Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) has publicly announced her displeasure with recent "offensive" comments made by former Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry, and we're sure she's not alone in being put off by his derogatory remarks about Asian business owners.
"We got to do something about these Asians coming in and opening up businesses and dirty shops," Barry said as he celebrated his Democratic primary victory in D.C.'s Ward 8. "They ought to go. I'm going to say that right now. But we need African-American businesspeople to be able to take their places, too."
"Norton told Barry that she was stunned by the offensive nature of the comments," according to a statement from her office. "She reminded Barry of how long she had known him and the values they first shared when they were students together in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the South fighting for racial justice."
In response to criticism of his remarks, Barry apologized — sort of — via his Twitter account. "I admit, I could and should have said it differently," Barry wrote on Thursday. "But the facts are still very present in our daily lives here."
Read more at the Hill.