mould and shape these institutions into their own middle-class set of interest.
Who is Watching the Watchers?, Southeast Washington, DC, 2017.
© Joseph Young
The people who are watching the watchers are contemptuous of police because gentrification has resulted in an increased mistreatment of working-class people in the area. Newcomers, placing calls to police on the homeless and "suspicious," have increased police stop and frisk tactics. Of course, area folk want better public safety, too. However, why does it take gentrification and an influx of newcomers into Anacostia for public safety to improve? White activists lean on police to improve public safety, but so do Black activists--with different outcomes.
Gentrification, the New Colonialism, Southeast Washington, DC, 2017. © Joseph Young
The anti-gentrification bill posted on the former America's Furniture store, which has sat vacant for more than 30 years, will be home to Busboys and Poets. The two-story brick building will be the seventh in the chain of Busboys and Poets restaurants in the region. The Anacostia location will also dish up lively performances, music and art. It is likely to open in early part of 2018.
Black people and their property owners were denied loans to maintain their buildings in redlined areas such as this one. Buildings gradually fell into disrepair, as well as the small businesses and homes of some who managed to acquire home loans despite discriminatory Federal lending policy and mortage loan practices.
Now, with newcomers moving in, Southeast Washington has become a hot bed for predator investors and traditional lenders, alike. Speculators have descended on this Southeast Washington community, snatching up certain properties, buying low and selling high.
The Sweeper, Southeast Washington, DC, 2017.
© Joseph Young
Big K Liquor, at 2252 Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, built in 1906 by grocer James Conway, was demolished. It was raze as part of a DC government-private partnership initiative to provide "affordable housing" for Southeast Washington residents. Maple View Flats will be a mixed-use development that blends residential and commercial uses.
However, residents well know that only the upwardly mobile will be able to afford the rents. The new development serves as a government strategy to lure affluent residents east of the Anacostia River and as a catalyst for gentrifying the older community.
Also, few African American men or women are seen employed on the site's demolition and earth work. The long and ugly history of trade unions keeping blacks out of the building trades persist today. Construction sites in outlying wards show Hispanics at a notable rate.
Flippers. Southeast Washington, DC, 2017. © Joseph Young
This house is on the market in Historic Anacostic for $550,000. Who is the seller's target market?
A Juice Bar in the Food Desert, Southeast Washington, DC, 2017.
© Joseph Young
More amenities lure more millennials east of the Anacostia River. The new local amenities have cause frustration to surface among long time Black residents. There is the "it's not for us" and "beyond my budget" resentment. They see the new amenities as additional proof that their communities are terrible because they are blacks and don't deserve any better than the glut of liquor stores, fast food joints, predator lenders, corner grocers, barber shops and hair salons.There in Southeast Washington also exist poor living conditions, such as the high unemployment rates, poor housing conditions, police profiling and schools that are under funded.
Out on the Town, Southeast Washington, DC, 2017. © Joseph Young
As millennials move east of the Anacostia River by stealth (really quiet), drawn by cheap real estate in this black working-class community, amenities have followed to cater to them, like restaurants and galleries. The arts are also meant to "tame" the natives and lay the ground work for reinvestment in this once disinvested cityscape. (The only time our children are cheered is when they are running a ball up and down the court or singing and dancing.)
This image depicts a gathering of an in-cohesive group of Blacks and whites at the Anacostia Arts Center on Good Hope Road. This does not mean that they wouldn't come together or there is no friction. It means that gentrification divides people into camps of winners and losers, whites and Blacks.
Segregation on Sunday Morning, Southeast Washington, DC, 2017. © Joseph Young
Inner-city Black churches are being repurposed or bulldozed and turned into upscale condominium developments. Black pastors are worried about the Black churches' future as they witness closing after closing, like the 106-year-old historic African American Church in Georgetown, Alexander Memorial Church, Faith Baptist Church on Capital Hill and Mt. Joy Baptist Church in Southeast. An institution once immune from changes in the community, the Black church is witnessing dwindling attendance in areas where Black people are being force out and gentrification takes hold.
This also includes the Black middle-class who is being forced out of Washington in droves. In the last 10 years, more than 40,000 black residents have been forced out of DC because they can not afford the rents. That's ironic because some among the very poor are staying put. The District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) provides public housing for more than 50,000 people who earn 30% of the area median income and below, says Adrianne Todman, former executive director of DCHA. (Well, even an affluent Washington, DC will need some low-wage earners to perform its menial task.)
Seventy thousand more are on the waiting list for pubic housing. They qualify to receive public housing or rental assistance if the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) was not underfunding housing programs. With the skyrocketing rental markets the working poor are at risk of falling into homelessness. Yet, both the FHA and HUD are backing luxury housing developments throughout Washington, DC for the "pioneers." The focus of city government on affordable housing for low-income earners has taken a turn. Now the city subsidize workforce development housing. In addition, the District last lost 50% of its low-come housing in the past decade.
Millennials are not the blame for systemic gentrification. They are being lured to Black working-class communities by city and federal officials, as well as, corporate developers who bill them as the new frontiers. They are also exploited by inflated cost of housing and amenities. Granted, African Americans and Latinos are the hardest hit. But developers who cater to high-end housing markets are the problem. Local and Federal Government policy is also the blame. Their zoning policies and the defunding of public housing for the working class are not helpful to anyone but the developers.
1. What can newcomers and long time residents do to make gentrification equitable for all?
2. Can newcomers and long time residents coexist on common ground? Can blacks gentrify a neighborhood?
3.In the beginning of his second term, Mayor Anthony William proclaimed his intentions to lure one hundred thousand new taxpayers to DC.
4. What impact has his goal had on housing insecurity in black and brown communities?
5. Did his goal spur gentrification in low-come black communities?
6. Why do upper-income white relocate to poor working class communities?
3. Why is real-estate development seen as the only path to community prosperity?
4. What role did Mayor Adrian Fenty play in continuing Mayor Williams' gentrification policy?
5. How does Mayor Muriel Bowser's gentrification policies compare and contrast with her predecessors' Williams, Fenty and Gray?
6. What are some other ways to build a prosperous neighborhood besides high rent apartments, Whole Foods and Starbucks? Is quality education, healthcare and employment opportunities viable options?
7. What are some ways to insure that black folk own their homes and businesses, such as banks, credit unions and mortgage companies? Why is it that only a mere 27% of Southeast Washington, DC residents own their homes?
8. Is small business development an option?
9. Is affordable housing a human right or is it just an another commodity that can be bought and sold to the highest bidder?
10. Is the church doing all it can to make gentrification even-handed?
11. Have elected officials sold-out their constituents to the gentrification interests, such as the corporate developers, banks and realtors?
12. Compare and contrast redevelopment and gentrification?
13. Why are people displaced during the gentrification and redevelopment process? Where do they go?
14. Is soaring housing cost contributing to the state of homeless?
15. Why can't developers build homes that are affordable for working-class communities?
16. What are the similarities between colonialism and gentrification?
17. There is an effort underway to rename the H Street Northeast corridor. Gentrifiers are calling it the Atlas District. How do you feel about that?
18. D.C. Council Member Vincent Gray wants to change 'East of the River' to 'East End.' What are your thoughts about that?
19. What is rebranding? What is the objective of rebranding? How does rebranding relate to gentrification? Is rebranding an attempt to erasure any signs of black people from a place? Is the spot left after erasing black gentrifiers?
20. Where do we go from here?
Joseph Young is a photographer living in Washington, DC. His photography has appeared in the Washington Post Magazine, Washington Times, Washington Afro Newspaper and the Washington Informer. He earned a bachelor degree in art from the University of the District of Columbia, with a focus on photography, as well as a bachelor degree in English. He is also a grant recipient from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities for his photography series on the Homeless in the nation's capital. His photography has been included in a group show at the GalleryOonH in Washington, DC, and Gallery 42 at the University of the District of Columbia and the School of Communication's Malsi Doyle and Michael Forman Theater at American University.
Joseph Young at the corner of 6th and H streets NE Washington, DC.
© Joseph Young
Since 2007, Joseph Young has been documenting the gentrification of his H Street Northeast community in Washington, DC. He is also a public speaker, and is available to talk about his photographic documentation of the gentrification of the H Street NE corridor and Southeast Washington.
