Are D.C. residents divided on what to do with police reform, crime, etc.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry but massive generational poverty is not solved by locking up more people. And that generational poverty and the lack of support that comes with it is the driving factor in young criminals' behavior. Whether or not the criminal element deserve it, putting huge numbers of black children and men behind bars does not help solve the poverty issue on those neighborhoods.

+1. It’s a self-licking ice cream cone. Besides criminal justice reform, increase job training, up the mandatory minimum wage to a level that allows people to live with dignity on one job, and heavily invest in the schools in high poverty areas.

I don't disagree, but none of that has anything to do with police reform.

[Anonymous]

Respectability politics is the idea that black people would be more accepted by the white majority if only we would just behave ourselves. Dress well, hide our natural hair texture, speak proper English, have a good job, not have children out of wedlock, etc. It's a concept that is extremely racist at its core, which is why many people hate it. However, people who do grow up in families and communities that hold their own to a high standard do fare better in the world, so it's hard for me to argue that promoting respectability is bad.

There is a lot to unpack in that statement. Yeah, I agree that the hair texture thing is racist. But the rest of it? Being disdainful of learning to speak proper English, being gainfully employed, and being married prior to having children is a ticket to remaining mired in a permanent poverty underclass. And unfortunately, the DC liberal political class has never been wiling to state those hard truths.

My mom grew up in Appalachia. She went to secretarial school in the 1960s. The teacher, who was from the northeast, told them bluntly that they could learn to speak properly and quite saying "ain't" "hit don't" and other southern hillbillisms and have a lot more job opportunity. My mom did and went on to become a top executive assistant in a large southern city. Her first cousin didn't make any effort in that regard, still sounds like a hillbilly, and hasn't had nearly as much economic success.

And I would happily vote for Tony Williams again for mayor too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Respectability politics is the idea that black people would be more accepted by the white majority if only we would just behave ourselves. Dress well, hide our natural hair texture, speak proper English, have a good job, not have children out of wedlock, etc. It's a concept that is extremely racist at its core, which is why many people hate it. However, people who do grow up in families and communities that hold their own to a high standard do fare better in the world, so it's hard for me to argue that promoting respectability is bad.

There is a lot to unpack in that statement. Yeah, I agree that the hair texture thing is racist. But the rest of it? Being disdainful of learning to speak proper English, being gainfully employed, and being married prior to having children is a ticket to remaining mired in a permanent poverty underclass. And unfortunately, the DC liberal political class has never been wiling to state those hard truths.

My mom grew up in Appalachia. She went to secretarial school in the 1960s. The teacher, who was from the northeast, told them bluntly that they could learn to speak properly and quite saying "ain't" "hit don't" and other southern hillbillisms and have a lot more job opportunity. My mom did and went on to become a top executive assistant in a large southern city. Her first cousin didn't make any effort in that regard, still sounds like a hillbilly, and hasn't had nearly as much economic success.

And I would happily vote for Tony Williams again for mayor too.

Another vote for Tony!

Code-switching (language/behavior/manner) is a well known linguistic phenomenon. We all do it, every single day. The simplest example is a person leaving a BBQ or hanging up the phone with their mom and going into work and speaking with their boss likely code-switches. We also practice closeness and distancing techniques when we speak with people (often unconscious)--either emulating their speech or offsetting our own to mark the relationship.

What matters is learning what flies in which environment (example of teacher above is a good one). This gives you power and control and choices. If you don't know the 'code', some contexts are difficult to navigate. Society has become far more flexible overall with these codes related to speech, hair, dress, culture. In fact, diversity is widely celebrated. However, there are parameters for professionalism and informality etc. levvied on everyone regardless of race or background.

Code-switching can be taxing (think about the sigh of relief when you come home from work and take off your heels), but it can also be rewarding--yucking it up with a friend in your 'special language'. It is a part of being human. I have heard Blacks describe it as especially taxing to code-switch. That would be a separate and interesting discussion, related to the perception of being asked to adapt to White culture as synonymous with dominant culture and most academic and professional cultures. You could even explore the phenomenon of Blacks who are accused of 'talking White' or 'acting White' by other Blacks and facing opprobrium; what a thicket.

However, the fact is that all humans code-switch every day and if you aren't given examples and instruction in how to navigate multiple contexts, and encouraged to be flexible and resilient in this way, you will likely be at a social and economic disadvantage. Codes can change over time and be both challenged and amended, but I invite you to imagine the unappealing image of your airplane pilot or dentist in a swimsuit scratching their belly while taking off the plane or going in to drill your tooth before you say they have zero social value for all of us.