CRIME. (link fixed)
Crime is the background noise to life in DC. Less an act of God than a certainty of time, it's thought of much like illness: You expect that it will happen. The question is when, and how bad it will be. In my direct friend group, about half have been mugged.
Look. D.C. is like this. There's The Capital of the Nation, which is pretty. A tourist attraction. And there's the rest of the city, which the police department is paid to keep out of The Capital of the Nation.
If your business is in The Capital of the Nation, you must stay there. Okay? Either that, or make sure the mission of the police department includes protecting the regular people of the city. Jobs would help too.
I mean, I'd actually feel more sympathetic if the fear was limited to where Black folks live. But we're 12% of the population...that includes children. and we're pretty much in 10-15 communities in the whole country.
You may all issue the repremands now.
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Broken down...
...You sum up the complexity of D.C. politics nicely.
I've been watching this play out for years and I think that's about as good as it gets!