This DCist thread sums up much of what I find distasteful about the recent Vince Gray win over Adrian Fenty. As a Republican, I really don't have much of a voice in who is running my city. I've accepted that. But it seriously irks me the way "white voters who came here from the midwest and now want a voice" are being brushed off like we're some idiots who should just shut up and let blacks have their candidate win. The racial undertones in this are all ridiculous, because it's largely blacks who are criticizing. Courtland Milloy and other black Post columnists are basically saying "You rich whites are driving poor blacks from the city with your dog parks and your condos and your swanky coffeeshops."
Maybe that makes us all racists. Maybe it makes those of us who came from cities like Detroit, who believe in being in a city, contributing mightily to its tax base by buying property and goods and earning income here, contributing to public schools that we'll never send out children to, and parks and rec centers we don't frequent, maybe it makes us all racists. Maybe we should just go to Virginia.
It's not about democracy. Voters didn't want Fenty, they wanted Gray. That's all well and good. But to paint us as racists for voting for a black mayor who was a bit arrogant but actually seems to have made the city a more livable place--is that such a bad thing? Why is this a racial thing? Why is Michelle Rhee a scapegoat because she's taken on the teacher's unions?
I have really soured on being a DC resident this week. It's not worth it.
No comments:
Post a Comment