D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser recently pulled out all the stops for a festive weekend of activities commemorating the 164th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln signing the District of Columbia Compensated Emancipation Act on April 16, 1862. Celebrations included the DC250 Full Democracy Luncheon on Friday, April 17, and the 21st annual D.C. Emancipation Day on April 19, featuring a parade, festival, and concert.
Despite forecasted cooler temperatures and intermittent showers during the Sunday celebration– free and open to the public— interest among residents was so great that planners had to change the venue from Franklin Park to the corner of 13th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW.
Still, one must wonder, did people show up to honor the more than 3,100 enslaved persons then living in the District who were freed in April 1862, and who showed up by the thousands on April 19, 1866, to commemorate their freedom? Or were they anxious to get their groove on with entertainers that included T.I., Mýa, the Backyard Band featuring Sugar Bear, and Tye Tribbett?
Thinking optimistically, Washingtonians likely showed up in force to both honor ancestors from the past and to celebrate the present with some of America’s top artists.
According to District officials, D.C. Emancipation Day — proclaimed as a holiday by the late Mayor Marion Barry Jr., and confirmed as a public holiday in 2005 by then Mayor Anthony Williams — has several goals that include celebrating progress in advancing racial equality and civil rights. And yes, progress has been made on these collective fronts.
However, one goal, perhaps the most important of all, remains little more than a pipe dream: winning the battle for and the right to D.C. statehood.
For far too long, Washington, D.C. has served as the playground for Congress and the president. And in many instances, the scales of justice have not tilted in our favor.
Washingtonians don’t want anything more than what citizens in other U.S. cities are guaranteed: the ability to serve in the military, pay federal taxes, and follow federal laws while being afforded voting representation in the House and Senate.
Further, it remains unjust that Congress continues to have the authority to overturn local D.C. legislation whenever it is deemed necessary.
We are not children, and our city should not be viewed as a testing ground on which federal officials are allowed to try out new ideas and policies on the backs of Washingtonians.
Our population, now estimated at more than 700,000 residents, closely matches cities like Nashville, Oklahoma City, Denver, Seattle and Baltimore. So, what’s the problem? Aren’t we Americans, too?