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SHUTTERSTOCK The nation's Capitol lost a bit of its luster as the backdrop for a racing spectacle |
The corporate suites are gone, the tire tracks are fading from the National Mall, and the engines' roar from the Freedom 250 Grand Prix have finally gone quiet. But in Washington D.C., the real roar is just beginning.
While the racing world applauds the Penske Corporation for eating a loss on the $35 million production bill, a look behind the curtain reveals who really kept the lights on. It wasn't just corporate sponsors like Boeing or SpaceX. It was you.
To pull off this high-octane spectacle last weekend, the federal government quietly funneled a jaw-dropping $78 million to $80 million in taxpayer funds into security, logistics, and site preparation.
Let that sink in.
While racing crews were busy fusing shut 220 manhole covers and dropping 1,800 massive concrete walls into the pavement, the US Department of the Interior was dropping $68 million just to prep the streets. Add another $10 million to $12 million for police overtime and Secret Service screenings, and the public bill skyrocketed.
Race supporters and regime officials will tell you this was an investment in national unity and a massive tourist boom for local hotels. But let’s call a distraction what it is. While the city cheered for cars going in circles, that same $80 million could have addressed the severe problems actually crushing everyday Americans—including deep, systemic needs within our AAPI communities.
A race with no winners but plenty of losers
Instead of watching tax dollars evaporate into tire smoke, imagine what that $80 million could have done if invested back into the community.
That money could have provided $25 million for vital language access and legal aid clinics to help low-income immigrants navigate housing and healthcare.
It could have put $20 million into grass-roots hate crime prevention and neighborhood safety patrols. Another $20 million could have thrown an economic lifeline to mom-and-pop small businesses fighting gentrification in historic Chinatowns and Little Saigons.
The remaining $15 million could have funded culturally competent health clinics offering language-specific mental health care and medical services.
Instead, Washington chose to throw a party.
View from the edge
As Representative Grace Meng, (D-NY) chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), recently warned, these massive national spectacles are taking place "at a time when programs supporting minority communities are under attack."
While the federal government easily finds tens of millions for a single weekend of racing entertainment, grassroots organizers from APIAVote are reminding us of what real freedom looks like — demanding resources to live, work, and learn safely, rather than watching public funds get funneled into billionaire-backed vanity projects.
The Freedom 250 might have been a thrilling ride for a weekend, but for the taxpayers left stranded by the roadside — and the AANHPI communities left waiting for real support — it is just another reminder of misplaced priorities of the Donald Trump regime.
EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X, BlueSky or at the blog Views From the Edge. If you find this perspective meaningful, please share.
