Lesson of the Day: Congress Heights is NOT Anacostia

July 1, 3:31 AMCongress Heights Community ExaminerNikki Peele

Related Articles

• DC Summer Jobs Contractor Fired for Posts on Twitter

One of the first tips that the Examiner gives you when writing your first article is to just “jump in”- don’t worry about posting an introduction article. Just dive right in and get your feet wet. Assume that your reader knows the subject matter and will just pick up from there. I could see the benefits of doing that. What reader wants to pour over the mostly boring (and I mean boring) minutia that is a neighborhood blogger’s daily life? Who wouldn’t know the basics of the very neighborhood that was the primary subject of the articles? Surely there would have been other sources for the reader to have obtained even a cursory knowledge (such as location) of the subject matter? In this case Congress Heights.

And yet, I was stumped. Completely and totally blocked.

Despite all my  enthusiasm and information and despite the fact that I already write a moderately popular blog  on Congress Heights and River East news I could not for the life me write my first article or even go the cheater’s route (which I reserve the right to do from time to time) and repost something I had already written. It didn’t seem...appropriate for my very first Examiner post.

Then I reviewed the reader comments on a recent Washington Post article, “D.C. Summer Jobs Contractor Fired for  Posts on Twitter” written by Nikita Stewart.  Without getting into all the details the article basics was about a DC Contractor working with the city’s summer jobs program who was fired after DC officials became aware of his hateful, stereotypical and all to common comments regarding his the location of his assignment – Anacostia in Southeast DC. The contractor repeatedly described Anacostia in his Twitter posts as “America’s ghetto ” and made jokes about his attempt to prevent getting shot by pretending to be a Chinese carryout delivery person. To make matters even worse he openly bragged about slacking on the job.

Before I reviewed  the reader comments I naturally assumed that the readers would have found the contractor’s comments as offensive (and highly exaggerated) as I did. I couldn’t be more wrong.

Overwhelmingly the majority of the reader comments not only accepted the contractor’s statement as fact despite his obvious exaggerations,  for example, “If you are from here, you know ANACOSTIA….about 100+ murders in one year” said a tweet from June 15^th.  Almost all of the readers supported and applauded the contractor for “speaking the truth” and were either outraged that he was terminated from the job or where outraged that he was terminated (even in part) for the comments. More than one reader comment stated “Everyone knows Anacostia is ghetto and dangerous”.

As someone who actually lives in Ward 8 in Congress Heights (as opposed to reading about it or watching it on the evening news) I had to disagree with their assessement of the situation. What most people (at least those on the west side of the river) don’t realize is that Anacostia is a NEIGHBORHOOD and not the “catch all” title that is now used to describe everything east of the river. Anacostia and "East of the River" are not interchangeable.  Its kind of like refering to all of the area west of the river as Dupont Circle. It makes no sense. Anacostia (and Historic Anacotia) is a neighborhood  which is home to some truly beautiful homes and historic landmarks such as Frederick Douglass’s house.  The neighborhood has a lot  to offer, especially a lot of  really great residents and homeowners that have been doing (and are continuing to do) some really wonderful things in their community. Like many neighborhoods they are made up overwelmingly of  law abiding, hard working and community conscious residents. Unfortunately this is not the Anacostia (or River East) that you see on the evening news.   By far most DC residents (including myself until I started considering moving to River East) have no idea that Anacostia is a neighborhood and not an entire area east of the Potomac.

With that in mind a few basic facts about my neighborhood Congress Heights (a separate neighborhood from Anacostia) which is located in Ward 8.

LOCATION

Per Wikipedia: “Congress Heights is a largely residential neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C. Although it is in the poorest section of what is generally regarded as inner-city Washington—the area east of the Anacostia River -- it is very likely the most economically diverse, and most suburban, neighborhood in that section of the city. Congress Heights, in fact, contains the largest commercial district in Washington's Ward 8, along Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X Avenues.

Congress Heights is bounded by Mississippi Avenue SE to the southeast, Wheeler Road SE to the east, Alabama Avenue SE to the north, and Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and South Capitol Street to the northwest. It is served by the Congress Heights station on the Green Line of the Washington Metro”

Since the end of 2008 many residents and non residents have rebranded this area once known as “east of the river” as “River East”.  River East describes Wards 7 and 8 (also affectionately known as Ward 15). The name change can as a result of a desire by many to replace “East of the River”  which as a result of much of the negative media attention had become acquainted with poverty and violence with the new name “River East” which is rapidly being accepted as a new and hopefully more positive moniker.

SOME NEIGHBORHOOD ATTRACTIONS

• Giant Foods
• International House of Pancakes
• SE Tennis & Learning Center
• The Shops at Park Village
• The Town Hall Education, Arts & Recreation Campus (THEARC)
• UPO Petey Green Center
• Saint Elizabeths (site of the new Department of Homeland Security)

CULTURE

Despite the often held assumption that Ward 8 is exclusively a land of subsidized housing (don’t get me wrong there are more than a few). Congress Heights is also full of beautiful, well maintained and historic single family homes which have been occupied for many years by the same family. In some cases homes have passed from generation to generation. You will find many of the same types of homes (if not more so)  than you would find in more often described “affluent” neighborhoods such as  Georgetown or upper Northwest  but at reasonable River East prices in quiet, safe and family friendly neighborhoods. In recent years Congress Heights (and River East in general) has seen a large in influx of single, educated professionals moving into new and renovated condominiums and single family homes bringing with them not only their income but their desire to be actively involved in their new community. River East in general is in a state of not only an economic but a cultural transition with new and established residents working together side by side to achieve progress and unity in their communities despite long standing challenges often seen in metropolitan areas dealing with high rates of poverty and unemployment (including the challenges afforded from historically being overlooked by the DC government).

Either through ignorance or convenience most local and national media outlets  have made it a regular habit to refer to the entire River East area as Anacostia, despite the fact that Anacostia is a neighborhood name – not a territory.  There is Anacostia the river and Anacostia the neighborhood however there is no Anacostia kingdom. In doing so media outlests have in effect assigned general (and often times incorrect) stereotypes to an entire community of people. Congress Heights like River East in general is made up of residents with a variety of life experiences, racial diversity and economic standing. There is a place here for everyone.

This is by no means a comprehensive and all encompassing description of the Congress Heights community just a taste…a basic introduction to where we are and what we are about.

There is much that has been, that is and that is yet to come.

Welcome.

This is the Congress Heights Examiner.