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A Tough Sell
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You can find this diverse range of people in places like Skyland Liquors, where Rose and Joseph Calvin Rumber's store has become a community gathering spot.
African American Anacostia natives and lifelong sweethearts, the Rumbers worked dutifully for years at Skyland Liquors and thought their boss, Paul Cooper, was just joshing when he said he might make them owners one day.
He would say, " 'One day, Rosie, I'm going to leave the business to you,' and I just smiled and laughed and said, 'Okay, Mr. Cooper,' " she recalls sweetly, sadly.
And they were awestruck when he actually did it, made provision for them in his will upon his death in 2000. The Rumbers had to put their home up as collateral to buy the place in 2003, but they did it gladly to become business owners -- and now they could face financial ruin if they are unable to find a new location for the business.
Lawrence Ray, a nearby resident, is a regular at Skyland Liquors, where he plays keno and otherwise socializes around a high wooden table set up for lottery customers.
"That's a joke," he says of the white-tablecloth restaurant that folks from Hillcrest would like to see at Skyland. "What are they talking about, tablecloths? Who's that for?"
Sure, beautify the place, says Ray, a retired public school security officer. But he takes exception to the notion that his area is something in need of revitalization.
"I hate that word 'revitalize.' Revitalizing what? Whose idea? That wasn't our idea. . . . What about the people that's in the community who may not even afford to be here once it's revitalized?"
It is, to his mind, part of a grand scheme to push the poor out, "because eventually that's what's going to happen."
On the cash register a faded sticker says "eminent domain" with a red line through it. But the Rumbers sense the writing on the wall. They've been looking for a new location.
"It's over," Rose Rumber says. "We've been fighting for three years."
Should the court challenge fail and the Skyland businesses move, NCRC will pay merchants up to $20,000 each to relocate. As for the property owners, six sold to the NCRC before eminent domain was declared. Franco was offered $350,000 for the 2,000 square feet he owns in his 17,000-square-foot store, most of which is leased. But he refused to sell. He'd rather fight. Now, if forced to leave, he would be eligible only for a lesser amount of "just compensation," though the definition of terms is in dispute in the courts.
