Departments

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DC Statehood

  • SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
    4/4/2023

    DC Crime Bill Flap Repeats Congress's Refusal of Home Rule 55 Years Ago

    by Kyla Sommers

    In the period after the rebellions provoked by the assassination of Martin Luther King, Congress pushed "tough on crime" measures on the district even as the local government sought to reduce racial inequality in criminal justice. "Tough on Crime" won, with results that are still present today. 

  • SOURCE: The New Republic
    3/8/2023

    Why are the Dems Denying DC Self-Government?

    Historian (and HNN Alum) Kyla Sommers connects the recent Senate rejection of DC's local crime legislation to the history of suspicion of Black political power in the District. 

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic
    6/17/2021

    There Once Was a Republican Fight for D.C. Statehood

    Historian Derek Musgrove's research on DC statehood shows that prominent Republicans, including conservative Barry Goldwater and segregationist Strom Thurmond, have strongly supported the cause in the past. 

  • SOURCE: The Atlantic

    Don’t Fall for the D.C. Retrocession ‘Okey-Doke’

    by Chris Myers-Asch and Derek Musgrove

    The idea of resolving DC's lack of representation by "retrocession" of the territory beyond the Capitol grounds to Maryland gives Republicans what they want and ignores what DC residents overwhelmingly want: statehood. 

  • SOURCE: Washington Post
    4/14/2021

    How White Fears of ‘Negro Domination’ Kept D.C. Disenfranchised for Decades

    George Derek Musgrove and Chris Myers-Asch, authors of "Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation's Capital" have recently written a report for a nonprofit advocating DC statehood. They argue that Congressional efforts to disempower DC residents after 1871 have reflected White fears of Black political power. 

  • SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
    3/23/2021

    Is the Two-Century Battle for D.C. Statehood Finally Near an End?

    by Robinson Woodward-Burns

    "D.C. residents have gained rights in fits and starts, often running into both constitutional and congressional hurdles. In recent decades, members of Congress have raised new impediments, driven by partisanship tinged with racism."

  • SOURCE: Made By History at the Washington Post
    3/22/2020

    The Battle Against D.C. Statehood is Rooted in Anti-Black Racism

    by Kyla Sommers

    "The continued power of Congress over the District’s affairs is rooted in this same fear of Black power and racist belief that a majority-non-White populace is incapable of independently governing itself."

  • SOURCE: New York Times
    10/1/2020

    D.C. Statehood Is Good for the Democrats, Good for Democracy

    by George Derek Musgrove and Chris Myers Asch

    DC statehood will secure the citizenship rights of the city's residents and begin to repair the crisis of legitimacy caused by the gross imbalance of political representation in the U.S. Senate. 

  • SOURCE: Greater Greater Washington
    6/30/2020

    Is DC Statehood Possible and If So, How?

    On July 16, historian Derek Musgrove and ex-Post columnist Bob Levey will discuss how statehood became the top strategy to gain full citizenship for DC.