During a Good Friday interview with Washington Examiner reporter Alan Blinder, D.C. Councilman Marion Barry had the nerve to claim that he is doing “God’s work.” This came right after his divisive, mean-spirited attack on Ward 8 Asian shopkeepers — “We got to do something about these Asians coming in and opening up businesses and dirty shops. They ought to go.” Barry, who has represented the city’s poorest and second-least-diverse ward since 2004, issued a half-apology after his comments, claiming they were “sensationalized” and taken out of context by the press. But lost in the Twitter scrum was the rest of Barry’s election night comments. After stating the Asians “ought to go,” he added, “But we need African-American businesspeople to be able to take their places, too.” In fact, the former mayor’s attitude is one of the reasons there are not more black shopkeepers in Ward 8 today. No one has ever created a single job or fed a single child in Ward 8 by slurring and abusing the entrepreneurs who invest there.
Ward 8 could use some real leadership. Its Census figures suggest a downward spiral into poverty and government dependence. Its median income, the lowest in D.C., has actually declined in real dollars since 1979. Nearly half the children in Ward 8 live in poverty, up from 38 percent in 1990. As of February, unemployment in Ward 8 stood at 24.3 percent, nearly twice its 1990 level. The number of Ward 8 residents on food stamps is almost 50 percent higher than the number who have jobs.
Barry, who was quick to make Asians a scapegoat for his Ward’s problems, has been less so in leading the way with solutions. As mayor and as a councilman, he could have demanded reform of the D.C. Public Schools, which for years have failed to prepare Ward 8 youngsters for business careers. He could have insisted that city funds for “job training” be used for just that, instead of being dumped into a failed summer program that pays kids to show up and stand around.
Gary Cha, past president of the Korean-American Grocers Association, agrees with Barry that some Asian-owned carry-outs in Ward 8 are not kept clean. But instead of calling on the Health Department, Barry made it a racial issue. Instead of demanding more police protection for his constituents (Ward 8 has the highest violent crime rate in the District) Barry followed up on his comments by decrying the “Plexiglas barriers” that businesses erect in their shops — as if they do it because bulletproof glass makes for good design.
Economies suffer when opportunistic politicians bash entrepreneurs. The racial nature of Barry’s slurs make them all the more odious. Last year, Barry referred to Ward 8 as a “ghetto.” Now he’s attacking the few “outsiders” who have proven willing to invest in it. This attitude will not encourage others to follow.
