I'm not going to jump on Andrew for clucking over the precipitous decline of blacks in America -- that was the fault of the Washington Post chartmakers, who accidentally reversed the numbers for blacks and Asians. What is funny is that Andrew, faced with the deeply surprising news that the black population had plummeted to 4% in this next generation, had no problem justifying the shift through anecdote. "Perhaps," he sighed, "I'm more aware of this because of where I live: Washington D.C. In the decade and half since I've lived here, D.C. has only gotten whiter and browner. Its black heritage is just about hanging on. But I doubt it will survive my lifetime with much demographic strength."
And now it's my turn to sigh. Andrew, if I recall correctly, lives in the tony burb of Adams Morgan. In the event that I do not recall correctly, he lives in a similarly posh neighborhood (Georgetown? Kalorama?). And the reason DC has gotten whiter has been folks like him (and me) moving in, sparking widespread redevelopment and the spontaneous construction of endless new condos. It's called gentrification and it hasn't made the black population disappear, it's merely pushed them outwards, towards Prince George County and Silver Spring. But to Andrew, out of sight seems to have been not just out of mind, but out of existence entirely. Since blacks were no longer as prevalent in his everyday experience, it made sense that they'd suffered a precipitous population drop. Moving away from high property values? Try disappearing all together! It's funny, Andrew's explanation started off with the slightly condescending "Perhaps I'm more aware of this," but it turns out he's just about is blithely ignorant as could be.
