Coming to DC this Saturday?
Looks like it's going to be a gorgeous fall day in the nation's capital. High in the upper 60's, partly cloudy, probably a nice cool breeze bringing the smell of crisp leaves on the air. It'll be a perfect day to be on the Mall.
While you're here, do you think you could take a few moments on behalf of the 600,000 second-class citizens who are so graciously hosting you in their city?
During your stay in DC, you might buy a hot dog. The vendor you're buying from is more than likely disenfranchised.
You also might stop by one of our local bars. The bartender who serves you your drink will more than likely be disenfranchised.
Those folks out on the Mall for a run? Probably disenfranchised.
The cops keeping everyone safe? Probably disenfranchised.
The driver on your Metro train or Metrobus? Probably disenfranchised.
That's because each and every one of the 600,000 residents of the District of Columbia is disenfranchised.
When we go to the ballot box in November, we don't get to vote for a Representative. We don't get to vote for Senators. That's because unlike the rest of you, we in DC don't get a voting Representative, and we don't get Senators. And any action taken by the city government we put in place can be overridden at any time, with absolutely no recourse, by Congress.
Imagine that - American citizens who don't get a vote, right in Congress's own backyard.
You'd think that such a concept would be so anathema to our values that we wouldn't allow a single Congressional candidate to get away with not having an opinion on it.
You'd think that after the civil rights battles of the 1960s, there would be no shortage of concern about over half a million Americans whose ballots wouldn't count.
You'd think that if anyone were going to say something about over half a million Americans who were being denied basic civil rights, it would be progressives, right?
And yet... silence.
Tell me: If 600,000 residents of Alabama, most of whom were black, were being told at the ballot box in Montgomery or Selma that their vote wouldn't count for diddly, do you think progressives would be making a fuss?
Then why don't we matter if we're in DC?
The truth is, we should.
And while there is one DC voting rights organization on the roster for One Nation Working Together March - DC Vote - I'm inclined to think that the fact that the people of the city hosting this march are second-class citizens of their own country should play a larger role.
So while you're preparing to come to our city and enjoy our nice fall weather and our legendary (!) hospitality, please do a couple of things:
- Contact One Nation Working Together and demand that at least one speaker for DC statehood be given a space on the dais. Our non-voting Delegate to the House of Representatives, the Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton, would be an excellent advocate - as would our shadow Representative, Mike Panetta, who's also a Kossack to boot. A minimum requirement for progressives to hold a march in a city whose residents are disenfranchised should be to have at least one speaker advocate for those citizens' civil rights. (It would be great if every speaker would mention that, but that's probably a bit too much.)
- Contact your Representative, Senators, and any candidates for those positions, and let them know that you expect them to take action on DC statehood if they want your support. The shameful silence of the progressive movement on the systematic disenfranchisement of 600,000 of their fellow citizens is disgraceful, and the only disinfectant to that is to make noise.
- Talk to your travel companions and anyone else who's fortunate enough to be near you at the march, making sure they're aware that they're standing on disenfranchised land and asking them to contact those who represent them in Congress to demand change. If you feel the Spirit moving you, make a sign demanding DC statehood and hold it up at the rally. It would be disgraceful if hundreds of thousands of progressives marched in DC while not making a point to talk about how the city's residents are being denied basic civil rights.
Thanks. See you in our city soon! We'll be happy to have you here.
(Also, for those driving in from out of town: Parking downtown will be a pain in the butt. My advice is to park at an outlying Metro station - a map can be found here - and take the Metro in. Parking's free on Saturday in Metro parking garages to boot... and you'll get to experience Socialist Mass Transit. [You'll probably also get some exercise, as you're likely to encounter at least one broken escalator.])
Please use this thread to talk about DC statehood or to ask any questions you might have about our fair city in preparation for your visit. I'll spend a couple of hours in here answering the questions only a local will know the answer to :-)