If the Mayor and Council don't nip this in the bud, it will have ramifications on things like people choosing to travel to the District or in the case of something like Amazon, choosing to locate here.

Anonymous wrote:White isn't going anywhere.

This whole mess has made him stronger in the eyes of his constituents. They support him more now than ever, because many of them believe the same things, and now they're seeing "their guy" attacked for it.


If people would've just ignored this, it would've been better. Now he's stronger than he was before.

You may be right that this has made him stronger, at least within his specific constituency, but I am still not sure ignoring it would have been better. If nothing else, hopefully it would hurt him if he ever wanted to run for city-wide office. And ignoring things creates its own legitimacy.

If this makes him more popular in ward 8 then they deserve whatever consequences they get politically

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lopez needs to be fired and White needs to be removed and expelled. DC doesn’t deserve home rule with such incompetent and venal politicians on the scene.

+1

OP here. My fear (and sadly my expectation) is that there will be a nothing response to this, too. Unfortunately, there's a lot of tolerance for, or even tacit agreement of, bigotry toward Jews among DC leaders.

Anonymous wrote:Lopez needs to be fired and White needs to be removed and expelled. DC doesn’t deserve home rule with such incompetent and venal politicians on the scene.

+1

White isn't going anywhere.

This whole mess has made him stronger in the eyes of his constituents. They support him more now than ever, because many of them believe the same things, and now they're seeing "their guy" attacked for it.


If people would've just ignored this, it would've been better. Now he's stronger than he was before.

Lopez needs to be fired and White needs to be removed and expelled. DC doesn’t deserve home rule with such incompetent and venal politicians on the scene.

Anonymous wrote:They are feeling emboldened by the lack of response to White's previous transgressions. Scary to think how far this behavior might go if not stopped in its' tracks. Sad, sad days. It's also hare to believe that there are two council members who did not condemn this hate speech. WT actual F?

Yup. That was my point with #4 in my OP. This is the result of the soft approach to Trayon White's clear indication of antisemtitism. Look how quickly this is advancing. This degree of bigotry would not be accepted against other minority groups among the DC Council.

Should have nipped it in the bud with a much harsher response to White. My fear is that there will be uproar to this, only to die down in a few days. Message sent and received: here in DC, we tolerate antisemitism.

Despicable scum.

Anonymous wrote:I'm so disturbed by all this that I forgot the link.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/at-a-rally-to-end-divisive-politics-in-dc-a-speaker-called-a-lawmaker-a-fake-jew/2018/04/27/e3c0b182-4a34-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee_story.html

Wow. Just wow.

They are feeling emboldened by the lack of response to White's previous transgressions. Scary to think how far this behavior might go if not stopped in its' tracks. Sad, sad days. It's also hare to believe that there are two council members who did not condemn this hate speech. WT actual F?

Anonymous wrote:Unbelievable. I'm one of the posters from the other thread who said that eventually Trayon would reveal his true self and looks like that is happening sooner even than I expected.


Does DC really have a partnership with the NOI??!!

Apparently they do. Elisa Silverman sent a letter asking that the relationship be "re-evaluated." Personally, I don't think that's adequate. The relationship should be SEVERED.

And why is DC having a relationship with Farrakhan in the first place? Yeah, yeah.....I know helps the bigot helps black people, just as Hamas and Hezbollah provide social services....but again, it's a soft approach to antisemtitsm. The message is "we are willing to overlook despicable anti-Jewish venom." Not acceptable.

And you're right.....Trayon is showing his colors. Not only is he antisemtitc, he's a complete idiot. (How did the fool ever graduate magna?)

Unbelievable. I'm one of the posters from the other thread who said that eventually Trayon would reveal his true self and looks like that is happening sooner even than I expected.


Does DC really have a partnership with the NOI??!!

I'm so disturbed by all this that I forgot the link.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/at-a-rally-to-end-divisive-politics-in-dc-a-speaker-called-a-lawmaker-a-fake-jew/2018/04/27/e3c0b182-4a34-11e8-827e-190efaf1f1ee_story.html

I fully expect that those of you who have made excuses or given the benefit of the doubt to Trayon White's behavior of the last few days will not be as forgiving of what transpired yesterday: At a "Support Trayon" rally, an invited speaker from Farrakhan's Nation of Islam (NOI) launched into an antisemitic attack against Elisa Silverman, concluding with the despicable reference to Jews as termites. Joshua Lopez, who organized the rally, held the megaphone (or at least stood in solidarity next to him) and had no reaction as the Farrakhan speaker spewed his venom.

Several points:

1) Lopez should be dismissed immediately. That he did not immediately grab the megaphone away and condemn the anti-Semite's remarks shows agreement. He should be out.

2) Trayon White should be pressured to resign. Given his "questionable" actions and statements (and I'm being generous), and that he has been judged by many to be antisemitic himself, one would think he would jump at the opportunity to voice his opposition to anti-Jew speech. Yet he has remained silent, and the Washington Post's attempt to get a statement from him was met with no comment.

3) DC should sever all ties to the NOI, given their virulently antisemtitc stance, and send the message that bigotry against any group is unacceptable and will have consequences. From what I understand, Silverman sent a letter to her colleagues saying that the relationship with NOI must be "evaluated."

4) This shows the danger of a "soft" approach to antisemitism, or the "sloughing off" of behavior which shows, at best, an indifference to antisemtism. It enables the worst-of-the-worse to come out, guns a'blazing, and spew their hatred to Jews, and in doing so leads to increasing antisemtism.

(And I would think Muslims would be after the Nation of Islam to change their name. The organization is bigoted and hateful, which are clearly traits that peace-loving and kind-hearted Muslims - the vast majority - would not want associated with their religion.)