Marion Barry’s racist comments towards Asians were first reported by WRC-TV. Barry

Marion Barry’s racist comments towards Asians were first reported by WRC-TV. Barry apologized Thursday for the comments.

“I want to express my deep apology for offending some members of the Asian community and the D.C. community,” Barry said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I have a solid record of relationships with the Asian community.”

The former mayor won the Democratic primary for his Ward 8 council seat with 73 percent of the vote, all but assuring him of another four-year term.

Mayor Vincent Gray, Council Chairman Kwame Brown and some of Barry’s council colleagues criticized the longtime D.C. politician Thursday. A group of Asian-American lawmakers in Maryland also condemned Barry’s remarks.

“I am deeply disappointed by Councilmember Barry’s comment,” Gray said in a statement. “There is no room in this wonderfully diverse city for comments that disparage anyone on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, disability or sexual orientation.”

Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, who represents the district in Congress, said she was “stunned by the offensive nature of the comments.” Norton called Barry and reminded him of the values they shared while working together in the civil rights movement, she said, adding that she was pleased that he would apologize.

Barry, 76, served four terms as mayor, a tenure interrupted by his six-month term in federal prison on a drug charge.

Tensions have long simmered between blacks and Asian merchants in many urban communities. Korean shopkeepers were subject to violence during the 1992 riots in Los Angeles that followed the police beating of motorist Rodney King.

Barry told AP that he was wrong to single out Asians but said he was referring to merchants who don’t sell healthy food and don’t engage with the community or hire local residents.

#dumbass

Source AP