The Washington Post - USA (2020-08-01)

“We were on an upward swing

right before covid to reclaim our

community.”

Then the coronavirus pandem-

ic ground the nation’s economy to

a halt. Overnight, business at

South L.A. Cafe dropped 70 per-

cent. Ward-Wallace furloughed

nine of his 10 employees.

The recession threatens to dev-

astate Black commercial districts

and other ethnic enclaves that

fuel the vibrancy, economies and

identities of American cities. In

many cases, these neighborhoods

were the products of earlier gen-

erations of discrimination, in-

cluding racial segregation and

redlining. Now, entrepreneurs of

color are being pushed out.

In Los Angeles, business own-

ers, community leaders and econ-

SEE GENTRIFICATION ON A

BY TRACY JAN

When the newly retired fire-
fighter opened South L.A. Cafe in
November, he was the latest in a
string of Black entrepreneurs
hoping to contain the spread of
gentrification in South Los Ange-
les.
Facing the development of lux-
ury condos, hotels and upscale
restaurants that many residents
cannot afford, Joe Ward-Wallace
opened a coffee shop and market
where neighbors can linger and
buy fresh food. Sales increased by
10 percent each month, he said,
part of a renaissance of Black-
owned cafes and other businesses
in the historically African Ameri-
can community.
“It was a tactic for cultural
preservation,” Ward-Wallace said.

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PAT NICKLIN

CONTENT © 2020

The Washington Post / Year 143, No. 240

BUSINESS NEWS.............................................A

COMICS.............................................................C

OPINION PAGES...............................................A

LOTTERIES.........................................................B

OBITUARIES.......................................................B

TELEVISION.......................................................C

WORLD NEWS..................................................A

∠∠ D oubting Gauguin Meet

the amateur detective who

is trying to prove that major

museums — including the

National Gallery of Art —

are showing fakes.

Arts & Style

On a break The

Washington Post Magazine

is taking the weekend off.

Its crossword puzzle can be

found in the Arts & Style

section. E 16

A reworked routine For

summer residents of Maine,

14 days of quarantine were

a small price to pay

to maintain a cherished

tradition. Travel, E

In Sunday’s post

$ 317

CÉSAR RODRÍGUEZ FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Inside

THE NATION

Boston Marathon attack

A court sets aside the death

penalty for the man convicted of

bombing the 2013 race. A

THE WORLD

A tightened grip

Hong Kong will put off legislative

council elections for a year, an

unprecedented delay. A

1

‘People have already lost so much’

L.A.’s minority communities fear a new wave of gentrification fueled by the coronavirus recession

PHOTOS BY PHILIP CHEUNG FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

TOP: Los Angeles’s C hinatown is largely deserted in mid-July.

ABOVE: Nico Avina is co-owner of Espacio 1839, in the B oyle

Heights neighborhood, which has been closed since mid-March.

White House Chief of Staff

Mark Meadows said Democrats

had rejected reasonable offers,

while House Speaker Nancy Pelo-

si (D-Calif.) derided Republicans

for trying to advance a short-term

fix that would have extended the

benefits for just a week.

“The president has been very

clear for us to be aggressive and

forward-leaning to make sure

that they get protected, and yet

what we’re seeing is politics as

usual from Democrats on Capitol

Hill,” Meadows said, addressing

reporters in the White House

briefing room.

As he was speaking, Pelosi held

a news conference on Capitol Hill,

where she criticized Republicans

SEE BENEFITS ON A

BY ELI ROSENBERG,

ERICA WERNER

AND JEFF STEIN

Nearly 30 million workers have

lost $600 in enhanced weekly

unemployment benefits that have

kept much of the economy afloat

these past four months during the

coronavirus pandemic, as top

lawmakers in Congress and the

White House remain at an im-

passe over how and whether to

extend the benefits.

Most of the last checks went

out this week, but the program

officially ended Friday, a day that

Democrats and Republicans

spent trading barbs over who was

to blame for the failed negotia-

tions.

Jobless benefit

terminates as

talks collapse

30 MILLION WORKERS LOSE $600 PER WEEK

Democrats reject GOP’s plan for short-term extension

cording to people familiar with

the talks, who spoke on the condi-

tion of anonymity because they

were not authorized to discuss

them publicly. One of the individu-

als confirmed Microsoft was in the

lead to acquire the popular plat-

form’s U.S. service.

While the order was expected to

be signed Friday, people had

warned that it could fall through

SEE TIKTOK ON A

BY ELLEN NAKASHIMA,

RACHEL LERMAN

AND JEANNE WHALEN

President Trump said late Fri-

day he plans to bar Chinese-

owned TikTok from operating in

the United States, the latest sign of

the administration’s increasingly

strident stance on China and its

tech companies.

“As far as TikTok is concerned,

we’re banning them from the

United States,” Trump told report-

ers aboard Air Force One.

Earlier in the day, Trump was

considering signing an order forc-

ing China’s ByteDance to sell off

the U.S. portion of TikTok over

national security concerns, ac-

Trump pledges to ban

China’s TikTok in U.S.

President had considered

order to force sell-off

over security concerns

BY ROBERT BARNES

One of the most consequential

Supreme Court terms in recent

times shows no signs of conclu-

sion.

The court seemed to wrap up

its work July 9 with a traditional

flourish of big opinions, including

a blockbuster finale: that Presi-

dent Trump was not immune to

demands for his personal finan-

cial records from a state prosecu-

tor and congressional investiga-

tors.

But the court’s customary sum-

mer lull? It never arrived.

Instead, responding to emer-

gency pleas for intervention, the

justices allowed federal execu-

tions to resume for the first time

in 17 years. They threw up a road-

block for former felons in Florida

who thought their voting rights

had been restored. They denied

challenges to coronavirus restric-

tions on worship services in Ne-

SEE COURT ON A

For high court,

summer lull is

anything but a

respite this year

BY JOE HEIM

As the middle of July ap-
proached, Callie Rice was itching
to head southwest from her home
in Boise, Idaho, to Los Angeles,
where she was to begin freshman
year at Occidental College on
Aug. 24. She already had the
sweatshirt and was looking for-
ward to trying out for the diving
team, joining a choir, going to
football games.
“I’ve been able to talk to future
classmates, and I’m really excited
to meet new people and make
friends,” Rice said in an interview
while acknowledging that this
year will be unlike any other.
“We’re taking it seriously. All of us
are willing to comply with the
guidelines about wearing a mask,

sitting a certain distance apart.”

But even as she prepared for

the upcoming year, she kept an

anxious eye on her email inbox

for updates from Occidental and

worried about receiving news

that would scramble her college

plans.

Rice’s senior year at Boise High

School ended as it did for most

American high school seniors.

Sent home in March, they

watched the days and weeks of

what should have been the victo-

ry lap of their school years disap-

pear under the cloud of an invisi-

ble virus. Parties and proms were

canceled. On the day of Rice’s

drive-by graduation, rain poured

nonstop.

Goodbye, high school. No

thanks for the final memory.

College promised a fresh start.

But like many of the approxi-

mately 17 million undergraduate

students across the country this

summer who are uncertain when

or if their schools will be able to

reopen safely, Rice, 18, has been

SEE STUDENTS ON A

Mixed emotions for this

fall’s undergraduates

Students express hope

but also worry about a

year changed by virus

BY HANNAH NATANSON

IN ROCKY MOUNT, VA.

Bridgette Craighead had al-

most reached the top of the hill

when she stopped, teetering on

leopard-print boots, to stare at the

white-marble soldier in a Confed-

erate uniform.

He stood atop a granite obelisk,

dedicated in engraved letters to

“THE CONFEDERATE DEAD,”

that dominated the grassy square

outside the Franklin County

Courthouse. One of the soldier’s

hands rested on his hip. The other

gripped a rifle.

Craighead, 29, looked down at

her own hands. She readjusted her

grip on the megaphone she’d

swathed in leopard-print tape, to

match her boots and the “Black

Lives Matter” logo on her T-shirt.

She shook back her Afro and told

herself she was a warrior. It did not

matter that this was her first pro-

test, organized four days before on

Facebook. It did not matter that

this was the first Black Lives Mat-

ter rally that White, rural, Repub-

lican Rocky Mount had ever seen.

She was ready to lead.

“F--- y’all,” said a low voice, and

Craighead turned to see a White

face leaning from the window of a

black pickup truck, and a middle

finger thrust into the air. “Y’all are

disrespecting my statue.”

It was June 3. Nine days since

SEE PROTESTS ON A

Feeling a calling in rural Virginia

Inspired by protests, 3 young women set out to bring

Black Lives Matter to a predominantly White county

HANNAH NATANSON/THE WASHINGTON POST

From right, Bridgette

Craighead, Malala Penn

and Katosha Poindexter

step into t he Pigg River

as they perform a

“libations” ceremony to

seek the blessings of their

African ancestors before

they lead a Juneteenth

celebration and protest

later in the day.

REAL ESTATE

Avoiding displacement

In Austin, a policy’s novel approach

aims to enable affordable housing

in gentrified areas.

THE REGION

The use of deadly force

D.C. authorities made public videos

from police body cameras in two

fatal shootings by officers. B