PHOENIX, AZ — Today, the Arizona state legislature took a symbolic vote to oppose D.C. statehood. The vote passed completely along partisan lines without hearing opinions from community representatives. D.C. statehood is an imperative for justice and equal representation, and Just Democracy stands against the legislature’s hollow, fear-mongering vote.  

Arizona House Minority Leader Rep. Reginald Bolding, Founder of Arizona Coalition for Change, and Just Democracy Coalition Member issued the following statement in response:

“I am outraged that the Arizona state legislature has taken this stance against democracy and civil rights. Over 700,000 Americans live in Washington, D.C. without a vote in Congress, and they deserve representation just as much as Arizonans. 

The legislators who voted for this bill fail to understand that D.C. statehood is a racial justice issue. Their stance must be rooted in ignorance or willful bigotry to disenfranchise Black Americans. If the District of Columbia was granted statehood, it would become the first state in the country with a plurality of Black residents. The insurrectionists who invaded the U.S. Capitol last month proved we need Black and Brown voices in the halls of power more than ever, and that means delivering the full franchise to the majority Black and Brown residents of D.C. 

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, ‘injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ Americans being denied equal access to democracy is among our most pressing civil rights issues, and we must right this historic injustice by supporting statehood for the people of the District of Columbia. I stand with D.C.”

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