Wednesday, June 26, 2013

THE ETHNIC CLEANSING OF THE NATION'S CAPITAL

              PEACE 2 ALL AFRIKAN PEOPLE'S & DEATH 2 ALL ENEMIES OF AFRIKA!!!


     As a third generation resident of Washington DC, I have seen and heard a lot of history in and around the nation's capitol. The DC that I grew up in (and around) was a city that was governed by Black people. Not only was the mayor Black, but many of the people working for the DC government & even the Federal government were also Black. This created a Black political & economic class that spread from the city out to nearby Prince George's County. As a result, P.G. County would become the richest Black enclave in the country in the early 1990's. Many Black people were able to send their children to college in hopes of helping them to enjoy even more of a middle class lifestyle. In this region, and several others around the country, it appeared the American dream was finally about to be realized.
     That American dream had a downside of course. During this same period of economic progress for Afrikans in America, a new scourge was unleashed on Afrikan people. That scourge was "crack" cocaine. It was unleashed in the early 1980's on the West coast of America and made it's way across the country. No one at that time knew that it had been invented & propagated by the United States government. Yes, you read that correctly. The US government & the CIA specifically, caused the crack cocaine epidemic in America.  For more on that subject you will need to read or at least look up Gary Webb's book "Dark Alliance". You will also need to look up the Iran-Contra scandal that took place when Ronald Reagan was in office. I could go more in depth on that subject, but that is not the purpose of this particular post. I just wanted to outline a little history of the Washington DC region from an Afrikan perspective.
     By now some of U are thinking what does this have to do with "ethnic cleansing"? Well, a background history has to be laid in order to understand how the demographics of the city came about. The reason that PG County became so rich is because many of the former residents of the District of Columbia started to flee the city because of the crack epidemic. The drug abuse led to a record murder rate, as well as an increase in crime overall. Parts of DC became a veritable war zone where shootouts reminiscent of a Hollywood "Westerns" would occur virtually every weekend. This crime led to a slow erosion of property values in the city. Some smaller Black owned businesses were able to thrive because of a loyal clientele, but larger white owned businesses fled the city or went out of business. This was the state of the economy in the city for about a decade.
    During this time period, Washington DC was a city with a 70 to 80% Afrikan population. The white population that had inhabited DC in the 1st half of the 20th century had fled to the suburban counties of Maryland and Virginia. All of that would begin to change with the arrest & prosecution of Mayor Marion S. Barry on drug charges in 1990. Even before Barry's arrest there were those who spoke of "The Plan". "The Plan" referred to a supposed plot to reverse the current demographics of the city from overwhelmingly Black to primarily white. Barry received support during his trial because of the belief that his arrest by the FBI was a part of this plan. While Barry would eventually be released and re-elected to yet another term as mayor, changes could be seen as soon as he was out of office in 1999. The "Homestead Act" was passed that gave tax breaks to 1st time home buyers in the city. New retail areas featuring "big box stores" were announced.  Plans to remodel schools in certain areas of the city, while closing other schools were unveiled. Public housing across the city was torn down but never replaced. Slowly but surely the details of "The Plan" were unveiled to the general public.
     The Washington DC of today is much more ethnically diverse than the "Chocolate City" of my youth. Some people would view that as a good thing. I myself am not a believer in diversity for diversity's sake. I also know that when Europeans move in, they usually find a way to move Afrikans out. The latest figures have the city at a nearly 50-50 split of Afrikans to Europeans. This statistic of course overlooks economics. As more whites move in they push up the cost of living, causing more Afrikans to have to live elsewhere. The economic diversity of the city has been greatly reduced as more middle class Afrikans leave for the cheaper suburbs of Maryland. If the trends continue, DC will be a city of rich white elites with an small enclave of impoverished Afrikans locked East of the River. While pristine new housing & retail is being constructed, whole neighborhoods are being completely obliterated. The new residents are even renaming neighborhoods to change the identity of the areas that they now control. From my vantage point, what the city is gaining in tax dollars, it's losing in culture & "soul". The ethnic cleansing of DC is yet another stark reminder of the complete powerlessness of Afrikan people to withstand any onslaught by Europeans be it economic or military. Even when they know the plans of Europeans before they're executed.

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