By Aaron Kassraie
WASHINGTON, April 26 (KUNA) -- Washington DC is considered one of the most powerful cities in the world as it oversees all of the United States and has great influence over the rest of the world but the city also has its own unique culture and history.
The city itself is not very large in comparison to other major US cities at 176.8 square kilometers. Its metropolitan area ranks seventh largest in the country with 5,636,232 people according to the US census, and a population of 658,893 people in the city itself. The primary industry is the federal government and jobs that relate to it. DC has historically had a large African American community with a majority black population since 1957.
Assistant Professor at the University of the District of Columbia, Amanda Huron, who teaches a course on DC history noted to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA), "DC places a symbolic role in national and international politics. But it is also a city of everyday people, everyday lives and neighborhoods. So I think there is a tension there between the symbolic city and the everyday city." Since the city is not recognized as a state by the federal government, residents of Washington use the slogan "taxation without representation." This is because their legislative representative to Congress, Eleanor Holmes Norton, can only vote in committee hearings and not on the final version of a bill. This makes her a non-voting delegate. The city's population does vote for its own mayor and council but these elected officials remain subject to Congress who approves where the city can spend its money. Congressional officials can also block local DC laws within 30 days of their approval. This means that representatives from all across America can intervene in laws that pertain to less than one percent of the US population.
The federal government outlawed discrimination against blacks within government jobs in the 1940's, before it was outlawed in the private sector in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Since DC is the hub of government jobs, this change in policy attracted many African Americans from around the country to work in the District. A strong black middle class was then born in Washington.
"DC was a cultural and intellectual center for African American for a long time," Huron noted.(more) ak.rk