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Jonetta Rose Barras evidently doesn’t understand the harm she was doing with her tirade against supposed white domination of the D.C. government (“Race Trumps All,” 5/16), but she has done a better job than
she realizes of pointing to the real problem. Which is that whatever
the shortcomings of the basic home rule legislation, it is the incompetence, corruption, and utter cynicism of the Barry administration that
has brought the District down. The last thing we need is more of the
kind of inflammatory blame-the-white-establishment witch-doctory she is peddling.
Would there be the need for a control board if the District had a competent and honest government? Is there any way home rule will ever be restored without the painful restructuring that is now going on?
If the majority of blacks agree with Barras that whites are out to rule the District, there is no hope for better race relations. She has made a major contribution to the bitterness and distrust that helped get us where we are today. She should shut up and let reformers do what they can to restore home rule.
Palisades