Say Sorry Barry (aka Marion Barry Does It Again!)

Friday, April 27, 2012

Geez...maybe Barry just hasn't had a good cup of coffee these past few weeks.

Or maybe it was a bad Yoo-hoo.

Or his bad Yoohoo.

I don't know.

Either way though, he's stepped in more shit this week - and you can make him say he's sorry.

At a hearing Monday on the University of the District of Columbia’s budget, he spoke about the need to train more African Americans to become nurses. In a video of his remarks aired by WTTG-TV, Barry noted a growing number of nurses are “immigrants” from the Philippines. “[I]f you go to the hospital now, you’ll find a number of immigrants who are nurses, particularly from the Philippines,” said Barry (D-Ward 8). “And no offense, but let’s grow our own teachers, let’s grow our own nurses, and so that we don’t have to go scrounging in our community clinics and other kinds of places, having to hire people from somewhere else.”

The National Federation of Filipino American Associations called Barry’s remarks “racist” and “bigoted.”

“We reject this continued Asian bashing by elected officials like Mr. Barry and demand that he apologize for his insensitive and irresponsible remarks,” Ed Navarra, chairman of NaFFAA, said in a statement. “We also call on him to engage in a meaningful dialogue with our community so we can better educate the broader American public about the significant contributions that our diverse immigrant communities have made to this country.”

Say Sorry Barry Campaign

Yup.
Today, a coalition of DC Asian American advocacy groups launched the Say Sorry Barry Campaign urging DC Councilmember Marion Barry to apologize for his insensitive remarks toward the Asian American community, most recently about Filipino nurses, and to uphold his commitment to meet with local Asian American leaders.