In the summer of 1975, we first moved to a lovely old Georgetown home just west of Wisconsin Avenue. For a time, D.C. was the nation’s murder capital. Ironically, the lawyer who defended the Hanafi Muslims who seized the B’nai Brith Building in Washington in 1977, taking 150 hostages, was the judge who later married me and my wife — a telling reminder of the turbulent times then.
Nine years later we purchased a four story townhouse on the other side of Georgetown. And over the last 50 years, I have become increasingly furious about how both political parties have done their worst to prevent the nation’s capital from becoming one of the world’s greatest, loveliest and most desirable places to live.
Washington is none of those things. Why? This is more than outrageous and another sign why the government is failing. And perhaps things would not be so bad if Republicans transferred the $1 billion long-owed to D.C. that could bring the police force to its full strength of around 4,000 from the present 3,100.
In the wealthiest country in the world and in the most powerful city on Earth, Washington should have the best of everything. It does not because the Democratic and Republican parties have been incapable of governing the country and city with any semblance of competence, common sense and fairness.
Washington should have the best medical care, schools, universities and public transportation, as well as the safest and most sophisticated tourism, hospitality, police, research, restaurants and cultural facilities in the world.
Yet it does not.
Also, why does D.C. have the fourth highest murder rate in the country per capita? Why does it rank as the tenth worst city in the U.S. to live, with one of the highest costs of living?
Why, while its spending per student is among the highest in the country, does it rank barely in the top half of grade school education? Why does it lack the prestigious universities of Boston, Los Angeles or New York?
Although the Metropolitan D.C. Police Department does not keep statistics on percentages of white and Black arrest rates, it appears that Black residents account for about 86 percent of arrests in the city. Black people number about 45 percent of the total District population, but they account for about 86 percent of the arrests in the city.
That violent crime is largely against other Black residents. The National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform reports that, from January 2021-December 2022, “95 percent of victims and suspects in homicides and 94 percent of victims and suspects in nonfatal shootings were Black.”
Of course, there is a lot of bad history dating from home rule. Republicans oppose D.C. statehood, as this would obviously add two Democratic seats to the U.S. Senate.
President Trump has declared a state of emergency in the District, citing Section 740 of the Home Rule Act. He has asserted that crime “is out of control,” authorizing federalization of the local police. But the D.C. police cite a drop of more than 30 percent in murders and 35 percent in violent crime year over year. The Department of Justice rejects D.C. figures.
For a country that, by its own president’s admission, is on a roll, the spectacle of sending in masked armed federal ICE agents and National Guard soldiers is absurd. But Trump has retaliated against the Democratic city of Los Angeles without just cause. Reportedly, Chicago is next. After that, can New York be far behind?
Few can reasonably oppose reducing crime, as long as the procedures are lawful. And here are the two most telling reasons why Trump’s actions are dangerous for democracy and for Americans. What happens when the Feds leave the District? None of the causes of crime will have been addressed or mitigated. It does not take Sherlock Holmes to guess what comes next.
And what is so outrageous is the preponderance of data showing the huge percentage of Black residents committing crimes against other Black residents. If we really believe America is the greatest country in the world and in history, why can’t we fix this hideous imbalance? And why can we not make Washington the greatest city in the world and in the country?
So here is a challenge for Trump: Forget MAGA — instead, just make D.C. Great Again.
Washington D.C. should be the shiniest city on the most glorious of hills. And if you think a handful of National Guard soldiers and ICE officials can make a difference, I have a better idea.
Instead of making Gaza the Paris of the Mediterranean, how about making Washington the Mar-a-Lago of the Potomac? If you did that, I am sure Jack Kennedy would not object to renaming the Kennedy Center after your third wife.
Harlan Ullman, Ph.D., is UPI’s Arnaud deBorchgrave Distinguished Columnist, a senior advisor at the Atlantic Council, the chairman of two private companies and the principal author of the doctrine of shock and awe. He and former United Kingdom Defense Chief David Richards are the authors of a forthcoming book on preventing strategic catastrophe.
