The recent increase in violent crime in the District has once again exposed what may be the District’s most obvious Achilles Heel — the continuing racial insecurities and tensions that exist between affluent newcomers (who tend to be white) and a dwindling yet historic African American community. Two murders in the last week — Andrew Senitt, white, young, in Georgetown; Chris Crowder, black, older, around Mount Vernon — have brutally exposed the city’s racial anxieties, so much so that the Post’s ombudsman dedicated her column yesterday to explaining why one received front-page treatment while the other never escaped the Metro section. It is within this troubling context that a policeman’s comments about Senitt’s murder have touched off a new round of debates over crime, race, and what residents can do to protect themselves.

Just days after Senitt’s slaying, Andy Solberg, the acting commander of the Second District (which includes Georgetown), stood before a crowd of residents urged them to report suspicious activity, noting, “This is not a racial thing to say that black people are unusual in Georgetown. This is a fact of life.” His comments earned him a quick admonition from D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey, and he was shortly thereafter reassigned to a school security unit.