“No taxation without representation!” We all heard that in our history classes in relation to the beginning of the American Revolution. It was a rallying cry that helped bring the United States of America into being.
As wonderful as our country is, there was an oversight. That is the status of the District of Columbia, AKA Washington, D.C. Residents of D.C. have no representation, other than their non-voting member of Congress.
This is an issue of democracy: consider that there are more residents of Washington, D.C. than there are in either Vermont or Wyoming. D.C. residents pay more in taxes than the citizens of 23 other states.
This is a racial justice issue, since a majority of D.C. residents are Black. These tax-paying citizens have not had full representation. This has real consequences. For instance, during the pandemic, life and death decisions were being made in Congress without them. This lack of representation is an example of structural racism. We must fix it now.
We must make our democracy more representative. Congress must grant statehood to Washington, D.C. Please contact your members of Congress.
Lucy Hull,
Arrowsic
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