by carol Mon May 22, 2006 4:16 pm
Niall wrote:carol wrote:territa wrote:Lullaby of the Chocolate City ?!
I don't get it.
I grew up (and am now living in) the Maryland suburbs.
One of DC's nicknames is "Chocolate City" in reference to its being a majority-African-American city. During the '50s and '60s, a lotta working-class white families fled DC for the suburbs, leaving a few neighborhoods in Northwest predominately white (and mostly upper-income), the rest of the city predominately black and low- to moderate income. I first remember having heard the nickname "Chocolate City" back in the '70s, when I was in elementary school, but the nickname may have been around before that.
I get the impression that the "Chocolate City" nickname is not well-known outside of the DC area, where people tend to think that "Nobody who lives in Washington, DC is actually FROM there," that Washington, DC is filled with bureaucrats and lobbyists," etc.
cheers carol, you learn something new everyday
A few months ago, New Orleans' Mayor Ray Nagin came under fire for publicly commenting that he wanted to see New Orleans become "a chocolate city" once again. He was referring to the fact that since Hurricane Katrina, a lotta black families who've been in New Orleans for generations have been living elsewhere because their homes are severely damaged by the hurricane itself or by the flooding.
Nagin's comments were controversial because a lotta white New Orleans felt that the mayor was insinuating that they're not wanted or that they're less valued than African-American New Orleanians.
In the DC area, however, some people were (goofily, I think) up in arms over the fact that Nagin had called New Orleans "Chocolate City" when a lotta people in the DC area feel that that nickname is meant for DC and DC only.
[quote="Niall"][quote="carol"][quote="territa"]Lullaby of the Chocolate City ?! :? I don't get it.[/quote]
I grew up (and am now living in) the Maryland suburbs.
One of DC's nicknames is "Chocolate City" in reference to its being a majority-African-American city. During the '50s and '60s, a lotta working-class white families fled DC for the suburbs, leaving a few neighborhoods in Northwest predominately white (and mostly upper-income), the rest of the city predominately black and low- to moderate income. I first remember having heard the nickname "Chocolate City" back in the '70s, when I was in elementary school, but the nickname may have been around before that.
I get the impression that the "Chocolate City" nickname is not well-known outside of the DC area, where people tend to think that "Nobody who lives in Washington, DC is actually FROM there," that Washington, DC is filled with bureaucrats and lobbyists," etc.[/quote]
cheers carol, you learn something new everyday[/quote]
A few months ago, New Orleans' Mayor Ray Nagin came under fire for publicly commenting that he wanted to see New Orleans become "a chocolate city" once again. He was referring to the fact that since Hurricane Katrina, a lotta black families who've been in New Orleans for generations have been living elsewhere because their homes are severely damaged by the hurricane itself or by the flooding.
Nagin's comments were controversial because a lotta white New Orleans felt that the mayor was insinuating that they're not wanted or that they're less valued than African-American New Orleanians.
In the DC area, however, some people were (goofily, I think) up in arms over the fact that Nagin had called New Orleans "Chocolate City" when a lotta people in the DC area feel that that nickname is meant for DC and DC only.
