John,

This week, I proudly voted to make Washington, D.C. the 51st state and give the 700,000+ Americans living there — most of whom are Black and brown — a say in our democracy.

D.C. Statehood is a racial justice issue, and I have had enough of Republicans’ racist insinuations that the people of Washington, D.C. are somehow unworthy of voting representation in Congress. I said as much on the House floor yesterday, and was immediately attacked for speaking truth to power.

But don’t just take my word for it. Here is a short list of some of the bad-faith arguments Republicans in Congress have given for why D.C. shouldn’t be a state:

• According to Senator Tom Cotton, because D.C. would not be a “well-rounded working-class state” like Wyoming — a state with a smaller and significantly whiter population. 🤔
• Because it isn’t large enough to qualify as a singular Congressional district...which is a complete lie, because there are actually 33 Congressional districts that are less populous than D.C. 🙄
• According to Congressman Jody Hice, because D.C. doesn’t have a landfill. (Yes, really.) With all the racist trash House Republicans have brought to this debate, it’s no wonder they’re worried about where to put it. 🚮

There is no good faith argument for disenfranchising 700,000+ D.C. residents, who are mostly people of color. We all know that if D.C. were a mostly white city that traditionally voted Republican, it would have been made a state a long time ago.

This movement is making a lot of people scared, because they are realizing that their white supremacist politics are no longer popular throughout the country. Together, we’ll end that kind of politics for good.

Onward,
Mondaire