Throughout our discussion of Hyra’s idea of Black Branding we can see how this attempt to steryotype a groups culture can have many negative effects on a group. Within the Shaw/ U Street neighborhood we can see how the current majority white populus has tried to establish certain aspects of black culture in the neighborhood without keeping some of the most important aspects. Artisitic pieces have been created such as murals and statues that celebrate the neighborhoods African-American past, but is this only a front to hide how much this neighborhood has changed?

After giving the idea of black branding much thought it is difficult what to think of it. On one hand it appears to be very racist. Taking the pieces of ones culture that an outsider deems the most important and worth celebrating does not seem like a fair or even excusable idea. On the other hand I can also see this as a form of attempting to understand another groups culture. By working with figures in the community who have experienced the culture within that place a group may be able to truly understand the culture of the people they are trying to “celebrate”.

Ultimately what this has come down to in my eyes is a question of effort on the part of those who want to brand places they are taking over. Are those who are appropriating culture actually trying to understand this culture or do they just want to not look bad for coming into a place and discplacing another ethnic group? This is not something only seen in the Shaw/ U Street, but it is a trend that can be identified across the country in many cultural realms. Take for example music. For those who are not black that listen to rap music is this for pure enjoyment of a musical genre, or is this to understand the “struggle” that black people go through in their daily lives? If it is for the latter, why is this the form of culture that is so accessible and easiest to see? Why is it deemed that this is the “authentic” form of culture that people see and not all of the other forms of culture? This would be like me listening to screamo rock music and generalizing to say that all white people must be like this because this is a majority white music genre.

To wrap up this thinking I want to propose a question. How is it that Black Branding is accurate, but also destructive to a culture? This helps me to understand our discussion of the idea. It is very helpful because it gives people a picture into the way that some black people do live their lives. The keyword here is “some” as not all black people live in this way. Not every black person living in an urban environment is walkign around with guns shooting anybody they can, but at the same time not every black person is living as a new age renaissance. In reality most black people in the city are living somewhere in the middle trying to establish themselves as people within a society that has left them uncared and underserved for generations.