This City I Might Have Loved
The Richmond Convention Center is going to become the next 7th St. Farmer’s Market – unused, forgotten and wasted money. After a year and a half of living in this city with so much potential I have decided that there are two reasons why Richmond will never be a place that people desire to visit: perennial identity crisis and a lack of regional representation abroad. The identity crisis of Richmond should be studied like a disease all cities ought to fear. This is the city where British royalty came to make a new life, the city that produced nearly all weapons during the civil war, the region that at one point was the breadbasket of the world, and wanted to be (and very well could have been) the New York of the south. Slavery in this city was a way of life and left an indelible mark on the identity of Richmond. For an entire century after the Civil War this city (and the state) worked to segregate, oppress and ruin the black population that was fast becoming the most affluent community of formerly enslaved people anywhere. The American dream might have prevailed. What happened in the years between Appomattox Courthouse and today? The city lost everything. Lost the aristocratic appeal of urban plantations and European beauty, lost the progressive image of a capital that didn’t need northern reconstruction troops, and finally lost the prosperity and influence of being the largest industrial city in the south. As a result, the majority of people who live in the greater metropolitan region do not truly know the city like it ought to be known. When I ask someone from Massachusetts where they’re from they usually say Boston even though they live an hour south – Boston is a city with pride. If someone from Chesterfield County tells me they’re from Richmond I would love for them to tell me how incredible it is. I want them to tell me about the hole-in-the wall Cuban food and the diverse population – the booming college town with VCU and MCV bringing people from all over the world who are willing to take the city in new direction. Unfortunately, when I ask them about Richmond they are thinking about Monument Ave., the Civil War and perhaps the state capitol. Why would I want to visit a city that hasn’t moved on from the past? Unfortunately, the city has moved on, but the minds of the people who live here are still stuck in the past. As ambassadors for the city when we leave, how will we represent this place where we spent four years of our life? Don’t forget the past and the history that makes this city great, but also don’t be afraid to let the city redefine itself after one hundred and fifty years. It is not the same city and the country should begin to realize that.