Prince George’s County Identity Crisis?

[WASHINGTON POST]  PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY’S IDENTITY AND ASPIRATIONS SHIFTING

Over a generation ago, Prince George’s County was considered the Mecca for middle-class African Americans because it provided an affluent suburban environment away from the city in an area that was historically predominately white.

Today some residents would argue that the prestige of the county has dwindled.  Woodley Timberlake migrated to Prince George’s County in the 1970s, as did many others from Washington, DC, in search of the “American dream- a home with a backyard, quality schools and a safe neighborhood.”  Now 65 years old and a retired federal worker, the pride that he had for the county is no more.  When his daughter and her husband and young baby decided to return to the area, he urged them to make their home in a safe community with good public schools, outside of Prince George’s. 

With the local and state elections looming, the county’s identity has continued to be in the forefront.  Today the county is majority-black, but is much more diverse with a growing number of Central American, African and other foreign-born groups that seek the same lifestyle that blacks and whites desired years ago. 

With the recession still being felt across the nation, Prince George’s has experienced foreclosures at the highest levels in the state of Maryland.  To make the situation worse, the county has some of the worst-performing public schools in the state, as well as crime rates near the highest in the state.

Looking beyond the negative statistics, the county executive, Jack B. Johnson, has a more upbeat view  of the county.  He claims that the school system has made significant improvements with rising math and reading test scores and a crime rate that has dropped to its lowest in 35 years.  In addition, Standard and Poor’s has raised the county’s bond rating to AAA.

Johnson takes these new findings to prove that Prince George’s is moving in the right direction and will not only remain “the number one county in the United States for African Americans,” but will also continue to develop its diversity as “the new America.”

Read more in this Washington Post article.



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