Washington, D.C., Deserves Statehood

[Zorro]

Trump transformed my hometown into a war zone, underscoring the imperative that the capital should be the 51st state.

By Susan E. Rice

One of my earliest memories is of walking along a burned-out 14th Street in my hometown Washington, D.C., in 1968, holding one parent’s hand as the other pushed my brother in a stroller; I was 4 years old. They took us to witness the destruction that arose from rage following the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, and later to the Poor People’s Campaign for economic justice encamped on a muddy National Mall.

My parents wanted to teach us that the America they loved harbored injustices and systemic racism, yet it was a union we had a duty to try to perfect.

Fifty-two years later, not nearly enough has changed. Entrenched bigotry and senseless violence against African-Americans persist. We still have much to do to make this a truly equal and just America — from eradicating police brutality and reforming the criminal justice system to ensuring access to affordable housing, quality health care and education, and decent jobs for all regardless of the color of their skin.

An often overlooked piece of the justice agenda was cast into stark relief last week, when President Trump ordered heavily armed federal forces into the District of Columbia against the will of Mayor Muriel Bowser. Largely because Washington lacks statehood, Mr. Trump had the authority to line city streets with military Humvees, to fly Black Hawk helicopters dangerously low to terrorize protesters, to fill the steps of the Lincoln Memorial with military personnel and to deploy thousands of federal forces, many unidentifiable with no discernible chain of command, like Russian “Little Green Men,” to intimidate residents.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/opinion/trump-military-washington-statehood.html

[larwdem]

1. I agree

when Dems get back in power we need to push for this (Statehood)

[SunSeeker]

2. K & R

[montanacowboy]

3. Along with

Statehood for Puerto Rico
Elimination of Electoral College
Ending gerrymandering
Adding judges to the Supreme Court
Adding Senators according to State's population
Putting the traitors in prison
A no holds barred with Democracy full bore ahead, change the country once and for all to a permanent Democratic majority

and crush these fucking Nazi's into the dust forever, we may have one chance to do it and we better not blow it and go all "looking forward and not backward" shit

[J_William_Ryan]

4. Puerto Rico

has unsuccessfully sought statehood for 71 years.

[montanacowboy]

5. They have to request statehood by voting for it

and then the House and Senate vote on it
President signs it

I think they are pretty much ready to become a State after the fiasco they have been through

[elleng]

6. 'Washington is the only national capital in the democratic world whose citizens

lack equal voting rights. Its population exceeds 700,000, more than Wyoming’s and Vermont’s, and comparable to Delaware’s and Alaska’s. Washington’s citizens pay more per capita in federal income taxes than any state in the country and more in total federal income tax than 22 states. Our men and women in uniform fight and die for America.

Yet, we lack any senators or voting representative in the House of Representatives. Congress controls the city’s budget and can override our laws and withhold funds. As our license plate proclaims, we suffer “taxation without representation,” which violates our democratic rights and relegates residents to second-class citizenship.

Why does this injustice persist in the 21st century? Opponents of Washington statehood make specious legal arguments, claiming that the Constitution mandates complete federal authority over the district and thus precludes statehood. But the Constitution merely states that the federal enclave cannot exceed 10 square miles; it does not prohibit carving out a limited area for government buildings that remains under federal control, while making the rest of the district into a state.

The real reasons for opposition are more sinister: racism and political interest. Washington was long predominantly black, and efforts to deny its citizens their civil rights date back to Reconstruction. The black population is now just below 50 percent, and the city remains overwhelmingly Democratic.

Last month, Mr. Trump said the quiet part out loud. “D.C. will never be a state,” he told The New York Post: “They want to do that so they pick up two automatic Democrat — you know it’s 100 percent Democrat, basically — so why would the Republicans ever do that?”

Washington has fulfilled the prerequisites for statehood under the “Tennessee Plan,” the same formula that admitted seven states to the union.'

[Igel]

7. The land was donated for its purpose.

If that's not cool anymore, return the land.

There's precedent for that.

Immediately, the residents get to vote for senators and representatives.

Problem solved.

Just not solved in a way that, for many, is the real goal. So while the claimed problem would be solved easily and quickly, it's not considered a solution to even be seriously pondered.