D.C. Residents Are Mad at the Metro System For Snubbing a Viral Black Content Creator

​Black Washington, D.C., residents are calling out the city’s metro system for what they believe is unfair treatment of a Black influencer. They’ve been lighting up social media with criticism for the agency that manages public transit after the local creator was passed over for a collaboration in favor of a white influencer who was just visiting the nation’s capital.

Jake Hutcheson, a white, Orlando-based content creator, gained traction on social media for his videos showing his first time taking the Metrorail during a visit. He walked around the Metro Center stop in amazement, sharing detailed information with his followers about what he saw on and off the train: a man reading a newspaper, a dad making sure his family was safe, and the stations’ brutalist architecture.

“This is sick. The Metro is unreal,” he said in one clip. “The people around it and in it – it’s cool that I get to witness this and be a part of it.”

Within days, Hutcheson was invited by Metro to highlight the system’s new signage and meet the Metro CEO Randy Clarke at the headquarters just outside of the L’Enfant Plaza station. But the invitation didn’t sit well with Davontae Hammock, a Black 19-year-old content creator who moved to the nation’s capital from Arkansas. Hammock has garnered millions of views for his 30-plus-episode video series exploring DC Metro stops, highlighting the surrounding people and neighborhoods.

In a post, he expressed his disappointment at seeing Hutcheson get so much attention for something he has been doing for months.

“I’ve never did any collaborations. I’ve never partnered, I’ve never did any meeting, I’ve never been in the headquarters of Metro…And I’ve been probably the biggest Metro content creator just around that space this whole … five months,” Hammock said in a video. “I felt like they were playing in my face.”

Others on social media echoed his frustration. Neighborhood Alchy Pops, a Washington, D.C. native and content creator, posted a video calling on Metro’s corporate office to “do better,” praising Hammock’s work ethic and respectful attitude.

“Black men always have to work 10 times harder just to get a fraction of what everybody else got,” he started the video. “We see the difference when you can make one video and you’re already with the CEO versus where you can make 20, 30 videos, millions and millions of views, 19 years old, a motivation to the community, and you don’t get the same love.”

Commenters under Hutcheson’s videos demanded that DC Metro explain their decision. 

“I can’t help but question the disparity in recognition and opportunity. Was this young Black creator even considered? Because the optics are troubling,” one woman wrote.

Following the pressure from content creators and social media users in the Chocolate City, Hammock said that a local content creator friend connected him with Metro’s office, and that on a phone call, a representative of the transit system reassured him that they would work together on a future project he can’t share yet.

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, also known as WMATA or simply the Metro, is generally loved by Washingtonians, transplants and visitors alike. While some recent changes — including changing bus names and new signage — have riled commuters, these setbacks haven’t derailed the goodwill the Metro has gained over the past 50 years for its cleanliness and reliability.