In the first half of the 20th century, the idea of empowering the city's Black community sealed lawmakers' resistance to equal political rights for the district. But by the 1960s, activists managed to push forward the 23rd amendment, giving D.C. residents the right to vote in presidential elections. The racial conflict and protests of the civil rights movement intensified the pressure for home rule and full democratic representation.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the movement for the D.C. voting rights amendment again stirred debate in Congress and around the country, and ultimately failed. This time, writes Zigas, the racial dimension of the opposition's arguments became more subtle, while a conservative era dawned:

... conservative activists wasted no time preparing their opposition to the D.C. Voting Rights Amendment. In late September 1978, representatives of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), Heritage Foundation, Lincoln Center for Legal Studies, and Liberty Foundation all testified against the amendment in front of the Pennsylvania legislature. They framed their opposition in constitutional terms and in terms of their fear that District residents would gain greater power in the federal government than the citizens of the states. [Former Georgetown law professor] William Stanmeyer... said they would represent ‘a constituency with an extremely high percentage of individuals dependent upon government either for welfare payments or employment.’” In short, D.C. residents would elect representatives who would only inflate an already bloated welfare state.

Today's Senate vote was still fraught with controversy—particularly on the issue of local gun control laws—but it also reveals that the city's political dynamics, the centuries-long struggle for equal rights, and the tone of the national discussion on race, are all catalyzing in a small but powerful critical mass.

Image: Political Junkie, National Public Radio