Who Needs a Railroad Track - June 5, 2006

There are some towns, like my hometown of Henderson, North Carolina that despite popular opinion of improving racial tensions, still abide by the division lines created by the railroad tracks that were set in place many generations previous. However, in the Church Hill area of Richmond, no railroad tracks are needed to clearly define the space. For the railroad tracks that define Richmond at one point in the city’s history is not what divides Church Hill. For in fact, it is Broad Street that creates the separation between the Starbucks and the starving, the Market grocery store with organic oranges and discounted soy milk from the corner store displaying white bread as a “deal” at $2.29 a loaf. It is this line, this road, this separation that continues to boggle my mind. As a student of sociology, I wonder why does this not bother any one else. Or maybe it does? Maybe it does annoy the two families which live on opposite corners of Broad whose soy latte gets cold on a similar front porch as the generic brand hot chocolate does only a stone’s throw away. Maybe I’m oblivious to the frustrations of those here in Church Hill, in the greater Richmond area, or even in my hometown. But maybe I’m not oblivious to the lack of anger, guilt, and irritation because maybe it isn’t there. Or maybe those who do feel this way are helpless to change, to integrate, or lose the diving line. While the motion to cross may be slow, there is one thing that needs to be made clear: the train doesn’t pass through Church Hill anymore; the tracks are safe to cross.