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A Legacy of Disenfranchisement: Interrogating the Displacement of the Historical Black Foggy Bottom Community Público Deposited
This paper looks at the displacement of the historical Black community in Foggy Bottom, a prominent neighborhood in Washington, D.C. Through the analysis of archival material, mainly from The George Washington University’s Special Collections Research Center and University Archive, it is understood that the Black community in Foggy Bottom was destroyed by gentrifying efforts at the hands of white people, making space for Foggy Bottom to become inhabited by a plethora of governmental agencies, The George Washington University, and several wealthy private companies and individuals. The lack of research on this community’s displacement is concerning as the impacts of the gentrification of Foggy Bottom, and other areas in D.C. are monumental, and are still being felt to this day. The District of Columbia became the first majority Black major city in the United States in 1957, and in the 2000 U.S. Census the population was 59% Black but by 2020 that population dropped to 41%. Not only has D.C.’s Black community dropped dramatically in recent history, but it now is the most gentrified city and has one of the highest rates of displacement in the United States.
- 4502910.4079_2578-9201.1(2023).11
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