June 9, 2011 - Issue 430 |
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The Tale of One
City
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I
am witnessing an ethnic cleansing as sure as I am alive. I’ve read about
the Native American, the Jews of Eastern Europe and apartheid Our city’s cleansing
began during the years following the fall of Marion Barry. Barry served as the second elected mayor of the After the infamous public 1990 fall of Barry, the white congressional overseers of the city saw fit to fiscally back a fiscally conservative chief executive who would commit to the type of governing that hurts poor people and enriches rich ones. Anthony Williams’ consecutive terms from 1999-2007 set into motion a form of economic cleansing that sent blacks in the heart of the city fleeing for more friendly living conditions. The influx of whites, concurrent with exploding property tax rates, spawned a gentrification that brings me to today. Nearly one out
of five DC residents lives at or below the poverty line, a statistic that
helps expose a widening gap between the rich and the poor in the nation's
capital. This is the contradiction of current mayor Vincent Gray’s vision
of “ But doesn’t that raise a question for you, the contradiction between great employment opportunities and a ridiculously high unemployment rate? Employment is great if you’re a government employee. Employment is great if you’re a private contractor. Employment is great if you’re a foreign diplomat or a covert operative; if you’re a hard-working blue-collar American, an unemployed American or simply a black American, employment isn’t so great in the nation’s capital. Most Americans don’t know that…that’s why I’m here to tell you. If you want to
get a sense of what a disparate tall-tale Washington has become
in recent years, check out the Boasting a strong
school system and positioned about six miles from the nation's capital,
Although white households had a median income of about $101,000 in 2008, the median income of black households in DC was about $39,000. And, in 2010, affordable housing was cut by 1/3 and child care by 1/5. More budget cuts in low income programs, including child care, homeless shelters, affordable housing and TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) were passed for 2011. On April 1st of this year, Mayor Vincent Gray proposed an additional $130 million in cuts to low income programs. Yet, those same high-paid legislators and executives play coward when it comes to raising the income tax on DC’s top 5% income bracket. I’m pissed! And even more, DC is currently embroiled in a re-districting battle that has drawn whites to show their racist tendencies in council hearings; unfettered efforts to keep blacks in their “traditional” ward districts - and re-draw them out of white ones. While DC stomps
on the poor, they give an estimated $250 million in tax abatements and
exemptions to corporations…a virtual well-to-do welfare program. When
you plan your trip to the nation’s capital as your next tourist destination,
remember this commentary - better yet, this news report - and change your
vacation. The rhetoric of “ BlackCommentator.com
Columnist, Perry
Redd, is the former Executive Director of
the workers rights advocacy, Sincere Seven, and author of the on-line
commentary, “The
Other Side of the Tracks.” He is the host of the internet-based talk
radio show, Socially
Speaking in
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