DCentric

Good morning, DCentric readers! Last night, when you were giving candy to trick-or-treaters, we were going door-to-virtual-door, searching for links!

In D.C., many angling for public office on Advisory Neighborhood Commissions “I’m tired of Ward 8 being considered the worst ward with all the problems that people think we can’t solve on our own,” said Janasha Thomas, 30, who had worked as an administrative assistant for the Fenty administration until recently. In the mayor’s office, she fielded residents’ complaints. A District native, she’s running for a seat near Skyland Mall, where she’s lived for 12 years. “You don’t have to move neighborhoods to make a change in your surroundings.” (The Washington Post)

Jon Stewart Rally: Transcripts and quotes “I think you know that the success or failure of a rally is judged by only two criteria: the intellectual coherence of the content and its correlation to the engagement – I’m just kidding. It’s color and size. I can’t even believe this has happened. It is a perfect demographic sampling of the American people. (laughter) Because as you know, if you have too many white people at a rally, then you’re cause is racist. But if you have too many people of color at a rally, well then you just must be asking for something, special rights like eating in restaurants or piggy-back rides.” — John Stewart (tbd.com)

The District’s Homophobic Bullies Part Two: It’s All About The Jeans “Shane Salter, the Executive Director of D.C.’s Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), recalls a case: “One foster parent put a kid out for creasing his jeans. He was a little too prim and proper. It was a conflict around the boy wanting a crease in his jeans—as if that was the end of the world.” Salter remembers another case, a transgender youth who ended up in the D.C. Jail. “He was put out, his father didn’t want him. His father beat him at one point. He dressed like a girl.” (Washington City Paper)

One Woman’s Costume Is Another Woman’s Nightmare “Consider the “Chiquita Banana” stereotypes of Latinas, oversexed black Jezebels, or the seemingly pliant and sexually subversive Japanese geisha. All of those stereotypical costumes correlate with a tame, sexually pure image of white women, like the European colonist with her full-length skirt, the Scarlett O’Hara on the plantation. Of course, there are also sexy stereotypes for white women, but most aren’t ethnicity-specific and most people don’t routinely lump all white women into one category.” (womensrights.change.org)

Black, Hispanic students dwindle at elite Va. public school “Like other public schools with competitive admissions, TJ screens applicants through grades and test scores. A key requirement is that students take Algebra 1 by eighth grade. Many disadvantaged students don’t clear that threshold, which presents a national challenge for science and math instruction.” (The Washington Post)