In Race, Class, and Politics in the Cappuccino City, Derek Hyra discusses the Black Branding of Shaw/U Street that is used to boost the redevelopment of the neighborhood, illustrating how “many aspects of Shaw/U Street’s Black history and culture have been woven into the community’s fabric and linked with the area’s redevelopment” (88). He cites Kathy Smith as an individual heavily involved with Shaw/U Street historic preservation projects. She asserts that the neighborhood actually has one of the “city’s richest histories” (82); however, due to its more recent reputation of being a dangerous area, not many people desire reside there. In order to enact her historical preservation projects and “attract people to the community, she had to convince outsiders that the neighborhood was more than its short-sighted association with blight, drugs, crime and prostitution,” which was essentially a mission to “change the negative iconic ghetto stereotype with the community’s more recent past” (82). Hence, the Black Broadway narrative was shaped, presenting the neighborhood’s history as a form of Cultural Tourism.

However, Hyra indicates that there is reason to be skeptical about the historic Black brand being “directly tied to its current economic revitalization” (88). He proposes, in turn, that Shaw/U Street’s redevelopment may be actually tied to its alignment with iconic ghetto stereotypes relating to crime, danger, and drugs. Hyra introduces the reader to a concept called “living the wire,” inspired by an HBO series and stemming from a desire particularly in the creative class to gain the ultimate “authentic” experience. Therefore, we learn that “to a certain extent, the neighborhood’s redevelopment thrives on the community remaining racially diverse or, more specifically, Black and edgy. It helps give the community its pulse, its vibe, its coolness- but this ‘construction of coolness’ reinforces and perpetuates traditional stereotypes to some degree” (98).

In looking at this new theory, it becomes clear that the iconic ghetto stereotypes that Shaw/U Street possess may actually gain more popularity among potential residents, especially members of the creative class, for its “authenticity.” I definitely recognize that somewhere along the line, this experience of “living the wire” has undoubtedly become extremely popular for members of younger generations such as my own. When Hyra used the words “construction of coolness,” I immediately thought of the drug-dealing teenagers in Peachville from our previous reading. Although there are obvious differences between the two contexts, there were parts of this section where I read about occurrences that did strike me as quite juvenile. For instance, when the residents brag about how “dangerous” their neighborhoods are at cocktail parties by talking about hearing gunshots and hearing about murders. By living in edgy neighborhoods, members of the creative class feel that they have some sort of “cool” capital and thus something to brag about.

Furthermore, when we read about the teenagers in Peachville, we read that they chose to deal drugs because it provided them with an opportunity to gain capital apart from the mainstream capital that they do not yet have access to acquiring. In a sense, they are compensating for capital that they do not have. In recalling this phenomenon, I began to wonder, if we are looking at these two cases of constructing alternative coolness in tandem: why do members of the creative class seek authenticity and coolness that is not mainstream? Is there something that makes creative class members feel inadequate that leads them to outsource for alternative means of capital? What role does authenticity play?

While many families in America feel a deep pride for their suburban towns where they reside, the readings for this week forced us to explore and reflect upon the shortcomings of suburbia. Both “Codes of the Suburb” by Jacques and Wright and “Blue-Chip Black” by Karyn Lacy highlight and analyze the level of dissatisfaction with suburban life felt by two groups: middle-class blacks and high school youth. Both have different ways of responding to what they feel is the inadequacy of suburbia; however, both coping mechanisms involve the formation of sub-communities to fill their respective cultural voids. These communities allow middle-class blacks and high school youth to forge interactions and construct personal identities rather than getting lost in an environment with little excitement and opportunity for self-expression. It is interesting to look at these sub-communities alongside one another and analyze the ways in which they do and do not reflect community as we defined it at the beginning of this course. Moreover, it is important to reflect on the suburban community itself as some of its members are feeling the need to create their own sub-communities to meet their needs.

For the middle-class blacks in our reading, living in suburbia requires them to “travel back and forth regularly between the black and white worlds” (Lacy 151). For instance, in Lakeview, a suburb that is (like many others) predominantly white, the black population frequently seeks out connection to the black world through participation in black churches, fraternities, and other social organizations. By doing so, they are able to participate in middle-class, predominantly white schools and workplaces, but also set themselves apart from these white spaces at the end of the day by reconnecting with their black communities. In the suburbs referenced in this reading, “seeking spaces where black identity is nurtured, a community where they can socialize and reconnect with other blacks after spending the bulk of their day in the white world” (Lacy 170). Middle class blacks in Lakeview form an ecological and symbolic sub-community to compensate for the lack of cultural stimulation in suburbia to construct and maintain black racial identities.

On the other hand, high school youth in Peachville respond to lack of stimuli in suburbia through drug consumption and dealing. The young population in Peachville does not have the “foremost signs of social status: a professional career that generates enough money to buy what they need and want” (Jacques and Wright, 5) and therefore must look for an immediate source of social capital- coolness. While Peachville seems to provide other outlets such as sports to achieve a ‘cool’ status, many of these adolescents turn to the drug world, as it allows them to demonstrate coolness. Moreover, it becomes clear that their desire to be cool is rooted in a much more fundamental issue they have with suburban life: “Drugs were the glue that bonded these adolescents’’ social lives. Drugs gave them something to do, a reason to be together. This provided them with an opportunity to interact with their peers and demonstrate their social desirability in the process, which in turn served to increase their perceived subcultural status” (Jacques and Wright, 21). It is interesting that the young people in Peachville must engage in drug use in order to forge these social bonds, and it points to the fact that their overarching suburban community is lacking stimulation. Like the middle-class blacks mentioned in Lacy’s reading, the Peachville high school students’ needs are not being met by suburbia so they feel the need to form this sub-community. Although the community formed by these students is fleeting and arguably not comprised of individuals with much more in common besides an interest in achieving a certain social status, they all feel a common frustration with the lack of entertainment and opportunity for social engagement with their fellow peers, which is something that nonetheless bonds them.

Although there is a difference in the sub-communities formed in response to the inadequacies of suburban life by both groups, the fact that two completely different social groups feel the need create them in the first place reveals something about the cultural and diverse stimuli that suburbia lacks. While suburban life does provide certain opportunities and a perceived community, these readings make us question whether or not a suburban town can serve as a community that will satisfy the needs of all its residents. Jacques, Wright and Lacy make us ponder that idea that perhaps social division and creation of sub-communities is inevitable and a reality of suburbia.