Latent Racism: A Problem on the Cleveland Park Listserv?
I was all prepared to write about the unabated decline of retail in the heart of Cleveland Park (even the 7-11 is closing, people!), but a much more interesting topic about the area was thrust into the public eye yesterday: implications of latent racism on the neighborhood's listserv, which will, no matter what, always take precedent over the unfortunate disappearance of Go-Go Taquitos.
Frequent readers of the Cleveland Park listserv will immediately recognize what Colbert King was talking about in his WaPo column yesterday. Most days, there is at least one message from a neighborhood resident sounding the alarm on the presence of door-to-door salesmen, people with clipboards, or those who appear to be canvassing the streets with no clear intention or purpose. So what's the problem? Most, if not all, of those alerts involve black individuals:
[Listserv subscriber Larry] Irving said that every year, usually in the spring and summer, there is a series of "outrageous e-mails saying 'There are black people knocking on doors. They are burglars.' " He noted that as one of the relatively few black residents of Woodley Park, he hasn't sensed overt racism or racial antagonism from his neighbors. But, Irving added, "there is no reluctance on the part of people in a public forum, such as [the e-mail list], to bluntly note that people need to 'make note of young Black men in our neighborhoods,' 'take pictures of these people when you see them.' "
The listserv is consistently lauded as one of the best in the area and has provided hours of entertainment for those looking for catty debate over citizens associations and grocery store development.
In recent weeks, though, "neighborhood watch"-type postings to the list began to intensify, as the summer began and people began to hit the streets in greater numbers.
While some of the posts -- especially the one about the two well-dressed African-Americans with the copy of The Advocate making secret notes -- are destined for the Ridiculous Listserv Post Hall of Fame, the kind of disturbing trend that King and others have written about is easy to see. On the other hand, Cleveland Park has had its share of problems with break-ins with criminals often making three to five stops in one go on the same street -- strings of robberies that would be difficult to undertake without some sort of research.
In a follow-up email to the listserv today, Irving said the following: "I hope people in this community will continue to watch out for one another. Watching out for one another, however, should not require an assumption that any Black man you don't know constitutes a criminal threat."
That's true. But monitoring one of the whitest neighborhoods in a very non-white city has always been, and will continue to be, a challenge for Cleveland Park. Is it a problem? One could argue that it's always been a problem. The real question is whether or not there is a solution that straddles the middle line between vigilance and infringement -- hey, maybe all the residents should talk it over with a Slurpee or two.