DCentric

Your tasty morning bytes are a bit late, but worth a read nonetheless:

Pondering meaning of changing D.C. demographics Sure, D.C. may no longer be a majority-black city, but does that mean the District’s culture and identity has changed dramatically as well? “… Tom Lindenfeld, chief strategist for Adrian M. Fenty’s successful 2006 mayoral campaign, isn’t so sure. The fact that the percentage of blacks is waning isn’t the issue, he says. It’s the attitude of the whites coming in. ‘A lot of younger, more transient white people who live in D.C. still identify with where they came from and often still vote back there,’ he said. ‘Whereas many black people identify with the District and local issues.’” More on this one later… (Washington Post)

D.C. Mayor Decries Congressional Budget Deal Congress came to a compromise to prevent a federal government shutdown, but included D.C.-specific provisions. “It was ‘shocking,’ Gray said of the deal, which includes prohibitions on District funding for abortions and a reinstatement of a school voucher program. The final legislation being drafted this week may also prevent D.C. from funding a needle-exchange program.” (WAMU)

Do We Need A Commission on African American Affairs? D.C. Councilman Harry Thomas (Ward 5) has proposed creating a Commission on African American Affairs. “Thomas says it’s not so much about the population decline, but rather inequality of health metrics, education, availability of groceries, and unemployment that tends to break down in race-based ways. ‘No one’s really looked at it along those lines,’ he says.” (Washington City Paper)

The elephant on the doorstep: What Wal-Mart’s arrival will mean to D.C. A look at what Wal-Mart could really do to D.C.’s labor market. “But for the most part the complaints have come in pockets and parcels, not by tidal wave. Many poor people and other longtime residents of the city want to have neighborhood Wal-Marts because they like shopping there. In fact, some District churches organize bus trips for members to visit Wal-Mart stores in the suburbs.” (Washington Post/Capital Business)

Which Children Should Get New Jersey’s Funding? To the north of us, New Jersey’s budget gap is growing and the state’s full-day preschool for low income kids could be on the chopping block. “New Jersey has long been under court order to provide extra funding for schools in low-income districts, and for the past 12 years, that has included full-day preschool. But now, facing dire budget cuts, some legislators are questioning whether the state’s education system can afford to boost the school readiness of 3- and 4-year-olds and would rather see the money spent on middle- and upper-income schools.”  (NPR)