Just when I thought Democrat elected lawmakers in Washington, DC, the District of Corruption, couldn’t do anything stupider, they surprise me. Celebrating black history month, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser announced February 4, 2015 that she appointed Rahman Branch to be the city’s first Director of the Mayor's Office on African American Affairs. It’s a full-time paid job, probably in the six figures, to...wait for it) address the needs of the shrinking black community in DC.
Never mind, DC is no longer "Chocolate City" where blacks accounted for 70.3 percent of the population in 1980 and today only make up a little less than 50 percent. Why do district taxpayers need to pay another black person to address the needs of black residents in DC?
Isn’t that why Bowser was elected, because she was black? It wasn’t because she was the most qualified candidate.
Let’s face it: David Catania was a more qualified candidate. As a Council member, Catania actually spearheaded numerous education reform efforts in DC, something Bowser claimed was her passion. Yet Bowser never led education reform efforts; she only supported and followed Catania’s. She did advocate for students to be able to ride city buses for free. Catania drafted a detailed economic plan for the city. I didn’t see one from Bowser.
Instead, as a DC Council member, she took credit for business development projects in her Ward 4, like the new Wal-Mart store on Georgia Avenue, NW, which she had nothing to do with. The abolished National Capitol Revitalization Corporation or the DC’s Office of Economic Development initiated that along with other projects.
But Catania was white and the vast majority of black voters in the District will never vote for a white mayor. It’s the truth. No white mayor has been elected to govern DC since 1967. White candidates need not apply. Why? The majority of black DC residents are registered Democrats, who would rather cast an uninformed vote for a black candidate's skin color than one for a white candidate’s qualifications.
“We see income gaps growing we’re not satisfied with how fast we’re closing educational gaps, and we know that we have to invest in good jobs and affordable housing, said Bowser, explaining why she hired Branch to be the babysit blacks in DC.
Like all the other black mayors before her . . . being black herself, Bowser should be able to connect with “her people” and address the economic disparity between blacks and whites in the city. Why did she need to hire Branch to direct the new office on black affairs? How does Branch’s resume of being a black man and the former principal of Ballou High School in Southeast Washington, qualify him to address the concerns of blacks anymore than our newly elected black mayor?
Branch’s yearly salary will probably be at least $100,000. Acting Director of the Latino Affairs Office Jakeline Reyes Yanes earns $105,000 a year. Acting Director of the Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs Office, David Do, earns $99,000 a year. There’s also a Director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgender Office and a Director of the African Affairs Office--not to be confused with the new African American office. In the interest of fairness and reality, it seems Bowser needs to create a Director of Caucasian Affairs because that’s the growing demographic in DC
I thought the Mayor’s job was to manage the city and address all the needs of ALL residents. Isn’t it the mayor’s job to ensure all residents--regardless of color, creed or religion-- a quality of life and access to opportunity? (Oops, I forgot that’s a Republican platform that a rising tide lifts all boats.)
“There’s a need for this kind of office because the growth of DC and the expansion of DC and making sure every resident of DC plays a part in that is really what the community has requested,” said Branch justifying is new position.
As a resident of DC, I don’t remember the mayor asking black residents if we “needed a Director of black affairs” to tell us what to think and help address our needs. The last thing DC or any predominately black city needs is more black ambassadors doing nothing to “help the so called black community.” So called “black advocates,” working on behalf of blacks, tend to help themselves to a paycheck either legally or illegally. Many of DC’s former convicted black councilmembers have shown us that.
When will liberals like Bowser stop talking down to her black people like we’re a monolithic group of dummies? More importantly, when will Bowser stop wasting
hard-earned taxpayer dollars on minority outreach offices doing the job we hired her to do?