{"id":435,"date":"2017-11-14T17:14:54","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T22:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/sociology-2202-fall-2017\/?p=435"},"modified":"2017-11-14T17:14:54","modified_gmt":"2017-11-14T22:14:54","slug":"authenticity-in-the-postmodern-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/sociology-2202-fall-2017\/cities-and-society\/authenticity-in-the-postmodern-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Authenticity in the Postmodern City"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Race, Class, and Politics in the Cappuccino City<\/em>, Hyra analyzes the effects of a gentrifying Shaw\/U Street on race and class relations within the community (both longtime residents, and newcomers). Specifically, he details the phenomenon of \u201cliving the wire\u201d, in which people choose to \u201creside in an \u2018authentic\u2019 urban community whose energy and edge are based on preexisting stereotypes of the iconic Black ghetto, where Blackness, poverty and crime are associated with one another\u201d (19).<\/p>\n

In Hyra\u2019s analysis of Shaw\/U Street, the notion of forming \u201cauthenticity\u201d struck me as an important lens to understand gentrification in the postmodern city. Hyra\u2019s observations are most interesting because he describes two distinct forms of \u201ccultural tourism\u201d: living the wire and Black branding. While distinct, both rely on perpetuating a reduced stereotype of the iconic ghetto, which makes me skeptical of defining either phenomenon as \u201cauthentic.\u201d As Hyra explains, living the wire <\/em>is dependent on perpetuating stereotypes of Blacnkess, poverty, and crime. The strongest example that we discussed is the caf\u00e9, with a preserved bullet hole-ridden wall, that sells ros\u00e9 40s in brown paper bags in Crown Heights. This production of stereotypical Black culture appropriates Black culture by coopting the role of 40s and Brown Paper Bag policies from their original contexts, and using the objects\u2019 associated \u201cgrittiness\u201d as a token for coolness that white people can benefit from. It also negatively associates poverty, alcohol, policing and violence with Blackness.<\/p>\n

In contrast to this overtly negative perpetuation of Black stereotypes is Black branding, which is a seemingly more positive form of cultural tourism. Black branding is distinct in that it highlights, and even lauds, a Black history, specifically Shaw\/U Street\u2019s history as the \u201cBlack Broadway.\u201d It promotes a positive narrative of Black culture. Hyra cites buildings named after Langston Hughes and Duke Ellington as memorialized preservation efforts. Though this narrative is obviously more positive than preserving stereotypes of violence, drugs and poverty with Blackness, both demonstrate phenomenon in which white individuals determine which characteristics of Black culture should exist. One of my expert questions reflecting on this asked: Is Black branding a successful reappropriation of Black culture, or is it still a White narrative? I think it\u2019s a little bit of both. It depends on who is creating the narrative. Hyra suggested that planning council that determined Shaw\/U Street\u2019s new brand consisted of both black and white residents. However, he points to the problems that follow cultural tourism: an increase of in white population, lack of community between newcomers and long-term residents, and decreased political voice and power of long-term Black residents, which is really the biggest problem with rebranding a neighborhood. The audience it attracts is no longer its long-term residents.<\/p>\n

After discussing these questions in class and reading Ocejo\u2019s Masters of Craft<\/em>, I reflected on the relationship between U Street\u2019s development as successful reappropriation of Black culture or perpetuating a white narrative. This can be looked at in tandem with our discussion of the postmodern city as a place of tolerance, and further, as a place for cultural omnivores. These qualities illustrate a changing paradigm of urban values: tolerance and diversity are emphasized, or at least seeming diverse is a priority, as opposed to more overt, historical urban racism. To what extent does cultural preservation use Black culture as a token for white development? Is this priority of diversity an authentic step of progress, or does this quality of a postmodern city still cater toward a white narrative?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Race, Class, and Politics in the Cappuccino City, Hyra analyzes the effects of a gentrifying Shaw\/U Street on race and class relations within the community (both longtime residents, and newcomers). Specifically, he details the phenomenon of \u201cliving the wire\u201d, in which people choose to \u201creside in an \u2018authentic\u2019 urban community whose energy and edge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":148,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cities-and-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/sociology-2202-fall-2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/sociology-2202-fall-2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/sociology-2202-fall-2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/sociology-2202-fall-2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/148"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/sociology-2202-fall-2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/sociology-2202-fall-2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/sociology-2202-fall-2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/sociology-2202-fall-2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/courses.bowdoin.edu\/sociology-2202-fall-2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}