The Dying Culture of DC

Charles Cleveland

Since the 1700s, the District of Columbia has served as the nation’s capital and a cultural hub for many generations– our home has a long, colorful history. Situated between Maryland and Virginia, the location was a compromise between the northern states and southern states of the only then recently United States of America. After the civil war, many freed slaves came to DC which has fostered the nature of DC as an area where Black culture has flourished. 

The culture of modern DC was created by Black Americans, especially during the civil rights movement of the 1960s where store owners gave protesters shelter from police. From this time also came Go Go music, barber shop culture, and one of the most vibrant jazz scenes in America. During this same period, DC’s population changed drastically. In response to riots and general unrest, there was a high degree of white flight. The city became a very dangerous place, having the highest murder rate of anywhere in the country according to data gathered by the DC government. As the city became safer in the late 2000s, suburban residents started to move back into the city, at the cost of much of the culture. 

In 2020, Mayor Murial Bowser signed a bill making Go Go the official music of DC, in the hopes to cement the iconic sound into DC history. Go Go has been a staple of DC culture since its creation in 1971 by Chuck Brown, but over its history has been shut down by DC police because there was often violence at Go Go concerts. But just last week, the city held “Keep the Beat Week,” a series of in-studio concerts by The DC Office of Cable Television, Film, Music, and Entertainment (OCTFME), to promote the rich history of the city. “Mayor Muriel Bowser and OCTFME continue to amplify the contributions of the city’s creative community by ensuring every resident is given a fair shot throughout all 8 wards.” said Director LaToya Foster in a press release. But this gesture is somewhat hollow, as it does not address the root cause of why we need a “Keep the Beat” week. Some parts of old DC culture and its residents are being kicked out and replaced with TV specials, plaques on a rock, and murals in the side of new buildings

The Mayor has faced this criticism, with some saying she is letting new white developers tear up and reshape the old historic city. Where older predominantly black neighborhoods once stood, is now all new rows of refurbished townhouses.  

D.C is becoming one of the most gentrified cities in America, and as the older and lower income residents are forced out, many traditions and art forms leave with them, bringing in new people and customs that some long-time residents see as boring, or even harmful. According to the U.S Census Bureau, since 2000, the Black population of the city has dropped from 59% to 41%, and much of the original culture of DC has changed too. The city’s roots in the Civil Rights Movement are going from remembrance and stories to Murals on the sides of new buildings and plaques where historic buildings once stood. 

This is an issue for many Washingtonians, others see a plaque or mural as enough, and that historical preservation gets in the way of progress. In Cleveland Park, an old strip mall called Sam’s Park and Shop could be torn down and replaced with new shops and stores, but is still standing because the nearby residents don’t want there to be more traffic in the area. By some act of coincidence, this happens to be the first American strip mall, so locals got it historical status and kept it up.

There is a plaque dedicating the strip mall to Sam Gorlitz, not the founder of the stripmall but a real estate executive, and some think that should be enough. “The plaque itself commemorates the history. There is no rule requiring that the strip mall stand there forever.” said Matthew Yglesias in his blog. Keeping older buildings up and maintained is more expensive in the long run, too. Older homes and buildings are notorious for bad plumbing, poor electrical work, and having harmful materials like asbestos, which causes cancer.   

Plaques can communicate history, and in the modern age, the internet can too. Having a QR code or website name on a plaque can show someone to an article or historical document explaining the history of the building. Besides with plaques, there are other ways to commemorate history.

“Top of the Town” Mural in Tenleytown, D.C depicts the Cold War aged tower at Fort Reno, schools in the area, and the altitude of the neighborhood, which is the highest in the city. Taken Feb 24, 2023.

In some neighborhoods, history and culture is commemorated by murals. This is from Tenleytown, the second oldest neighborhood in the city, and shows some of the most important parts of the neighborhood. All five public schools in the neighborhood are represented on the wall, along with the historic Jesse Reno school, which is now a part of Alice Deal Middle School. The mural also says “altitude 409” which is the altitude of Fort Reno Park. It is the highest point in D.C, according to the National Park Service. 

“Rep your Statehood” Mural in Georgetown, D.C depicts a person painting the wall in support of D.C statehood, a longtime battle in D.C. Taken Feb 25, 2023.

In Georgetown, the oldest neighborhood in the city dating back to the mid 1700s, many murals stand commemorating the history of the city, but this one is different. This mural represents the movement to make D.C a state, which residents want to be New Columbia or Washington, Douglass Commonwealth, an homage to George Washington and Fredrick Douglass. Douglass, the renowned abolitionist who escaped slavery, was born in Maryland and died in DC.

America Eats Tavern Mural in Georgetown, D.C depicts the first layout of Georgetown before the modern era. Taken February 25, 2023.  

In another mural from Georgetown, artist Bryan King, spent time reading and learning about the neighborhood’s original layout to have an accurate piece. The mural shows the way Georgetown would have looked in the 1700s around the time it was founded. As of 2018, spanish chef José Andrés was to open a restaurant in the building, but so currently it stands empty. 

“Ich bin ein Berliner” Mural on K street under whitehurst freeway depicts John F Kennedy’s famous anti communist speech of the same name. Taken February 25, 2023.

This mural in K street is on the side of a closed German restaurant. The substance of the mural shows former president John F. Kennedy giving his famous speech titled “Ich bin ein Berliner” which translates to “I am a Berliner.” His speech was given in West Berlin 2 and a half years after the constriction of the Berlin Wall, and was staunchly anti communist. His message resonated with many around the world and encapsulated American values. 

This sculpture on the Four Seasons Hotel depicts images of George Washington and Pierre-Charles L’Enfant, supposedly when they met in Georgetown to discuss city planning. Taken February 25, 2023.

Pierre-Charles L’Enfant was a French combat engineer who in 1791 made a basic design for the layout of modern DC. In this sculpture, L’Enfant is showing then President George Washington something in the distance with members of congress sitting in the background. Georgetown, the oldest neighborhood in the city, was already an established community perfectly situated in between the north and south– an ideal location for the early United States to build its capital.

The root problem here is remembrance. How do we remember and commemorate history in a way that progress and growth can still be achieved? DC hasn’t fully solved that problem yet. If we want to make a new, advanced city, along the way old buildings will have to be torn down. But if we don’t try to advance the city, we could end up mired in outdated infrastructure that serves no one. 

Since taking office, Mayor Bowser had put over 1.4 billion dollars into the affordable housing trust fund, and 10 million dollars into the Black Homeownership Fund in an effort to curb the gentrification problem in DC. The city also has an official goal to have 20,000 more Black homeowners by 2030. 

Will this help save the history and culture of DC? Hopefully, but what’s more important is that fewer low income families will be displaced from their homes and help keep DC diverse and full of life.