Anyone been here since the 80s / early 90s? How did smart locals react to Marion Barry
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Anonymous
It's funny how you simply assume things you know nothing about. I'm white, born and raised in DC. I lived there from 1968 until I got married, in 1990. DC is very much my city, just as much as it's yours. Who do you think you are, acting like the city is exclusively for blacks? Get off your high horse. My family, neighbors, and friends who lived there during that time were all very much Barry's constituents. And we're free to give our opinion of the disaster that was Marion Barry. |
Anonymous
THIS. |
Anonymous
Nope, "people" (meaning one incredibly self-centered and rude poster) said "know-it-all WHITE newcomers don't count). Not racist at all. |
Anonymous
THIS x1000. But the irony will go right over their heads. |
Anonymous
It is possible his biggest legacy in DC is the overt racism from blacks towards whites. |
Anonymous
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Marion Barry was a DC fixture in a different era. The DC of the 80's/90's is not the same DC of today. Barry related to his voters in a very human way. He wasn't perfect, he had his fair share of demons but that just made him more approachable to the people in his community. That's why voters kept voting for him no matter what he did.
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Anonymous
I grew up in MoCo and have lived in DC since the early 1990s. I agree with much of this statement. Understood within the context of newly-granted Home Rule, Barry's first years were exciting and liberating for African Americans in DC. However, the short-term political gain of employment for a large number of city residents came at the expense of those on the receiving end of city services such as students, the elderly, children in the welfare system, the mentally ill, the sick, etc. I don't believe that Barry ever set out to harm his constituents but that, indeed, was the end result and we are still grappling with its lasting impact on residents today. |
Anonymous
He related to his black voters, you mean. As a UMC white, I found his favoritism toward blacks and covert (or even overt) disdain toward whites both shameful and racist. |
Anonymous
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I remember circa 1997 being at a neighborhood meeting with around 200 people who were angry about the new convention center. Barry showed himself to be a master. First, he addressed the crowd and said he understood their anger, but that there wasn't time for all 200 to speak. He handed out pieces of paper and told people to write down their grievances and he would make sure they were addressed. This diffused them. Then he spoke for a bit, and his personal charisma won over the crowd. He took a few questions and it was a different room. I have never seen such personal magnetism.
As a side note, as someone who lived near the convention center site and followed the process I can say that every promise that was made to the community was broken. But the hospitality industry got what they wanted. |
Anonymous
Don't forget his racist remarks about Asians. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
THIS, exactly. |
Anonymous
Wrong, bro! Leslie Johnson in particular was schooled and steeped in the fetid, corrupt, pay-to-play DC political culture. "Mrs. Johnson eschewed the law firm life that many of her Howard classmates chose, preferring a 9-to-5 job that would let her get home to her kids. She worked for the D.C. government for 27 years, becoming an administrative law judge, a post that paid $91,000 when she retired last year." Ms. Johnson's "service" with the DC government, from 1982-2009 began under the Mayor-for-Life and continued through three of his mayoral terms and a number of his years on the DC Council. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/07/AR2010120706997.html?sid=ST20101112040 |
Anonymous
His re-election slogan was "He may not be perfect, but he's perfect for DC." How true then, and how sad. |
Anonymous
| smart locals moved out of the city |