The history you did not know behind the push to make the District of Columbia a new state

Why is DC second-class? Racism, writes Lindsay Beyerstein.

The House will vote Friday on a bill that would make Washington, DC, a state. The measure is all but guaranteed to pass. It has so many co-sponsors it could almost pass with their support alone. With Democratic control of the United States Congress and the White House, the dream of DC statehood has never been closer to reality. As of Monday, the bill ha…