It's nearly impossible for a white guy who goes to Harvard to talk about race and class and be taken seriously. I hope you'll give me the benefit of the doubt, because I'm pretty sure both of these factors influence opinions about my neighborhood. Eastern Market used to be a depressed neighborhood and is undergoing something of a renaissance. Georgetown has been the established center of Washington money and power for 200 years. Eastern Market is adjacent to more run-down and depressed areas on three sides. Georgetown juts against areas that are even more ritzy and exclusive. Although Eastern Market itself is predominantly white, many of the surrounding blocks are predominantly minority. Georgetown is a very white community.

I believe fear of Southeast is based primarily on fear of the different and the unknown. I do not believe my friend's parents are racist or elitist. Such epithets imply a much more active hatred than I see at work in people's fears about my neighborhood and the surrounding areas. Instead, I think that my Georgetown and suburban friends fear Southeast for the same reasons that cross-racial friendships are rare. People are more comfortable with other people who are like them. Well off, white suburbanites feel more comfortable with other well off, white suburbanites. The run down buildings and the different colors of skin are unsettling to people used to the chic atmosphere of Georgetown.

Prejudices like this are a fact of life. The trick is overcoming them and not avoiding a gem of a neighborhood like Eastern Market because you fear what you do not know. Living in Southeast for a summer has shown me the benefits to be gained from living in a new and different community. I hope others can find ways to overcome their fears.

Todd E. Plants '01, a Crimson editor, is a history concentrator in Eliot House. This summer he is a White House intern in the office of the chief of staff.