WASHINGTON (AP) — A bill that would make Washington, D.C., the 51st state has begun working its way through the Senate. Even though the prospects are dim, proponents of statehood are vowing to keep pushing. Mayor Muriel Bowser told a Senate committee on Tuesday that “We will not quit until we achieve full democracy. … We will keep pushing until D.C.’s tragic disenfranchisement is rectified.” Republicans, however, are dismissing the bill as a cynical Democratic power play since the District votes solidly Democratic. The effort has also become intertwined with America’s ascendant racial justice movement, with progressive activists framing it as an issue of civil rights and political enfranchisement. The proposed state would be approximately 46% Black.
