Georgetown, the death of Washington’s “chocolate” neighborhood

In the call “chocolate city” because of its black population, Washington, one of the ounces of the tablet is about to disappear. At 66, Neville Waters is one of the few african american natives remaining in Georgetown, a neighborhood of the US capital that was once home to a large black community.

The Waters case is “only”, laments this sixth-generation homeowner, after many had to leave their homes due to gentrification, before the phenomenon had a name.

Walking through Georgetown, one can enter the most exclusive shops in the city, with the typical cafes and restaurants of a wealthy neighborhood, which without any resemblance to its past has now become a white enclave.

“Many black families have left, there are only about six left”explains to EFE the African-American Monica Roaché, 50, who has been living in the same house that her ancestors bought in 1941. Her relatives have been some of the victims of housing speculation, which has led them to move to other areas of the city and the adjacent state of Maryland.

What one day was an area with close to the 40% of black population, currently only has the 7%according to “Black Book of Georgetown”. And it is that the Afro-American community has been in the neighborhood “since day one”, with a history of slavery that marks the beginning of the region, claims EFE Lisa Fager, director of the Black Georgetown Foundation.

“The story of blacks in Georgetown really tells the story of blacks in USA”points out Fager, who in turn points out the need to “make sure people understand” last.

Waters recalls that the first generation of his family to come to Georgetown were Charles and James Turner, twin slaves who were freed when they were six years old with the abolition of slavery in 1962. The compensation for both was around $90. From that moment on, the Afro-American population began to make a place for itself in society.

Unlike Waters, her parents did live in an environment where “there was a real sense of black community,” given the number of churches, schools, doctors, and other services. It was during the sixties, when gentrification caused many to leave their homes.

Measures such as the “Old Georgetown Law” which, under the pretext of protecting historic architecture, opened the door to greater government discrimination, especially due to the bureaucracy associated with the process.

As prices rose, many African-American citizens could not afford to meet these requirements and keep their homes, so they began to move to other areas of the city.

In addition, Roaché ​​recounts that, in the case of rentals, the owners made the conditions of the houses so bad that they could not be lived in, in order to throw out the African-American tenants.

Roaché ​​regrets not having been able to be part of those African-American organizations that “joined strongly” to the community, such as the Girl Scouts or baseball teams, since they had already disappeared during her childhood.

“My family worked hard to stay in Georgetown. My grandfather, for example, had two jobs. They made an effort to stay here and that’s why I’m staying.”defends Roaché.

This commitment is also shared by Walters, who promised his grandfather before he died that he would keep the house: “Our grandparents saw this achievement of acquiring a home and wanted to pass it on to future generations. I don’t think they were thinking that one day they would be multi-million dollar houses with politicians and businessmen.”he argues.

Some African-American churches continue to operate, such as the Epiphany Catholic Church attended by the women in Roaché’s family, who remains a member of the same congregation.

The men, instead, went to Mount Zion, which still houses one of the oldest African-American cemeteries in Washington, where people who were born and died slaves are buried. Precisely, the organization led by Fager works to preserve it, since “It does not receive funding on a regular basis.”

One of the main claims is “to receive the same treatment that many of the cemeteries in the District of Columbia – where Washington is located – received that were previously only for whites.”

There are only four historic black cemeteries left in the city, and all of them “they need to be saved”recalls Fager, because “If someone deserves to rest in peace and with dignity, it’s them.”

Now, the African-American community linked to this neighborhood “of chocolate” she is worried that her inheritance may end up buried in these cemeteries and they continue to fight for history to be “recognized and celebrated”.

Source: EFE