Dream City; Race, Power, and the Decline of Washington, D.C.
Cindy Morgan-Jaffe (Photograph of Harry S. Jaffe) New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. 352 pages. Illustrations. Bibliography. Index. Inscribed by the authors and a Washington, DC notable on feps. Inscriptions reads: May 94 To Bo Matty Best wishes Harry D. Jaffe; For Bob Matty--Give Al all the legal advice he wants or needs--and call me if your want to create a media Frenzy! Tom Sherwood; and To Bob Matty, My friend and a great Attorney. May God walk with you always! Al Arrington. Two of Washington's most respected journalists expose one of America's most tragic ironies--how the nation's capital, once a gleaming symbol of peace and hope, has become the most un-American city, a colony in the midst of democracy. Jaffe and Sherwood reveal the shocking inside story of a city polarized by race, class, poverty, and power. Harry S. Jaffe was a national editor at The Washingtonian magazine. Tome Sherwood was the political correspondent for WRC-TV Channel 4 (NBC) in Washington. Albert Lee Arrington was a DC Metropolitan police officer investigating public corruption. Derived from a Kirkus review: Two veteran Washington journalists offer a vigorous and resonant portrait of the 30-year decline and polarization of our capital. Jaffe and Sherwood tell their story in episodic sketches, covering the city's historic caste system among blacks, the rise of community organizer (and, later, mayor) Marion Barry during the War on Poverty, and the shift of power to blacks after the traumatic 1968 riots. The authors criticize the long-standing federal stranglehold on the district, as well as the Post's ignorance of black Washington, but their major culprit is ``Boss Barry,'' who emerged in his second mayoral term (1982-6) as a betrayer of the biracial coalition that first elected him. Barry's failures were legion: political spoils for a narrow group of adventurers such as profiteer-from-the-homeless Cornelius Pitts; a top aide turned embezzler; a police department in disarray; a downtown that boomed as other neighborhoods crumbled. His defiance of the black bourgeoisie and the white power structure preserved his popularity among blacks, and when he was arrested on drug charges in 1990—an episode recounted in telling detail—his lawyer successfully argued that the government was out to get him. After serving a six-month jail term for one misdemeanor, Barry began a comeback as council member from the city's poorest ward. The authors criticize the current mayor, reformer Sharon Pratt Kelly, as out of touch, and warn that federal receivership for Washington is as likely as full home rule and statehood. This is a memorable and disturbing reminder of much unfinished urban business. Condition: Very good / Very good.
Keywords: African-Americans, Washington D.C., Marion Barry, Effi Barry, Cocaine, Civil Rights, Ivanhoe Donaldson, Home Rule, Jesse Jackson, Charles Lewis, Hazel Moore, Pride, Inc., SNCC, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
ISBN: 0671768468
[Book #85822]
Price: $875.00