Advocates call for end to DC curfew, say policy targets Black youth

A group of D.C. residents is asking the District’s youth curfew be allowed to expire, and they have a pretty straightforward message about why — They say this curfew is ineffective and that it targets and criminalizes youth, specifically Black youth.

D.C. is currently considering an extension to a curfew that restricts anyone under 18 to be out in the District between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m., but this weekend, Navy Yard’s curfew starts at 8 p.m.

The emergency legislation that enacted this curfew is set to expire April 15.

Proponents of the curfew say it is meant to prevent youth takeovers and keep neighborhoods safe. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has urged the council to extend it.

The council delayed voting on the matter, but it will eventually be put to a vote April 21.

The Pan-African Community Action Group called on the D.C. Council to end the curfew in a Saturday rally in Navy Yard.

“We’re challenging the idea that our youth need criminalizing and that they need to be contained or told where or where not to be,” Garrett Harris with Pan-African Community Action said. “I mean, if you look behind us, or if you walk around Navy Yard, you see how beautiful it is. You know, I live in Southeast, and there’s nothing like this in Southeast. This is like a human playground. So it’s obvious why the youth want to come out here because it’s beautiful. You can have a good time, live bands. So telling them they can or cannot come out here to us is just trying to contain them from being able to enjoy the things that are developed because they’re not developed for them.”