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| Frank Love, who has cut hair at Gregg’s Barbershop in Shaw since 1959, says he’s seen some tension between old and new residents of the neighborhood. (Photo by Adam Cuthbert) |
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| The D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Board on May 3 dismissed two separate protests against a proposed liquor license for Be Bar, a gay-owned tavern seeking to open in the District’s Shaw neighborhood.
The board’s action clears the way for Be Bar to obtain its license and open within the next three weeks, according to Andrew Kline, the bar’s lawyer. The board ruled that Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2C, one of the two groups opposing the license, failed to adequately notify the community about a meeting at which it discussed and voted to oppose the Be Bar license.
Be Bar co-owner Michael Watson has said the ANC’s failure to inform him of the meeting prevented him or his lawyer from presenting a case in favor of the license before the ANC members who voted on the issue. The board ruled that a group of eight members of scripture Cathedral, which is located across the street from Be Bar, did not have legal standing to protest the license because most did not live in the neighborhood where the bar is located.
In announcing the board’s decision, board chair Charles Burger said the law requires that protestants have a "common ground" with ties to the neighborhood, and that belonging to the same church was not sufficient to meet that standard.
Devarieste Curry, a lawyer for the church members, said the group would appeal the decision by asking the board to reconsider its action. She did not say whether the church members would exercise their right to appeal the case before the D.C. Court of Appeals. Kline said the appeals court almost always upholds decisions by the ABC Board.
LOU CHIBBARO JR. |
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HOME > NEWS > LOCAL
By: KATHERINE VOLIN COMMENTS
 
When gay photographer and painter Walter Smalling moved into the Shaw neighborhood in 1979, there was only one other white family on his block. But Smalling said he didn’t experience any racial tension.
"I think I was seen as a very little threat because I was a bit of a novelty," Smalling said. "The issue of gentrification or any racial strife was almost nil because I was so unusual in the neighborhood."
Times have changed for the historic black neighborhood, however, and since gays, whites and wealthy professionals began moving into Shaw, some say tensions between old neighbors and new have begun to rise.
"Gentrification tensions have really only been an issue in the last maybe five or six years," Smalling said.
Even the neighborhood’s recent transplants have noticed strained relationships between Shaw’s old and new residents.
"You feel the tension more now than you did two years ago when we moved in," said gay Shaw resident Scot Rogerson. "That I found strange."
The very nature of gentrification indicates that there will be class struggles, something Frank Love, who has owned Gregg’s Barbershop in Shaw since 1959, has noticed.
"I’ve heard some say it’s put the prices and the taxes out of reach for the older people," said the reserved Love, who added that he has noticed "a little" tension, but said he supports Shaw’s revitalization.
Shaw is loosely bounded by M Street to the south, U Street and Florida Avenue to the north, 13th Street to the west and New Jersey Avenue to the east.
Growing pains
Gentrification conflicts along the lines of race, sexual orientation and class all exist in Shaw, but a common element in many of the clashes is the involvement of a few established neighborhood churches.
Clashes between new Shaw residents and established Shaw churches started with a conflict over parking, Rogerson said. Local churchgoers have a custom of double parking during church services, which annoyed some new residents.
"Parking reared its ugly head," Rogerson said. "So [it] became us versus them.’"
The "us versus them" mentality set up a conflict with racial overtones, some residents said.
"I have found that more of the difficulties that have had a racial nature to them in the neighborhood were people in the churches," Smalling said.
Rev. Nathan A. Harris, pastor at Lincoln Temple United Church of Christ, which is in Shaw, said there is a "healthy tension" between new residents and churches, but the conflict has been unnecessarily inflated.
"From what I can tell, the churches are making every effort to cooperate on their end," Harris said. "I think it’s unfortunate that some of the residents have created an ‘us versus them’ climate, but some of the more outspoken residents have created the image of a warfare."
Like Harris, others sought to downplay the impression that newcomers are clashing with longtime residents.
Conflicts among neighbors are unusual in Shaw, which has a reputation as a tolerant community, according to Alexander Padro, executive director of Shaw Main Streets, a nonprofit organization that works to promote Shaw’s revitalization.
"The neighborhood throughout its history has always been very diverse and most of the folks that live in the neighborhood are comfortable with whoever their neighbors may be as long as they’re good neighbors," Padro said.
Homophobia in Shaw churches?
In addition to new gay homeowners, gay-owned businesses have cropped up in Shaw over the past few years. They include D.C. Guesthouse, a bed and breakfast; Fairies’ Crossing, a landscaping business; Interiority Complex, a window treatment store; a set design business and a web design business.
Gay-owned businesses with plans to open this year include Be Bar and a new art gallery, Longview Gallery.
An ongoing conflict between one Shaw church, scripture Cathedral, and the planned Be Bar over the bar’s liquor license has exposed anti-gay bias on the part of scripture Cathedral, said Padro, who also serves as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for 2C, which includes Shaw.
"This is the first time the community has had to deal with flagrant bigotry of this type," said Padro, who is gay. "Unfortunately, these churches are pretty much the definition of bad neighbors. There have only been a handful of times that the issues of gay businesses and gay residents being a part of the community have come up [in Shaw], but unfortunately when they have come up, they have not been the most positive experiences."
Bishop C.L. Long, pastor at scripture Cathedral, has said in church sermons that ...
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