DC’s divide need not be black and white

The DC Council passed a budget unanimously, approving most of Mayor Gray’s initiatives and adding a few of its own. Kenyan McDuffie won an overwhelming victory in a special election, more than double any other candidate’s vote total, in a ward that mixes young and old, black and white, urban and suburban.

Could an end finally be in sight for the theme, and meme, that the District is hopelessly polarized along racial lines?

Whereas the narrative for the last few elections made it sound as though all white people voted one way and all black people another (even if that wasn’t quite the case), people of all races, ages and income groups came to agreement about who should represent Ward 5 on the DC Council. Council members representing some very diverse and differing wards did the same on the budget.

Continue reading in my latest op-ed in the Washington Post.

Also in this weekend’s Post local opinions: Is Pepco’s zealous tree pruning hurting neighborhoods? We’re the ones polluting the Potomac. And a marriage license doesn’t protect against stupid people, but it means a lot when a spouse is in the hospital.