We know D.C. Get our free newsletter to stay in the know.
I have to admit I am a little disappointed in the Washington City Paper for reckless and racially divisive reporting in its story about youth soccer (“Kicking and Screaming,” 10/3). In a story about the dearth of city services and the lack of well-maintained soccer fields for youth leagues, the author isolated the Rev. Ruth “Mother” Goodwin’s out-of-context comment, blew it up to about 18-point font, and made the column about race by quoting, “When was the last time you saw a black kid playing soccer?”
Although newsworthy, it seems as though Stoddert’s difficulties with the Department of Parks and Recreation, the funding that the league has provided to improve the fields they play on, and issues about field overuse have very little to do with African-American youth access to the sport of soccer.
But as long as you’re going to push race to the forefront: Saturday, Sept. 27. There were about 600 kids of various racial and ethnic backgrounds, mostly black, playing at the D.C. SCORES Tournament in Anacostia Park. It was a well-organized, well-attended event put on by an organization that has benefited more than 2,000 8- to 12-year-old Washington, D.C., kids through physical activity and creative writing. There was even corporate sponsorship by Starbucks, which donated $10 for each adult attendee. Where were Goodwin, the author, “10 advisory neighborhood commissioners, roughly 30 other neighbors, league representatives, and more than 40 kids and parents” when D.C. SCORES could have made about 820 bucks off of them in support of the kids?
Capitol Hill