PG County exec said we are not Ward 9

[Anonymous]

Can someone explain this to a non dc non pg county resident? Was it a jab?

[jsteele]

A lot of the black middle class moved from DC to Prince George's to find better neighborhoods. However, they retained links to their previous DC neighborhoods due to family and, frequently, church ties. It was not unheard of for these PG residents to rely on grandparents' addresses to get into DC schools. As a result, PG would sometimes be referred to as "Ward 9". Sometimes this was meant in good humor, at other times as an insult. It all depended on context. I believe that Alsobrooks was trying to stress that PG has its own identity and its own positive aspects and is not just an appendage of DC.

[Anonymous]

DC is divided into eight Wards. "Ward 9" is a reference to UMC AA who live in PG but through family and social ties to DC still have influence over DC's affairs.

It's a joke with a sizable kernel of truth to it.

[Anonymous]

in 1990 DC was the murder capital of the world. 482 in 1991. It was a term used by Marion Barry.

It's important to know... most MoCo/DC people don't know this but.... "Prince George’s County is one of the richest majority-black counties in the U.S., with five of its communities topping a 2014 top 10 list."

Here is the history:

https://wamu.org/story/18/05/22/prince-georges-county-came-ward-9-residents-feel/

Here is the short meaning.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Ward%209

Ward 9
Derogatory term for Prince George's "PG" County, Maryland, a suburb of Washington DC. Now has more murders than DC. More and more low-income African-American DC residents (and others) are being forced out of DC by high rents and real estate prices, and moving to PG County.

DC is subdivided into eight political wards. PG County is just over the border from Ward 8, which is east of the Anacostia River in DC, and DC's poorest and blackest ward.

[Anonymous]

P.S. It's not a jab, it's a fact, PG is not and does not want to be DC. That is not a jab. Some people like cities, some people (most) like suburbs. PG does not want to be DC.

[Anonymous]

PG used to be THE destination for those who wanted to "make it out of the hood." I had a lot of classmates who lived in PG but used their relative's addresses to go to my school because it was easier for their parents to do pick up and drop off. We knew that once we graduated from elementary, we'd never see each other again because so many of them were going to use their "safer" middle schools. Once gentrification started, a lot of people sold and moved out to PG and Charles County (Waldorf) to buy houses that were way nicer than what they were used to. Those were the optional moves. DC started shutting down project complexes and raising rents so people started moving by force. PG slowly became more and more crime ridden. We always referred to it as Ward 9 sometimes in jest, sometimes as a jab. It depended on the context. It was "bougie" Ward 9 at first. Now it's ghetto Ward 9.

[Anonymous]

Marion Barry used to joke about how he'd moved a number of African-Americans into the middle class and they'd all moved out to PG.

[Anonymous]

People in Prince George’s Co also dislike it being referred to as PG County.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People in Prince George’s Co also dislike it being referred to as PG County.

Um, no. PG County elected officials dislike it being referred to as PG County.

I've lived and worked in northern PG County for 27 years. The vast majority of people who live here call it that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People in Prince George’s Co also dislike it being referred to as PG County.

Um, no. PG County elected officials dislike it being referred to as PG County.

I've lived and worked in northern PG County for 27 years. The vast majority of people who live here call it that.

Why? You don't want to hear what Black people in Fairfax county call it lol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People in Prince George’s Co also dislike it being referred to as PG County.

This is the sort of ‘issue’ that Jack Johnson and his cash-stuffing councilmember missus used to care about, instead of better schools. At least Rushern Baker focused on cleaning up the county’s sordid reputation for corruption, graft and pay-to/play,which for years held back the county economically. He didn’t have time for silly nonsense like taking offense at the PG moniker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People in Prince George’s Co also dislike it being referred to as PG County.

Um, no. PG County elected officials dislike it being referred to as PG County.

I've lived and worked in northern PG County for 27 years. The vast majority of people who live here call it that.

+1. It's not derogatory to most of us FROM here.