District of Columbia 3

Listen to District of Columbia 3, a 33-year-old man from Washington, D.C., United States. Click or tap the triangle-shaped play button to hear the subject.

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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

AGE: 33

DATE OF BIRTH (DD/MM/YYYY): 19/11/1986

PLACE OF BIRTH: Washington, D.C.

GENDER: male

ETHNICITY: Black

OCCUPATION: independent contractor

EDUCATION: high school

AREAS OF RESIDENCE OUTSIDE REPRESENTATIVE REGION FOR LONGER THAN SIX MONTHS:

The subject lived in Silver Springs, Maryland, at the age of 3.

OTHER INFLUENCES ON SPEECH:

Most of the subject’s immediate family members are from North Carolina, Alabama, and Tennessee.

The text used in our recordings of scripted speech can be found by clicking here.

RECORDED BY: Sarah Maria Nichols

DATE OF RECORDING (DD/MM/YYYY): 20/08/2020

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF SCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

ORTHOGRAPHIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH:

Well, you know, growin’ up here in D.C. was, um, somethin’ else, I can say. Um, you’d be surprised, I guess, to be not from D.C. and to know that this city was very segregated. [Subject laughs.] Like, White people stayed where White people stayed, and Black people stayed where Black people stayed, and we were also majority of the city, hence the nickname “Chocolate City.” Which it isn’t anymore because it’s majority 52 percent White. [See scholarly commentary.] You know, gentrification. Um, it has rapidly ravaged the city, displaced people, um, torn apart families, um, increased homelessness; um, it’s just been a crazy ride in the last twenty years watchin’ D.C. change. Now, change is not a bad thing; um, change is needed. But, um, at what cost?

You know, when it comes to, like, for example, I’m the only African-American family left on my block. So, you know, um, to see these things happen is — it, it can be quite traumatic. You know, um, but you have to keep goin’. I mean life does go on. And, you know, it’s sad because it goes on without people that, you know, you come accustomed to being with or bein’ around, growin’ up with, you know, used to seeing.

Um, [tsk] I’m ready. I feel like the world is my oyster right now. Um, because, as you know I’m leaving my job, and I’m stepping out into unfamiliar territory, and I’m going to spread my wings and hopefully soar like an eagle. It’s gon’ be hard, but, hey, it’s gon’ be worth it.

TRANSCRIBED BY: Sarah Maria Nichols

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): 21/08/2020

PHONETIC TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH: N/A

TRANSCRIBED BY: N/A

DATE OF TRANSCRIPTION (DD/MM/YYYY): N/A

SCHOLARLY COMMENTARY: 

According to 2018 U.S. Census Bureau estimates (via Wikipedia), the city is 45.5 percent Black, 42.2 percent White (36.9 percent non-Hispanic White and 5.3 percent Hispanic White), 3.9 percent Asian, 4.4 percent another race, .3 percent Native American, and 3.6 percent from two or more races.

COMMENTARY BY: Cameron Meier

DATE OF COMMENTARY (DD/MM/YYYY): 23/08/2020

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