Marion Barry: “We got to do something about these Asians coming in and opening up businesses

[Snake Alchemist]

and dirty shops"
_____________________________________________

Former District of Columbia mayor Marion Barry referred to “dirty” Asian-owned businesses after winning the city’s Council Ward 8 primary, demanding that “they ought to go,” according to a report.

“We got to do something about these Asians coming in and opening up businesses and dirty shops,” Barry said on Tuesday night, according to video posted by WRC-TV/NBC4. “They ought to go. I’m going to say that right now. But we need African-American businesspeople to be able to take their places, too."

On Thursday afternoon, Barry’s Twitter account began tweeting out pictures of Asian restaurant establishments, insisting that his comments were “taken out of context” and that he was not trying to insult the Asian community.

“WE can do a better job. I do NOT disparage the Asian community, but the fact is there r some bizs that can do better!” he wrote alongside a picture of the China Inn Deli, a restaurant in the Southeast area of Washington, D.C.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/74866.html#ixzz1rBrz2GuB

Don't vote for crack, vote for smack!

[elleng]

1. STILL an idiot!

[Snake Alchemist]

4. And still winning.

I wish I had his golden touch.

[elleng]

5. Right. He does have a constituency,

and he plays to them/it. Fortunately its no longer wide or broad enough to encompass the rest of the city.

[demosincebirth]

8. What does that tell you?

[HiPointDem]

9. one of the things it tells me is that gentrification proceeds apace.

Washington’s black population slipped below 50 percent this year, possibly in February, about 51 years after it gained a majority, according to an estimate by William Frey, the senior demographer at the Brookings Institution.

The shift is passing without much debate, but it is leaving ripples of resentment in neighborhoods across the city, pitting some of the city’s long-term residents, often African-American, against affluent newcomers...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/us/18dc.html?pagewanted=all

[elleng]

10. No 'affluent newcomers' likely in Barry's precincts,

just same old/same old.

[HiPointDem]

11. Doesn't have to be in Barry's ward. Barry's constituency isn't limited to residents of his ward.

[elleng]

12. Right, but those in his ward are the only ones who can vote for him,

thank goodness.

[HiPointDem]

14. But his political power is a function of his larger constituency as well as his voting constituency.

And some would say DC's gentrification has been designed to disempower that constituency. It's certainly been a dramatic loss of black population in a very short time.

[elleng]

15. Yes, his political power is related to his larger constituency.

I really don't go for this 'gentrification designed to disempower.' Its a consequence of success of some DC residents, over long periods of time, resulting in improvements to some neighborhoods and corridors (through which I rode every day, when I lived and worked in DC for 20+ years.)

Among those neighborhoods are those severely damaged as a result of fires etc in '60s, after Dr. King's death. They've been fortunate to have been able to recover, and thrive to some extent.

[HiPointDem]

16. Actually, it's equally related to the pricing out of working class and poor blacks. Which is one of

the reasons DCs black population has gone from majority to minority since 2000, and why there are about 12% fewer black people living in DC than in 2000.

[sharp_stick]

2. I'm guessing an Asian guy

ripped him off while he was trying to buy some crack.

[Snake Alchemist]

3. "This isn't the high quality crack I'm used to!" nt

[bullwinkle428]

6. What a shock, from the same bigot that was marching around protesting marriage equality,

in his last effort to get his name in the news.

[Bluenorthwest]

7. Run of the mill hate monger.

He also slanders gay people for profit.

[WilliamPitt]

13. Further proof

that white people are not the only ones who have mastered the dark art of demented, benightened racism.

Nice to have company.

You know, or not.

[joeybee12]

17. Would you consider that progress? I would consider it...

[MrSlayer]

18. He is a crackhead after all.

Anything he says should be taken in that context.