Photo via @marionbarryjr

Not that it’s ever been a defining characteristic, but Councilmember Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) might want to think about investing in a mental mute button. Not surprisingly, his comments at a primary election victory party Tuesday night suggesting that he’d like to see fewer Asian-owned businesses in Ward 8 have earned him condemnations from many of his fellow District officials.

While celebrating his win in the Ward 8 Democratic primary, all but guaranteeing him a third term on the D.C. Council, Barry said the following:

We’ve got to do something about these Asians coming in, opening up businesses, those dirty shops. They ought to go, I’ll just say that right now, you know. But we need African-American businesspeople to be able to take their places, too.

Barry’s comments were first reported last night by NBC4’s Tom Sherwood:

Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) was the first to respond and issued a reprimanding tweet after catching Sherwood’s report:

In what he hoped would serve as an example of “dirty” shops, Barry posted to Twitter this morning a photo of a weatherbeaten carry-out restaurant in Congress Heights:

He later contrasted that business with the Uniontown Bar & Grill in Anacostia. About six percent of the District’s businesses are owned by people of Asian origin, WAMU’s Elahe Izadi notes. And on a national scope, tension between Asian shopkeepers and black communities runs deep in some cities, the most famous example being the 1992 riots in Los Angeles when Korean store owners and African-American protestors came to blows.

On WPFW’s D.C. Politics Hour today, Barry called in and responded to the criticism offered by Wells, who was an in-studio guest. Barry was quick to blame the media for the flap over his remarks. He accused host Chuck Thies of considering Ward 8 residents to be “dumb” and “stupid,” but was unable to cite any specific examples when Thies refuted the charge. Barry repeated his media criticism throughout the broadcast.

But since the broadcast, the criticism from Barry’s fellow lawmakers has only piled on. In a press release, D.C. Council Chairman Kwame Brown said: “I strongly disagree with the recent remarks made about Asian American business owners in the District. Statements like that are divisive, destructive, and have absolutely no place in our city.”

And Mayor Vince Gray said he was “deeply disappointed” by Barry’s remarks. “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,” the mayor said in a news release.

Barry’s statement carried across District lines, too, with five Asian-American lawmakers in suburban Maryland calling for an apology, the Post’s Mike DeBonis reports.

But Barry isn’t planning on issuing an apology any time soon, according to DeBonis. The so-called “mayor-for-life” told DeBonis people need to “get to know Marion Barry and his stellar record on civil rights.” Barry cited as examples the construction of the Chinatown Friendship Arch in 1986 while he was mayor, as well as the establishment of the District’s Office of Asian-Pacific Islander Affairs.

Gary Cha, who runs the Yes! Organic grocery stores, told the Post that Barry was correct in his assessment that carry-out establishments aren’t exactly purveyors of healthy food, but that it was wrong to single out Asians. Cha even suggested giving Barry a bit of a pass considering the councilmember is 76 years old and potentially in his final term in office. “I think we should just let it go,” Cha told DeBonis.

UPDATE: Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) joined the ranks condemning Barry. In a statement released in a series of tweets, Cheh said:

I am appalled by the extraordinarily offensive remarks uttered by Councilmember Marion Barry on election night. His disparaging comments toward Asian Americans have no place in our public or private discourse. Mr. Barry has responded by saying that he has a stellar record on civil rights, which he does; but, that is a wholly inadequate response to his remarks, and he should apologize immediately.

Filed Under: asian-americans, dirty shops,, kwame brown, marion barry, tommy wells, vince gray, ward 8,