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Inside The District of Columbia’s Fight For Voting Representation & Statehood

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The residents of Washington DC have gone over 200 years without representation in Congress. But recently, their long fight for voting rights is gaining some momentum.

When the colonies broke off from British control to become the United States, one of their rallying cries was “no taxation without representation.” Now, 243 years later, license plates in the nation’s capital city bear the same message — a protest against not having voting representation in Congress, despite having a population of over 600,000 and paying the highest federal taxes per capita of any state.

Historians say the Founding Fathers intended to give the District of Columbia voting rights, but they never quite decided how and when.

Activists, lawyers and politicians have raised different iterations of the charge for decades, centuries even. They’ve won related battles along the way, but fallen short on the main goal. 

Now, there’s a group of lawmakers, attorneys and citizens that are employing different means to change that, and gaining more traction than they have previously. Their fight is not new, but some of their strategies are.

The History

The Founders were torn over how to solidify the District’s voting rights. Historical accounts indicate they didn’t want to establish the capital as a state, but that presented a challenge about how to give it the Congressional representation they felt it required.

“These folks had just risked their life and treasure to create a republic founded on the principle of no taxation without representation,” said George Derek Musgrove, historian and co-author of Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation’s Capital. “There was really no overt sentiment among them that at the center of that new republic they were going to create a federal district where people were taxed but not represented in the national legislature.”

Debates and discussions ensued, but the issue continued to be pushed back.

“They just never come up with a good plan,” said Musgrove.

In the centuries since, the voting rights fight has taken different forms, but the last 50 years have been especially eventful. A voting rights amendment to the Constitution, Supreme Court case, and voting rights act all gained significant momentum before dying because they fell short of the needed national support or faced partisan push back.

Despite these past setbacks, House Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the District, is optimistic about its prospects in the coming years.

“For the first time in eight years, we can now move a bill. We’ve been trying to get statehood for some time,” she said in an interview with Capital News Service. “But during my time in the Congress, which is more than a quarter of a century, we have been in the minority for most of those years. And so it has been difficult to move a bill in the House of Representatives.”

The Lawsuit

20 years ago, Walter Smith was part of the legal team that lost a District of Columbia voting rights case brought before the Supreme Court. He went back to the drawing board, and in the last few years, the executive director of the D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice formed a new legal theory. 

It hinges on a little-known part of the U.S. Constitution: the District Clause. This cluster of less than 100 words gives Congress control over the District, including the final say in its local government. 

The clause unlocked a whole new legal argument for Smith, and one he said is stronger than the previous case. 

“It lets us say that it violates equal protection and due process and the First Amendment to refuse to give us the vote,” he said.

Just as Congress has ultimate power over the District, it has ultimate power over its voting rights. Smith said by withholding those rights, Congress is acting unconstitutionally. 

If he and his team win, the District would not become the 51st state, but it would get voting representation in Congress like any other state. It’s a different argument from the previous case, which centered on statehood.

It also corrects what Christopher Wright, an attorney on the case, says is a series of inexcusable injustices.

“Somebody from Wisconsin actually has more influence on the District’s legislation than somebody from the District,” Wright said.

That’s because residents of outside states, like Wisconsin, have voting representation in Congress. And Congress is the ultimate decision maker for the District.

On an even larger scale, due to the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, people who move overseas from the United States have more power than District residents. 

“If you move from, you know, Bethesda to Mumbai, you continue to have representation in Congress,” Wright said. “But if you move across Western Avenue or Eastern Avenue to the district, you lose a vote.” 

Eleanor Holmes Norton. By US House Office of Photography, Public Domain, via Wikimedia

The Bill

As the District’s non-voting delegate to the House for 28 years, Norton is one of the most prominent voices in this movement. It directly impacts her job, because although she has many of the same powers as other representatives, she doesn’t get a final vote on the House floor. 

“(That) is what the people I represent do not have and what we’re on our way to get,” Norton said. 

It’s a fight that’s also personal to her as a lifelong resident of the District.

“I came to office as a resident of the District of Columbia and was born here, and who’s a third generation Washingtonian. And so I have seen my family, which goes back to well before the Civil War, never have the same rights as other Americans,” Norton said. “And because I represent the District, I’ve had to fight so many fights that would not have to fight if we were a state.”

Norton is pushing forward a bill to make the District a state, which she says is the most absolute way to secure its autonomy. 

Bipartisan support has been hard to come by for these measures, but Norton is not letting that phase her. She emphasized how the bill is getting record-setting support in the House. There was even a hearing last week. 

However, things could get thorny in the Senate. If the District becomes a state or secures voting rights, it would almost certainly spell out two more Democratic senators, as it consistently leans liberal. This could garner Republican push back. 

“It could affect the balance of power in the Senate,” Smith said. “The fact that that scenario is possible, I think illustrates why there may be serious Republican opposition to this.”

Norton said securing Senate support will become a greater focus after the upcoming election.

“I don’t think the Senate is paying too much attention to this bill yet,” Norton said. “They’re much more worried about high visibility national issues, like the economy and immigration. This will become a big issue after the 2020 election for the Senate.”

Although the fight for voting rights exists in the context of partisan discourse in Washington, Smith said it’s vital to remember why advocates have been working at this for so long.

“This is not about partisan politics,” Smith said. “This is about basic American rights.”

Written by Nora Eckert, Capital News Service. Top Image: Public Domain, via Wikimedia

Shredding At Pulaski

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The pristine marble of Washington DC’s Freedom Plaza has made it a favorite spot year after year for street skaters in the DMV and all over the world.

Tattooed on Mikey Payne’s right knee is “13th and E”: the address of Washington, D.C.’s Freedom Plaza. As a teenager, Payne would skip school and head there to skate.

Now 27, working odd jobs, and travelling the country skating, Payne still returns to the place he and fellow skateboarders call Pulaski, after the mounted figure of a Polish general that watches over it.

The plaza is one of the most famous street skating locations in the world. There on Pennsylvania Avenue in the heart of D.C., just two blocks from the White House, skaters and pedestrians have a clear view of the Capitol building, ten blocks to the west.

Freedom Plaza has been visited by every president since it’s construction in 1835 and has seen countless protesters march across its marble. At one end sits the 15-foot tall bronze statue of General Casimir Pulaski, who fought with the colonists in the revolution, saved George Washington’s life, and is considered the “father of the American cavalry.”

Sequan smokes a cigarette after skating one March evening at sunset in Freedom Plaza. (Photo by Hadley Chittum)

Skateboarding is technically illegal at Freedom Plaza, which is policed by the National Park Service. However, every day skaters congregate to drink, smoke, and shred.

Every few hours the “whoop whoop” of a police siren sends the skaters scattering, only to return after ten minutes and resume skating. It’s just habit for the regulars.

“It’s an entire city block of some of the smoothest marble in the world,” said Aaron Brown, a 25-year-old Pulaski regular from Bowie, Maryland.

Payne, a veteran of the plaza for over a decade, has seen waves of skaters come and go.

“The people I hang around with now weren’t always here,” he said. “It’s up to a few of us to preserve the culture.”

A broken board sits along with empty beer and liquor bottles and burnt “Make America Great Again” visors in the fountain at Freedom Plaza. The day before, skaters had set fire to the “MAGA” hats and tossed them in the fountain. (Photo by Hadley Chittum)

To the world of street skating, Pulaski is one of a kind. According to Brown, today it’s one of the last skate-able plazas on the east coast. And every summer, people come from across the globe to skate Freedom Plaza. The regulars like to say D.C. is the best place to skate come summertime.

“There’s no bad days,” added Brown.

But if you plan on travelling to the nation’s capitol to skate Pulaski, Payne just asks that you respect the local scene.

And take his advice:  “Just skate fast and don’t be a kook.”

December 2017: a skater prepares to grind a marble ledge at Pulaski. (Photo by Hadley Chittum)
Shane looks into the camera while sharing a song with Mikey on his phone. (Photo by Hadley Chittum)
A broken skateboard sits on a marble bench at Freedom Plaza. (Photo by Hadley Chittum)
December 2017: Aaron smokes a cigarette while filming a friend. (Photo by Hadley Chittum)
Mikey rolls a joint one evening after skating. (Photo by Hadley Chittum)

Top Photo: Skaters at Freedom Plaza taking a smoke break. Photo by Hadley Chittum.

Anti-Racism in Action: RVA Mag’s Photo Journal from Washington, DC

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This weekend, anti-racists, anti-fascists, student protesters, clergy, and everyday citizens proved that, when it counts, people will stand up against those who would seek to perpetuate violent and vile ideologies. That is not to say that the mainstreaming of white supremacy isn’t ongoing within the nation’s politics, but this past weekend in Charlottesville and Washington, D.C. proved the space for white nationalists, supremacists, fascists, and xenophobes to publicly gather is shrinking.

And every counter-protester who took to the streets this weekend, regardless of motivation or ideology, took part in a grand display of anti-fascism.

While that term has been politicized by those who attempt to rationalize the ideas espoused by white nationalists, for those who are seeking to challenge the worst excesses of this new complex political reality, it is the glue that ultimately binds people together. The unfortunate perception driven by mainstream media outlets, some misguided like CNN, others entirely nefarious like Fox News, is that these counter-protests and demonstrations are nothing but packs of violent anarchists, equivalent with violent white supremacists.

Let’s not forget, who actually killed someone last year? Not the disparate groups of people marching against racism and anti-Semitism. The counter-demonstrators, comprised of community organizers, young professionals, parents with their children, housing advocates, students, clergy, and faith-leaders, who, while disparate, were all committed to the idea that overt displays of racism and anti-Semitism have no place in our public squares.

RVA Mag was on the frontlines of both events, however, this photo journal is an account of the events in Washington, DC this past Sunday, when over 5,000 counter-protesters denied space for white supremacists to rally in the nation’s capital. The same white supremacists who marauded through UVA last year chanting “Jews will not replace us.”

This was a powerful message to send in 2018 when the president refused to publicly denounce the march planned by Jason Kessler, and, as of publication time, has just publicly referred to a black woman as a “dog.”

Some of the best photos from the weekend can be found below:

Landon Shroder: Managing Partner 

Counter-Protestors Gathering at Lafayette Park in the Shadow of the White House.

Counter Protestor Marching up 15th Street in Washington DC

Listening to Speeches in Lafayette Park

Two Columns of Counter-Protestors Converging on H St.

Counter-Protestors of all Kinds Linking Up in Lafayette Park

Hello! Wink, Wink

Black Lives Matter March to Lafayette Square

Branden Wilson: Staff Photographer 

Something for Everyone Fighting Racism

In Position, Adjacent to the White House

One of the Original Nazi Fighters

Everyday People Joining in the Counter-Protest

Marching up 15st Street with a Picture fo Heather Heyer

Veterans Protesting White Supremacy in Lafayette Park

White Nationalists Are Still Winning

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One year has gone by since James Fields, Jr. killed Heather Heyer and wounded 30 others at Unite the Right in Charlottesville last August, the largest gathering of white supremacists and fascists in decades. 

Since then, nothing has changed. In fact, things have gotten worse. After the tragedy, there were signs of encouragement that reduced some of the shock. The strong showing of anti-fascists, anti-racists, and the faith-based community in confronting white supremacy on the streets of Charlottesville was heartening, even if many of us believed that this kind of event would be a one-time occurrence. 

Faith Based Community Confronting White Supremacist

Unfortunately, that feeling was short-lived. The next day, President Trump took to the airwaves and proclaimed that “there were some very fine people on both sides.” By good people, he meant those chanting Nazi slogans like “blood and soil” and “Jews will not replace us.” And with his statement, he legitimized the fascist ideologies that brought thousands of white supremacists to Charlottesville.

Making synonymous white supremacists, white nationalists, Nazis, and fascists with those who would confront them only served the worst excesses and impulses of the American public. 

Can we really feign outrage that there are now four openly anti-Semitic white nationalists, one of whom is a self-identified Nazi, running on Republican tickets this mid-term? This is not a coincidence or stroke of bad luck; these men have been emboldened and legitimized from the podiums of their party. Their message connects with what they hear from the president and the condemnation they don’t hear from other Republican leaders. It has become legitimate. It has become mainstream.  

A literal Nazi ran unopposed in Illinois’ 3rd District during the Republican primary. After being exposed, he still received over 20,000 votes from people in his district. Why? Because he ran as a Republican and that was good enough. The particulars don’t matter  (#mainstreaming). 

And yet, the mainstreaming of white supremacy since Unite the Right doesn’t stop there. It has seeped into all aspects of our political discourse. One does not have to see a robe and hood or a swastika tattoo to recognize the engine driving this process. In fact, the groups that marched in Charlottesville remain on the fringe and are fractured (for now) even while their views become more publicly accepted. 

The White Supremacist Lines at Unite the Right

The new frontline has become the normalization of xenophobia, allowing sensible people to feel like there is a justification for interning brown children and separating them from their parents. It is the “othering” of Muslims in the form of a ban that is wrapped in the guise of national security; it is referring to African countries as “shit holes,” while praising historically homogeneous white countries like Norway; it is the public shaming of black athletes like Colin Kaepernick and Lebron James as unpatriotic and dumb; it is the fusing of populist resentment from the white working class with the worst kinds of nationalism to create a tribalistic worldview that perceives constant threats, both economic and physical, from grossly misrepresented black and brown communities. This worldview effectively says “you can only be safe when you are around other white people who think like you,” and it has revived the worst kinds of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and convinced 30 percent of America that the “liberal press,” the check on this kind of rampant misinformation, is their enemy. 

This is the mainstreaming of white supremacy and fascism, and we can’t even begin to comprehend the downstream effects of this movement.

America has always grappled with these demons, and it is naive to believe that Trump is the cause. He is merely the effect. Yet policy differences aside, we have always had presidents who could, at the very least, tame these demons and curb their worst excesses. Remember, civility in America always starts at the top. Without this, we are now playing constant defense. We are back to explaining to our friends, relatives, and colleagues why Nazis, white supremacists, and white nationalists do not deserve a right to rally publicly. We are back to rationalizing and bartering with people who feel they can openly discriminate – even if they are ignorant of what they are saying and doing. As one of my colleagues at RVA Mag would say, “they are colonizers.” We are back to defending the very notion of anti-fascism from the same generation whose parents fought to free Europe from the Nazi scourge.

I am back to explaining to my relatives who vote Republican that their candidate this midterm, Corey Stewart, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the very same white supremacists who planned Unite the Right last year. The same people who chanted “blood and soil” and “Jews will not replace us.” Nonetheless, they will still vote Republican. Because the mainstreaming process has convinced them they are under threat. Not from the Nazis or white supremacists who hate them, but from immigrants, communities of color, and the liberal media who are trying to silence them. 

Counter-Protestors at Unite the Right

This weekend there will be multiple events in both Charlottesville and Washington, DC. The event in DC will be attended by former KKK Grand Wizard, David Duke and Jason Kessler, the organizer of Unite the Right, upping the potential for violent escalation. From the map of the staging areas the DC police are attempting to keep both sides apart. But as we have seen from recent rallies in Portland and Berkeley, the best-laid security plans are only as good as the willingness of people to follow them. 

While I will be there in my capacity as a journalist, I will also be there in support of anti-fascists, anti-racists, and those who would deny a platform for ideologies rooted in violence and hatred. I have no other choice. We can no longer pretend that sensible moderation and conversation will somehow derail the mainstreaming process of white supremacy and fascism. Those of us who have the ability to raise attention to this must. Those of us in the media must not hide behind the thin veneer of neutrality any longer. To do so will be to our own eventual detriment.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in a new book titled “Fascism: A Warning,” summed up the state of play in modern America. “[Trump] convinced enough voters in the right states that he was a teller of blunt truths, a masterful negotiator, and an effective champion of American interests. That he is none of those things should disturb our sleep, but there is a larger cause for unease. Trump is the first anti-democratic president in modern U.S. history.”

We must rally. We must resist. That is what we must remember one year later.

Unite the Right 2.0 Planned for Washington, D.C.

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The National Parks Service has approved an application submitted by Jason Kessler, white supremacist and organizer of the Unite the Right march in Charlottesville last year, for another alt-right rally held in Washington, D.C. on August 11 and 12 this year.

He has not yet been granted a permit.

Kessler estimates upwards of 400 people will gather outside the White House in Lafayette Square to march, give speeches, and protest what he describes as “civil rights abuse.”

“This year we have a new purpose,” Kessler said in a statement. “That’s to talk about the civil rights abuse that happened in Charlottesville, Virginia last year.”

Last year, after a contentious morning in Charlottesville’s Emancipation Park in which thousands of counter-protesters met nearly 1000 members of the alt-right, law enforcement decided to end the rally before the allotted permit time began. Later that day, counter-protester and Charlottesville resident Heather Heyer was killed after being struck by a car driven into a crowd by white supremacist James Fields Jr.

“It wasn’t the fault of my group that that stuff happened,” Kessler said in a statement, placing blame with the city and the counter-protesters.

In his application, Kessler predicts that “Antifa affiliated groups will try to disrupt.”

As of now, the gathering is scheduled to last all day on both days.

Photos: March for Our Lives in Richmond and Washington DC

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This past Saturday, youth led marches to demand an end to gun violence in all 50 states. RVA Mag had teams in Washington D.C. for the national event, and another at home in the River City, where students from local high schools led more than 1,500 from Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School over the Leigh Street Bridge to the steps of the Virginia State Capitol. Youth from the Armstrong Leadership Program kicked off the Richmond event and shared the stage with invited speakers like Superintendent Jason Kamras, Mayor Levar Stoney, and Sen. Tim Kaine.

Up in Washington D.C., over 500,000 gathered for a rally on Pennsylvania Avenue, blocks from the Capitol, to represent the national movement and urge lawmakers to pass legislation banning both the sales of weapons used in mass shootings along with high-capacity magazines, and to close loopholes in America’s background check system.

Some of the best photos of the day can be found below:

Signs in D.C. Photo by Shroder

“How Many Tears,” asks a sign on Leigh St. Photo by Streever

Marching down Broad St. Photo by Streever

Tim Kaine and Anne Holton with Levar Stoney at MLK Middle School. Photo by Streever

Future leaders in Virginia. Photo by Streever

More signs in Richmond. Photo by Streever

Sign in D.C. Photo by Shroder

Peace, not guns in D.C. Photo by Shroder

Fuck the NRA in D.C. Photo by Shroder

D.C. rally. Photo by Shroder

The crowd in D.C. Photo by Shroder

Photos By: Landon Shroder and David Streever