Washington City Paper: Contents for Jan. 27

Color Blind
How Melanin, Class, and Culture Divide Black Washington

Cover Story

As Marion Barry swept every ward in the Sept. 13 Democratic primary except for predominantly white Wards 2 and 3, the pundits proclaimed that the divisions between black and white Washingtonians were greater than ever before.

They had a point: Only 586 voters in Ward 3 punched their card for the three- term mayor. But the election returns also uncovered a race and class rift that permeates Washington's political culture—one that is discussed in hushed tones, if at all. After the election, as the press peppered him with questions about the frail state of black/white race relations in the District, master politician Barry was one of the few observers to detect the other racial fault line.

“The black community is divided, too,” he said softly during a press conference.

Barry was right, of course. Only in a political contest in which all of the main contenders are black do the “secret” color and class divisions within the African-American community become apparent: affluent blacks estranged from poor blacks, high yellas from coal blacks, and buppies from 'bamas.

“It's like a roach crawling into the middle of the room,” says Peter Williams, the former head of Common Cause/D.C. “The people who live there are going to be too embarrassed to go and step on the roach; the people who are visiting aren't going to say anything. So that roach is going to crawl up the legs of a chair onto a table and no one is going to say anything. That's what this problem is like. Plus, no one wants to be called on the carpet for airing dirty linen.”... Continued

Issue of Jan. 27 - Feb. 2, 1995

News and Features

Color Blind
How Melanin, Class, and Culture Divide Black Washington
Cover Story By Jonetta Rose Barras
Police Property?
The City By Clara Jeffery
Itell's Tales
Bureaucrat-Turned-Publisher Jeffrey Itell Is Making Northwest Side Story a Must-Read in Ward 3
The City By David Plotz
Ethics Cops Cut Secret Deal
Inquiries Prompt Defensive Maneuver
The City By Jonetta Rose Barras
Foreheaded in the Wrong Direction
The Mail By Josef Quattro
Monkey Business
The Mail By Jonathan Dawes Jones
I Condone Methadone
The Mail By Jeffrey A. Hoffman