Racial Strife in Washington, DC

I could see it coming. For the past several years, I tried to relocate to Washington, DC. They've got a wonderful senior program there, not to mention the attractions at the Kennedy Center, the several museums of the Smithsonian Institution (all free!) and the excitement of being on the East Coast.

Slowly, however, I could detect the city is changing for the worse. The only housing I could afford, since I'm retired is shared housing--rent a room in someone's house, use the bathroom and kitchen facilities. What I soon found was that most shared housing locations were in black neighborhoods; and I wasn't welcome for long--once word got around the neighborhood that a "white" was living in a predominantly black neighborhood. I tried the Southeast area--which actually was less predjudiced, but mostly I found housing around Georgia Avenue. Raw hatred was coming from black teenagers and guys in their twenties. So, I finally gave up on living in black neighborhoods--too many cat calls!

Then, I came up with the idea, how about living close to DC. I went to Raleigh, NC and lived there awhile, but found there wasn't any possibility of commuting to DC--just too far away. I found really nice housing there, however.

Finally, I alighted upon the thought, what if I just came to DC occasionally and got to see and do what I liked. Well, I tried the homeless shelters--some required coming into the shelter at 2 PM--would you believe? One was great--the Franklin School, but the city closed it, alas; and back to Los Angeles, I hurried. The advantage to living in a shelter for a time is the shelters have a staff wallking about and a security group, which sometimes is effective.

I've just returned from DC. This last trip of a few months was awful. I stayed at the New York Avenue Shelter, run by Catholic Charities. The residents were almost all blacks, and to my amazement, I noticed a profound change among the black youths this time. They were really HOSTILE to whites, especially old whites like me. I think part of the reason is that the downtown has become transformed by re-development into swanky apartments and lofts. And, there's the recession which is hitting black youths and their elders really hard. Another factor is that DC doesn't have a welfare assistance program--just food stamps. I tell you, I was harrassed and terrified for my life; and the staff and security could care less! I will never go back there, unless it's to a motel-6 for a night or two! Good riddance to that town. It's being torn apart by racial strife.