Standing Strong for Home Rule

(A beautiful city as far as the eye can see… a view of D.C. from Trinity in Northeast to the Washington highlands in Southeast)

The District of Columbia is one of the world’s great cities, an awesome learning laboratory, a beautiful place for work and play alike.  For 55 years, through good times and bad, I have sometimes lived in, consistently worked in, occasionally volunteered for, often played in and always enjoyed this tremendous city.

Today, I am dismayed and angry by the outrageous disrespect and outright slander that the president of the United States has directed toward D.C., its leaders and its residents.  No one here deserves his shameful contempt, his tyrannical tactics, his utter abuse of democracy and self-determination.  His words about crime in the city are belied by the actual facts; but even worse, his “fix” for crime is actually a deliberate act to undo Home Rule and undermine the right of the citizens of D.C. to determine their own affairs.  His rhetoric about “squalor” and “bedlam” is offensive hyperbole not supported by reality.

I have devoted most of my professional life to helping D.C. and its residents have educational, economic, social and political opportunities too long denied to too many of them; now I see those opportunities diminishing rapidly in the rising cadence of militaristic boots stomping down our ceremonial boulevards while tanks roll along as if to remind our local citizens who really controls their fate.  Home rule is crushed under the treads of heavy military equipment in a performative display of a tyrant’s power dream.

I was in my second year of law school at Georgetown when Home Rule became a reality for D.C., and I had the opportunity for an internship with the legendary civil rights icon Julius Hobson, one of the original members of the newly elected D.C. Council.  The vision and energy of that group in those days was astonishing — great local leaders like David Clarke, John Wilson, Polly Shackleton, Arrington Dixon, Marion Barry and others, all working together — and at times clashing — over how to stand up true self-governance for D.C.   Watching them build a democracy in action was thrilling, and a great learning experience that confirmed my devotion to our city.

Half a century later, the promise of Home Rule from those heady days seems naïve, a dream gone dark in the political headwinds of a federal administration that embraces authoritarian tactics to exercise and sustain its power.  Sure, D.C. has its problems with crime — name one city or town in this country that is crime free.   On the same day that President Trump was lambasting D.C. in shamefully false terms, someone shot and killed three people at a Target in Austin, Texas — but we didn’t see the president sending the National Guard to Austin.  His tyrannical tactics are highly selective, and quite often, seem to be vindictive actions against Black leaders, particularly Black women (Muriel Bowser in D.C., Karen Bass in Los Angeles, e.g.)

The existence of crime, like the reality of sin, is part of the human condition; it will not go away through pledges to do better or hobnail boot tactics to oppress everyone to catch the few bad guys.  Crime certainly will not go away as a result of threats and abuse of homeless persons who need help, not scorn.  The Trumpian rhetoric about crime in D.C. is not only not supported by the facts, it’s also not supported by the experience and practice of good and effective crime control and delinquency prevention.  Over time, the aggressive use of military personnel and threats against the local population will not reduce crime, but will only taunt and encourage more unrest and flaunting of social rules — even as the president, himself, carelessly flaunts the rules about how to govern in a democracy.

Mayor Muriel Bowser has wisely chosen a temperate response to the intemperate actions of the federal administration.  She has shown steady and firm leadership in this moment.  But those of us who are stewards of the great institutions of our city need to show our support for her and for D.C. by speaking out on behalf of our neighbors and the citizens of the place sometimes called “the capital of the free world.”  We can hardly proclaim that title if D.C., itself, remains “the last colony” under authoritarian rule.

How should we institutional leaders respond?

First and foremost, by proclaiming and demonstrating the reasons why we and our institutions are here — because D.C. is a fabulous city for our work and our constituents.  For higher education, there is no better place in this country, maybe even in the world, to have our students learn through engaging with so many different resources — government, laboratories, museums and libraries, places of arts and culture, opportunities to explore urban issues and environmental concerns.  All here in D.C.!

Related, we need to speak up and speak out about how many people we serve and how well we do — our productivity is part of the assets of D.C. which are completely ignored when the current administration speaks of our city.  Higher education, itself, engages tens of thousands of students and alumni, contributes billions of dollars in economic value, and supports all of the local industries through the talent of our graduates.  D.C. is rightfully proud to be one of the best “college towns” in America.

Finally, we must stand up and raise our voices loudly and proudly for the values of democracy and freedom.  The assault on D.C. Home Rule is, ultimately, not about D.C.  but about America.  The experiment in supplanting Home Rule with tyranny here is likely to spread if We, the People allow it to do so.  Whatever our party or political affiliation, we must be ready and willing to proclaim our shared values as Americans.  Protecting the right of all citizens to self-governance is the bedrock of our nation, and must be central to restoring true “law and order” in the nation’s capital.