Anyone been here since the 80s / early 90s? How did smart locals react to Marion Barry

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Been here since late 70s. Not too many whites in DC back then and people generally considered DC as a ghetto. I don't think whites really cared much about DC/Barr.

Might? Everyone west of 16th street was white.

I thought they were hookers. I miss old 14th street ladies.

No, they were his "girlfriends" and base.

[Anonymous]

It's said that MB did help some -- basically the local contracts leech and chiseler class who moved out to PG County. That's how PG got such luminaries as Jack Johnson and his bribe-stuffing missus. MB disserved the poor souls who stayed behind in DC and actually depended on the DC government for a decent education for their kids and basic social services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

The size of the city workforce tripled during his reign, and he had his fingers on all the levers.

There's not enough emphasis on this in this thread - obviously there are negatives to this budget-wise, but by doing this, Bary hugely enlarged the black middle class in DC.

And that tripled District "work"force certainly delivered city services.

[Anonymous]

Tony Williams did more than just clean up much of the mess left by the "Mayor for Life." He and his top rate staff set Washington on a longterm planning and capital improvement course that is reflected today. Williams was the best DC mayor ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is he the mayor that basically told the MPD to hire any black person off the street regardless of record? Yeah that worked out well for the MPD, the class of 89 and its large number of problem children is still a joke told by officers in the area today.

Except it wasn't a joke. It was real, and a disaster for the District.

Thankfully most of the class of 89 are either in jail, fired, or retired by now. At least MPD seems to have learned its lesson by implementing vastly more stringent hiring requirements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's said that MB did help some -- basically the local contracts leech and chiseler class who moved out to PG County. That's how PG got such luminaries as Jack Johnson and his bribe-stuffing missus. MB disserved the poor souls who stayed behind in DC and actually depended on the DC government for a decent education for their kids and basic social services.

Jack and Leslie Johnson had nothing to do with the DC government.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tony Williams did more than just clean up much of the mess left by the "Mayor for Life." He and his top rate staff set Washington on a longterm planning and capital improvement course that is reflected today. Williams was the best DC mayor ever.

Hey, you know who hired him? Marion Barry.

[Anonymous]

Marion Barry expressed racist views and made DC a national joke. It’s amazing to see that people still support him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's said that MB did help some -- basically the local contracts leech and chiseler class who moved out to PG County. That's how PG got such luminaries as Jack Johnson and his bribe-stuffing missus. MB disserved the poor souls who stayed behind in DC and actually depended on the DC government for a decent education for their kids and basic social services.

Jack and Leslie Johnson had nothing to do with the DC government.

No, but these people did:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/09/AR2005060901685.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a native Washingtonian, born in 1958, and have seen a lot. Barry was an embarrassment, and the fact that the city re-elected him that last time made DC residents a laughing stock. But I'm one of the white people whom a previous PP said doesn't count, so oh well.

The current city counsel wants to build a monument to celebrate Barry:

http://wjla.com/news/local/dc-council-takes-step-towards-placing-statue-of-marion-barry-in-front-of-wilson-building

Boston has not one but two statues of James Michael Curley. Anything Barry did Curley did bigger. Read about him here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Michael_Curley

Only difference was Curley was Irish-American and not black.

I particularly like this quote:
"A paper by Harvard economists Andrei Shleifer and Edward Glaeser, 'The Curley Effect: The Economics of Shaping the Electorate', describes the strategy used by Curley and other political leaders of increasing their political base by using distortionary economic policies to cause groups which tend to oppose them to emigrate as 'The Curley Effect.'"

Could also call it the "Barry Effect."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's said that MB did help some -- basically the local contracts leech and chiseler class who moved out to PG County. That's how PG got such luminaries as Jack Johnson and his bribe-stuffing missus. MB disserved the poor souls who stayed behind in DC and actually depended on the DC government for a decent education for their kids and basic social services.

Jack and Leslie Johnson had nothing to do with the DC government.

No, but these people did:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/09/AR2005060901685.html

"Hemphill had been a high-profile leader in the reelection campaign of Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D)"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm a native Washingtonian, born in 1958, and have seen a lot. Barry was an embarrassment, and the fact that the city re-elected him that last time made DC residents a laughing stock. But I'm one of the white people whom a previous PP said doesn't count, so oh well.

The current city counsel wants to build a monument to celebrate Barry:

http://wjla.com/news/local/dc-council-takes-step-towards-placing-statue-of-marion-barry-in-front-of-wilson-building

Boston has not one but two statues of James Michael Curley. Anything Barry did Curley did bigger. Read about him here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Michael_Curley

Only difference was Curley was Irish-American and not black.

I particularly like this quote:
"A paper by Harvard economists Andrei Shleifer and Edward Glaeser, 'The Curley Effect: The Economics of Shaping the Electorate', describes the strategy used by Curley and other political leaders of increasing their political base by using distortionary economic policies to cause groups which tend to oppose them to emigrate as 'The Curley Effect.'"

Could also call it the "Barry Effect."

Jesus, Curley sounds like a smarter and harder working version of Trump! A provocateur, to be sure. And yes, Barry got sh#t upon for doing what populists through the Northeast and South had been doing for one and a half centuries.

[Anonymous]

Unbelievable. People want to take down the statue of George Washington and erect one to Marion Barry. I don't whether to laugh or cry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:winning office after crack smoking, prison, and all the corruption? Was it shocking, a hopeless feeling? Wasn't the District is a total spiral during his reign, yet he kept winning elections? I can't even process it as I read it. Just, wow.

We shook our heads and went on with our daily lives. Barry was not hanging around Upper NW very often and unless you were/are a democrat then your vote in DC means nothing. It was something you just came to terms with. It had zero impact on me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m black, moved to DC recently, and also wonder about this. I recall him being seen as a joke in national news growing up. Also don’t understand his appeal among DC natives, and their willingness to excuse his major indiscretions.

When he was first elected, black people had no power. He finally gave black people a voice here. He had his demons, but was a really smart guy. As time went on, the power got to him. This is not unlike many other cities. If the feds had not gone after him, I don't think he would have been re-elected. I think it was a protest vote.

It was a protest vote. People who had soured on Barry at that time would have never reelected him for a fourth time, but for the police entrapment. Yes, he smoked the coke. However, if you look at the video, Barry wanted putane and not coke. He kept pushing the drugs away, reaching for her. She kept offering the drugs first until he acquiesced. Bam, the FBI breaks in through the door as soon as he says "ok, give it to me", and takes the drugs. Yes, his fourth election was a protest vote. And, from that protest vote, over objection, Barry insisted on placing the Reeves Center on 14th and U to begin the revitalization of U Street. He increased the hiring of MPD and FEMS. And he hired the guy who replaced him when he decided not to run for a fifth term, Anthony Williams. Barry could have been like so many of our politicians and became filthy rich, but he was not in it for the money. He really was in it for the people. Other people around him got rich, but not him. Like many on DCUM, Barry had his demons. However, because of his public position, his demons were splashed all across the Washington Post.

I know, right? In his own words, "Bitch set me up!" Klassy, as ever.