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It is close but still above 50%. from your article, "According to census statistics released Thursday, barely 50 percent of the District’s population was African American in 2010. the 2009 stats show whites at 40.6%
There's no reason to turn DC into a state. It should remain a federal district. Its citizens should simply either get a refund on the taxes they've paid or get representation, as designated in the Constitution.
Anyway - why was this thread raised from the dead after 2 years?
I could just as easily point out that DC is the most educated city in the country, that the crime rate has plummetted in the past 15 years (nearly 500 murders / year in the mid-90s down to about 130 last year), and that the biggest problem DC faces right now is a massive influx of middle and upper-middle class people who have raised cost-of-living to near New York prices, with new development booming throughout the city, making it difficult for the subsection of poor people you reference to remain within the city.
Your views are about 20 years out-of-date. There is no doubt a large under-class that is illiterate and shackled with high unemployment, but that is far from the whole story, as the city overall and the region has a below-average unemployment rate (try about 9% for the city overall due to 2 sections having very high rates, balanced by about 6% for DC-Arlington-Alexandria).
To claim that "the rest of the city is not doing so well" is outrageously inaccurate and reveals you do not know Washington, DC at all beyond your perceptions based on some museums and monuments. The neighborhoods are thriving.
Would you like to take a walk with me to 14th an U streets NW. or how about Alabama Ave. SE. then we can go to NMK Ave, SE. then to Barry RD SE
You see I was born there and worked in all these fine areas. There are very few good areas in DC anymore.
Would you like to take a walk with me to 14th an U streets NW. or how about Alabama Ave. SE. then we can go to NMK Ave, SE. then to Barry RD SE
You see I was born there and worked in all these fine areas. There are very few good areas in DC anymore.
I would have to say this is an incorrect statement. I see you listed three streets in southeast and then U street. Whats wrong with U street? Looks 1000 times better than it did in the 90s.
Nevertheless, the 23rd Amendment does indeed give them representation. More representation than US citizens get in any other US territory or possession. Just not as much as you apparently want to give them.
Well its not about trivial wants and desires. Its really about fair treatment. Those who reside in places like Puerto Rico, Guam, etc. do not get a say in who gets to be President. They also don't pay federal income taxes where as DC residents do. That's where the whole "Taxation Without Representation" thing comes from.
Would you like to take a walk with me to 14th an U streets NW. or how about Alabama Ave. SE. then we can go to NMK Ave, SE. then to Barry RD SE
You see I was born there and worked in all these fine areas. There are very few good areas in DC anymore.
What are you talking about? You may have been born in DC but you obviously haven't actually been back in quite some time. There are plenty of nice neighborhoods Capitol Hill, Woodley Park, Dupont, Cleveland Park, etc. You're comparing 14th and U to Anacostia? LOL Maybe back in the day but the neighborhood has changed and its super expensive now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by btsilver
I would have to say this is an incorrect statement. I see you listed three streets in southeast and then U street. Whats wrong with U street? Looks 1000 times better than it did in the 90s.
Yeah you kinda sorta just discredited yourself. There's nothing wrong with U street except maybe too many partygoers seeing as how people feel say frequenting the clubs and bars there.
Prior to the passage of the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution in 1961, DC residents could not vote for President. The Constitution has been changed many times; it can be changed again.
Think about it. If the federal government were to move to Philadelphia, then the people living in what is now the District of Columbia (most likely reverting back to the state of Maryland) would have full representation in Congress - they would have a vote for a member of the House and two Senators ... and the people of Philadelphia would have their representation removed.
But the people living in the two cities are full U.S. citizens in literally every single regard save one - being represented in the House and Senate.
I think it's possible, even likely, that Congress will approve the current bill before it. And I think it likely that it will not survive a legal challenge - I don't believe that Congress has the authority to make this call. But the states do have the ability via a Constitutional amendment.
And I think most people, when they sit down and think about it, will see the injustice of a group of U.S. citizens being denied a right that the rest of us take for granted ... that of representation in Congress.
This is a political issue and Republicans will not support it. As long as they control the House of Representatives it's not going to pass. Also it would take a thirds majority of the states for it to pass. There are too many Conservative states for it get through all the state legislatures needed for a constitutional amendment.
The district, although not a legal state, is a state per se. It is contained within the United States, people born there are US Citizens, US Federal laws apply to it and US taxes are collected from its residents. My view is that courts will look at these facts and come to the conclusion that they are entitled to representation in the House.
Not this Supreme Court there are too many Conservative judges.
D.C. residents suffer from "taxation without representation," which is in itself unconstitutional.
It may not be a state, but neither is it separate from the United States.
Actually the District of Columbia has a congressional delegate. Therefore they have representation in Congress.
The entire taxation without representation argument is thus null and void.
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