ABSTRACT

In Washington, D.C., an increasingly affluent and White population is drawn to spaces that advertise diversity and multiculturalism, despite ongoing Black cultural and physical displacement. Icall the eager production and consumption of this discursive branding a performance of progressiveness. I argue that its emphasis on esthetics and conspicuous consumption has profound political implications in urban spaces and beyond; it allows a recognition of racialized experience to dominate public discourse without requiring fundamental challenges to structural racism. Using the case of the Blagden Alley/Naylor Court Historic District, I demonstrate how performances of progressiveness occur, and I argue they require an obfuscation of historical specificity. Visitors encounter a material and affective sense of history, devoid of the historical reality of Black Washingtonians in these alleys. Newcomers are thus invited to identify with the past, giving credibility to their claims in the present, and making performances of progressiveness all the more insidious.

摘要

在华盛顿特区，尽管黑人文化和身体不断流离失所，但越来越多的富裕白人人口被吸引到宣传多样性和多元文化主义的空间。我把这种话语品牌的热切生产和消费称为进步的表现。我认为它对美学和炫耀性消费的强调在城市空间内外具有深远的政治影响。它允许承认种族化经验主导公共话语，而不需要对结构性种族主义提出根本挑战。以布拉格登巷/奈勒法院历史区为例，我展示了进步的表现是如何发生的，我认为它们需要对历史特殊性进行混淆。参观者遇到物质和情感历史感，缺乏这些小巷中黑人华盛顿人的历史现实。因此，新来者被邀请认同过去，使他们现在的主张具有可信度，并使进步的表现更加阴险。