Race, Class, and Politics in the Cappuccino City
Derek S. Hyra
- For
- long-time
- residents
- of
- Washington,
- DC’s
- Shaw/U
- Street,
- the
- neighborhood
- has
- become
- almost
- unrecognizable
- in
- recent
- years.
- Where
- the
- city’s
- most
- infamous
- open-air
- drug
- market
- once
- stood,
- a
- farmers’
- market
- now
- sells
- grass-fed
- beef
- and
- homemade
- duck
- egg
- ravioli.
- On
- the
- corner
- where
- AM.PM
- carryout
- used
- to
- dish
- out
- soul
- food,
- a
- new
- establishment
- markets
- its
- $28
- foie
- gras
- burger.
- Shaw
- is
- experiencing
- a
- dramatic
- transformation,
- from
- “ghetto”
- to
- “gilded
- ghetto,”
- where
- white
- newcomers
- are
- rehabbing
- homes,
- developing
- dog
- parks,
- and
- paving
- the
- way
- for
- a
- third
- wave
- coffee
- shop
- on
- nearly
- every
- block.Race,
- Class,
- and
- Politics
- in
- the
- Cappuccino
- City
- is
- an
- in-depth
- ethnography
- of
- this
- gilded
- ghetto.
- Derek
- S.
- Hyra
- captures
- here
- a
- quickly
- gentrifying
- space
- in
- which
- long-time
- black
- residents
- are
- joined,
- and
- variously
- displaced,
- by
- an
- influx
- of
- young,
- white,
- relatively
- wealthy,
- and/or
- gay
- professionals
- who,
- in
- part
- as
- a
- result
- of
- global
- economic
- forces
- and
- the
- recent
- development
- of
- central
- business
- districts,
- have
- returned
- to
- the
- cities
- earlier
- generations
- fled
- decades
- ago.
- As
- a
- result,
- America
- is
- witnessing
- the
- emergence
- of
- what
- Hyra
- calls
- “cappuccino
- cities.”
- A
- cappuccino
- has
- essentially
- the
- same
- ingredients
- as
- a
- cup
- of
- coffee
- with
- milk,
- but
- is
- considered
- upscale,
- and
- is
- double
- the
- price.
- In
- Hyra’s
- cappuccino
- city,
- the
- black
- inner-city
- neighborhood
- undergoes
- enormous
- transformations
- and
- becomes
- racially
- “lighter”
- and
- more
- expensive
- by
- the year.
