Danger?

Earlier this week, a man was shot and killed during an armed robbery in my neighborhood. The scene of the crime was reported as the “700 block of Princeton Place NW.” This area is extremely familiar to me because I literally walk through it every day on my way to the Metro stop. According to the press release from the city, the victim’s body was found in an alley, and the suspects fled the scene towards Georgia Avenue.

I don’t know what to make of this event. My roommates and I have sensed a recent spike in crime, and as new residents in our neighborhood, we are baffled about how best to address this situation. The fact that all of our workplaces require business formal or business casual attire compounds the situation. We are extremely conspicuous as we walk to the subway stop, sticking out like sore thumbs in a working and middle class neighborhood. Last night, I was lucky enough to get a ride home at 11:00 p.m. As we pulled up to my street, we realized that police had blocked an area two blocks from my house due to some incident that has not yet been publicized. I, quite frankly, am not sure if I want to know about it.

So far, I have actually been one of the calmer (or perhaps more numb) individuals in my household. One of the reasons why this is the case is because I’m Asian American. As Geraldine Ferraro has made abundantly clear, being a man of color is a “lucky” situation... But ridiculous comments aside, Washington, D.C., has had a traditionally tense racial division between white and black residents. As someone who is neither black nor white, I can often sidestep these particular tensions, which often are exacerbated by gentrification. I’ve noted to some of my friends that while this situation perhaps benefits me de facto (otherization is “lucky!”), it’s still extremely troubling – especially for my white housemates.

We’ll see how all of this turns out…