Name: Marianne Scott  

Occupation: Writer; Retired Member of the Senior Foreign Service

Hometown: Washington, D.C. 

Tell me a little bit about yourself. How long have you lived in DC? 

My family moved to DC in 1968 when I was four-years-old. My father was the first African American reporter hired by The Associated Press and the AP wanted him to cover the civil rights movement in the South. DC  was as far south as our biracial family — my dad is African American and my mom is White — could move at that time. DC never had anti-miscegenation laws. My parents’ marriage had been made legal across the U.S. just a year before by the Loving decision, but there were still local and state laws in many places in the South that prevented biracial couples from having a normal family life, such as renting a house together. 

I went to elementary and high school in DC. I went to California for college and then joined the Foreign Service as a diplomat. I returned  to DC initially for training, and was stationed in DC in between my assignments abroad. I’ve lived in DC almost all of my life when I wasn’t privileged to serve our country living and working abroad for the Department of State. 

What do you love most about living in DC? 

The community. DC has great neighborhoods. It’s where home is, where family is, where friends are. When I came back from my last overseas post, I managed to get the house across the street from the house I grew up in, which is where my sister, my brother-in-law, and my niece live. Forty years later, I’m back on the same corner that I came up on.  

I love the greenery in DC, I love the museums in DC — I love that this is such a beautiful city. But for me, it’s mostly about the people. 

Could you talk about your own experience not having voting representation in our government? 

I have two reflections. When I was in high school at Notre Dame Academy on the corner of North Capitol and K Streets, where Gonzaga now sits, I ran track. Our coach would have us run up to the Capitol, and then along the National Mall, and back. I ran by that beautiful Capitol building, proud to be in this city where people came to govern and to voice their needs and rights. Yet, I also knew that if I walked into that building, no one represented me — nobody on the Senate side at all, and on the House side, we had only a non-voting member. 

When I worked in our U.S. Embassies abroad, we often received congressional delegations —  “CODELs” — that came to review bilateral relations with that country, how our policy was doing, check in on American businesses, and other matters. I talked to many members of Congress, but none of them represented me. I could not say to any of them,  I am your constituent. 

These experiences were reminders that if I wanted to voice my opinion on a domestic issue, no member of Congress with a vote cared what I thought, because I wasn’t a constituent. At several points during my Foreign Service career I had to receive the consent of the Senate. I had no senator who could speak for me. My name went forward and they said okay Marianne Scott from Washington, DC, alright, we agree, but none of them would take my call as a constituent, even though they had to consent for me to represent this nation abroad.

What does achieving statehood mean for you? 

This is about the basic principles of self-governance and equal rights. Those are principles that I promoted abroad as a diplomat, as part of our foreign policy, and using the United States as an example, as a democratic beacon. I always knew that our democracy was imperfect. As a resident of Washington, DC, I did not have the same rights as other U.S. citizens. I always assumed we would fix this. The time to fix it is now. It’s time to live  up to our principles as a nation and truly give all of our citizens the same rights. 

What do you think needs to be done to get closer to achieving statehood? 

Congress has the power to approve statehood. Neither party has done it when they have been in the majority and I don’t see any indication that equal rights for DC residents are a priority for either party. This is why it comes down to the people. We need our fellow citizens in the 50 states to lobby their members of Congress to insist DC residents’ unequal rights are a historical wrong that must be righted.

Is there anything else you would like to say? 

Statehood for DC does not require a change to the Constitution. A federal district would remain. Statehood would grant rights to the residents of the part of DC where people live, where we do business. The commercial and residential areas of DC would finally be able to self-govern without interference from individual members of Congress. 

I want to mention taxation without representation. We are the only territory that pays federal taxes. My understanding is that we pay more federal taxes per capita than any state,  and yet, we do not have the same rights. The United States was founded on the principle of no taxation without representation, and yet, this persists in Washington, DC. It’s time to change that.