South by Southeast
Christopher Yates
January 1, 2001
Mention race and class in the same sentence, and you're already in trouble, for at least three reasons. First, after decades of argument, sociologists still can't agree on the way these two categories relate. Second, by bringing up both topics at once, you are guaranteed to offend someone. Finally, the arduous process of untangling the knots of race and class can easily hinder the urgent task of doing something about the injustices they tie together.
My journey into this thicket begins in Southeast Washington, D.C., where Anacostia is among the final stops on the Metro's Green Line. Evening trains that have spent the last hour snaking across downtown D.C. shuffle in every minute or two to unload their passengers.
As each train enters the station it eases to a false stop, then rolls another hundred yards before fixing the brake and opening the doors. For most the stop-and-go routine is as familiar as the faces and shoes of their fellow commuters. Also familiar is the direction people go when the doors open. Some head left to the parking deck and drive home to the Maryland suburbs; others head right to the bus pick-up and Anacostia housing units. Practically everyone, it happens, is black.
When my wife and I moved into Southeast, I assumed that my neighbors would be the polar opposites of my white, middle-class self. Soon enough, however, I started to wonder if the order should be "middle-class, white." First, my next-door neighbor turned out to be a retired white truck driver named Andy. Unlike me, Andy looked right at home. He was a D.C. native, he was poor, he spoke the dialect of the area, most of his friends were black, and while I stuck out like the neon cross on the church across the street, no one seemed to look twice ...
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