GREAT ARTICLE: "Black Is No Defense"

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Black Is No Defense
September 10, 2008


If Kwame Kilpatrick were white, don't you think he'd have been thrown out of office a long time ago? Heck, he'd be out of jail by now, shopping his memoirs.Instead, it was just last week, after a year of scandal and revelation that has paralyzed his city and made it the punch line to an international joke, that Detroit's mayor surrendered his office and copped a plea: 120 days in jail, five years' probation and a $1 million fine. Because, you see, Kilpatrick is not white; he is black in a city that is itself over 80 percent black. And that complicated things.For instance, it led to underserved support from the local black paper.And to a massive rally for him at a black church.
And to black people blaming the media for "bringing down" a gifted black man.And to a political consultant calling the case "Jim Crow justice."And to Kilpatrick repeatedly portraying himself as a victim of racial politics and a "lynch mob mentality."All the claims of racial solidarity and victimization gave Kilpatrick what Eliot Spitzer could never have imagined: a base from which to dig in his heels and declare he would not be moved.If you didn't know better, you might have thought this was Birmingham in 1963 or Montgomery in '55, with strains of "We Shall Overcome" ringing in the air. You'd never know it was Detroit in 2008, where the issue wasn't desegregation or human dignity but, rather, a mayor who had an extramarital affair with his chief of staff, fired police who came too close to discovering it, lied about it under oath, agreed to an $8.4 million payoff to keep police from releasing explicit text messages proving the affair and, for good measure, shoved a sheriff's deputy trying to serve a subpoena to someone else in an unrelated matter.Racial victimization? Jim Crow justice? Give me a break.In an April column, I excoriated the mayor for playing upon African America's reflexive tendency to rally in defense of any one of us who gets in trouble. But that's only part of the problem here. It's not just that someone played black folks, but that black folks keep letting themselves be played.Truth is, we get played like checkers any time any high-profile one of us is caught in scandal or sin. From Michael Jackson to O.J. Simpson to Tawana Brawley to Mike Tyson to Marion Barry to Kilpatrick, we keep proving pathetically susceptible to manipulation by any brother or sister who says white folks have done him or her wrong — especially if they invoke God a few times for good measure.African Americans — and, for that matter, all people of conscience — have a moral responsibility to stand up for those who truly are victims of racial injustice. In defending those people, we should be unstinting and unwavering.We should not, however, be unthinking. We should stop falling into the easy trap of believing every black man in trouble is a victim of racial malfeasance. If more black folks in Motown had understood this, the city might not have spent the last year embarrassing itself.For centuries, African Americans have struggled to teach white people that black does not mean guilt. Frankly, it's high time we learned a corresponding truth.It doesn't mean innocence, either. Leonard Pitts Jr. is a syndicated writer.

Still not over...

So he managed to weasel himself to another primary win. The only thing sadder than the possibility of another four years with Marion is that the ones that will surely suffer the most are the very people who came out and voted for him. Because unlike the supporters of the challengers these people really are hoping...pleading that this time he will make good on another batch of promises. To pay back their support with permanent jobs...affordable housing, etc and the fact of the matter is not only is it NOT going to happen but they (the Barry disenfranchised) have just about sealed the deal that by the time change does come they will almost most likely not have a voice in it.

For those looking on the outside in or watching the local news coverage on the election it may have appeared that these were die hard Barry fans. That the entire Ward was rallying behind their great savior! He has arisen! He has come.

Nope.

What you say is another Marion Barry mirage. What you saw were a lot of poor and unemployed people who were begging at the table of MB begging for crumbs. One needs to ask themselves how all these people on a work day were available to sit in front of polls for 12 or 13 straight hours? It's easy - they were paid and not even paid very well.

Marion has figured out a long time ago that poverty and fear works to his advantage. That desperate people make desperate decisions. That $100 today beats a lifetime of self sufficiency.

And for that I am truly sad for those people. They don't even realize they have dealt themselves out yet again out of a game that has been in progress for years. When they finally realize it it will be way to late and once again they will find themselves outplayed, ignored and disenfranchised.

I have a friend in the Mayor's office and they told me "if you could only see how he regularly plays his own people out for his own personal gain it is mind blowing! The only thing that MB cares about is MB and he will use the threat of his "army of supporters" to strong arm his way to getting what he wants but at the end of the day he would and continually has sold them out."

I asked a few of those same green and white t-shirt clad folks why they were supporting the (un) great man himself. I got a variety of answers from "he is going to win anyway" to "I am just trying to get paid" to "I don't know". Not one person was able to even remotely articulate what exactly it was that MB has done or will do that has garnered their respect.

It is not in MB's best interest to have these people continuously working...at jobs that pay a living wage. It is in his benefit to keep his people hungry...to forever just hold the carrot out of their grasp. To keep them dancing to his tune all while blaming their circumstances on "them". When will these people smarter up and realize that if MB was even half as good as as he claimed to be that they would see "progress" and not "promises"?

On election day the ward had an opportunity to clean out the "cobwebs of corruption" to endorse someone who looked like them who represented the best "of them" and they failed to do so. Part of it could be linked to poor voter turnout (and indeed it was poor), or just for a failure to hope or an inability to let go of that fear of change.

The great news is that this is not the end. It is the beginning. Barry doing another four years in reasonable health and unindicted is a snow ball's chance in hell. So a special election or special prosecutor could be right around the corner.

We can always hope.

Until then the Barry Stops Here! blog will be going on strong. Shining a bright light on the corruption that is and will always be Marion Barry!

1 day to the Primary and to a new "Barry-free" day!

Just one more day until Ward 8 can officially kick that corrupt, self centered, and self serving "you know what" to the C-U-R-B. The thought that we are less than 18 hours from potentially being "Barry-Free" is enough to make me do the electric slide at my desk.

Hopefully Ward 8 will show the district - heck the world that the scheming and conniving that is Marion Barry will NO longer be tolerated and that Ward 8 is ready for a NEW beginning with NEW progress!

The Ward has complaining for some time about Barry's inattention, graft and corruption hopefully they will turn out in droves to drive him out!

For those Barry (confirmed paid) supporters we pray that they look inside their hearts (if not their wallets) and do the right thing NOT for themselves (and his empty promises) but the RIGHT thing for the COMMUNITY and vote Charles Wilson into office.

Marion Barry is 72 years old. He had his run.  If he was going to make improvement

s in Ward 8 he would have done them by now and one thing that everyone should be able to agree on is that progress in Ward  8 has been measured in centimeters if at all. It is time for someone young, active, agile and committed to drive the community to the next level.  It is time for the next generation of leaders  to take the helm.  We can no longer sponsor Marion Barry's $92,000 a year retirement.  

Please come out and vote. YOUR VOTE DOES MATTER!!! Barry has been counting on people not getting active, not getting involved, not getting informed.

CAN WE REALLY AFFORD ANOTHER FOUR YEARS WITH THIS MAN?

From the Washington Post

Metro Chief Cuts Barry A Break, Then a Check
By Lena H. SunWashington Post Staff WriterMonday, June 16, 2008; B01

It was a hot and hazy summer evening.
D.C. Council member Marion Barry was in his champagne-colored Mercedes-Benz parked on Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue in the heart of Ward 8, his district in Southeast Washington. The driver's window was down, he recalled, because he had been talking to an acquaintance on the street. It was 6:45 p.m.
Suddenly, he said, a Metrobus sideswiped his car on the passenger side. He said that he honked his horn to stop the bus but that it kept going. He remembered the route sign on the back of the bus: B2.
About a month later, Barry filed a claim against Metro. Metro tracked down the bus operator, who denied hitting any vehicle. There was also no damage to the Metrobus. Unable to confirm Barry's account, a mid-level Metro manager advised against paying the claim.
But this was not just any claimant. This was Barry, 72, the Democrat known affectionately by his supporters as "Mayor for Life," a former four-term mayor who won election to the D.C. Council in 1992 after serving six months in prison for a misdemeanor drug conviction. For three years, he has served on the Metro board, which sets policy for the agency, the region's largest transit provider.
So when his accident claim was brought to the attention of Metro General Manager John B. Catoe Jr. last year, Catoe decided to make an exception.
"We couldn't prove it one way or the other," Catoe said in a recent interview. "The reality is, he's a member of the board of directors.
"In my judgment, I did not feel that he would have lied about such a small claim," Catoe said. "I believed he was truthful, and I made the decision to pay him."
On Aug. 17, Metro cut Barry a check for $3,227.40, according to Metro records provided to The Washington Post in response to a public information request.
Metro sent the check by courier to Barry's council office. The accompanying letter read that Metro "has been unable to confirm the particulars of your allegation that a Metrobus caused the occurrence and your damages. Nevertheless, in recognition of your public position and your commitment to the public interest, [Metro] has determined that it is appropriate to accept your demand for full settlement."
Barry said he did not request special treatment and is indignant at the suggestion.
"I think it was a valid claim on its face," he said in an interview. Metro is "implying the only reason they paid it is because I'm a board member," he said. "I resent that."
Barry said he didn't report the accident to police because "they don't come to minor accidents."
Barry said the June 18, 2007, incident happened this way: "I was at the curb lane on Martin Luther King Avenue between W [Street] and Chicago [Street]. . . . I had just finished talking to somebody. I was parked. I heard this noise and looked up and see I was hit by the bus. I blew my horn and tried to stop the bus. There was a sign on the bus. It said B2."
There were no witnesses.
According to Metro records, Barry's office first reported the incident by telephone July 19, a month after the accident.
While Metro was investigating, a Barry aide took the 1998 Mercedes-Benz E320 to a repair shop. Georgetown Service Center in Northeast Washington said it would cost $2,234, labor and parts included, to replace the passenger side mirror and door panels.
Barry's office was impatient to have the claim paid, according to a claim adjuster's notes. In a note to Reed Appraisers in Wheaton requesting the required independent appraisal, a Metro claims representative wrote: "PLEASE RUSH!!"
Reed's estimate: $3,227.40. In the end, that's what Metro paid Barry. By then, Georgetown Service Center had already repaired Barry's car for about $1,000 less, according to owner Fred Hassani.
So, given Metro's financial difficulties, would Barry consider returning the $1,000 to Metro?
Barry said he couldn't remember the actual repair cost. An aide handled it, he said. "The case is closed where I'm concerned."
As for his Metro service, Barry, an alternate, has the worst attendance record of the 12 members. In three years, he has attended nine of 165 Metro committee and board meetings, according to board records and interviews. He showed up briefly Thursday for one of two committee meetings after a reporter asked about his attendance. The last meeting he attended before that was seven months ago.
Asked about his attendance, Barry responded: "I'm surprised I've been to that many."
District members receive no fee for their board service. Maryland and Virginia board members receive nominal compensation, with the exception of the alternate representing Prince George's County. Since 2003, Marcell Solomon has held that position. The county has paid him nearly $73,000 so far this year for Metro work and other county service, a county spokesman said.
The District, Maryland and Virginia each appoint two voting and two alternate members. Alternates can't vote during full board meetings, but they have equal votes during committee meetings, where major decisions are made.
The District's stake in Metro is huge. The majority of Metrobus routes and nearly half the Metrorail stations are in Washington. The city provides $203 million a year to Metro's operating budget, 38 percent of the subsidies from jurisdictions served by Metro.
City officials have been flagged about Barry's absences. Council chairman Vincent C. Gray (D), whose office makes appointments to boards and commissions, including Metro, said he would review all appointments after council elections in November.
Barry said he has been present for important meetings, such as when increases in bus fares were being discussed last year. He added that the District is ably represented by its two voting members, council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) and city transportation director Emeka C. Moneme.
Besides, Barry said, he wants to focus more on his council duties. "I'm going to ask Mr. Gray in January not to reappoint me," he said. "I've done enough. I don't apologize."

SOME READER OUTRAGE (AKA COMMENTS)


bc1123 wrote:
I'm so glad that, 17 years after leaving DC, I can say Mayor Barry is still a great provider of laughs. There's nothing this guy could do that could make him look bad to his supporters.
6/18/2008 4:45:33 PM
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8-man wrote:
We should be thanking Metro for not buying him a new car stocked full of crack.
6/17/2008 5:11:38 PM
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nobs4me wrote:
Why isn't anyone from Ward 8 on here jumping to his defense? You were last year when DC police were critisized for pulling him over for suspicion of drunk driving. Has it finally sunk in that he's taking and using your tax money for his own? Don't re-elect this scumbag and then whine and cry about how public aid and your schools are in the crapper. Now you know why.
6/17/2008 5:02:20 PM
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deaniac wrote:
I agree 100%, donmac1. I was denied a claim by Metro. It took them only 24 hours to report, 'we've done nothing and your claim is denied'.Contact Metro and complain about the double standard, and force them to reopen all of their claims denied to non-former-Mayors.
6/17/2008 10:18:14 AM
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donmac1 wrote:
Typical? I wonder how many of us peasents could file a claim with no evidence a month later and get paid? Marion " I forgot to pay my taxes" Barry is sooooooo honest. Get real! For years he made DC the laughing stock of the entire country and continues to play the bufoons in DC like a violin! Given his history he should have called the police immediatly and been drug tested before cutting a check! It's called hit and run and is a serious crime. Catoe is obviosly one of Barry homies and should be fired! Anyone who is denied a claim by metro past or future needs to cite this precident and get paid!
6/17/2008 7:45:14 AM
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mdpilot wrote:
People.Perspective.Give Snorter a break.The young Marion Barry would have got a paid rental car in the deal whilst his car was in the shop.
6/16/2008 11:48:23 PM
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cavalierauc wrote:
John Catoe for Obama's Secretary of Transportation! Marion Barry for the next HUD Secretary!
6/16/2008 10:54:11 PM
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zydecoqueen wrote:
More holes in this story than Swiss cheese. He's in the curb lane, and the B2 bus hit the PASSENGER SIDE? Either he drives a British-made Benz, or the bus drove up on the sidewalk! There are no witnesses on Chicago St., SE at 6:45 p.m. in June? Are you kidding? There's always somebody on the street, at least that early in the day. Also, the police will come to any collision you call about; you need a police report to submit an insurance claim. Lord, have mercy!
6/16/2008 10:47:39 PM
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nsdc wrote:
Unfortunately, the fact that Marion "The B@tch Set Me Up" Barry is once again stealing from the taxpayers of DC is no surprise.However, that the Metro Chief is assisting with this scam is a surprise.Unbelievable.
6/16/2008 10:11:57 PM
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ajguzz wrote:
"Bus set me up!!!"
6/16/2008 9:50:50 PM
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surlydoc wrote:
some of you are wondering why ward 8 keeps voting for this man of questionable character.. they vote him in because it's their way of "getting over" on "whitey". the "mayor" fits their image of a hero in this respect. he did his time in the pen and that gave him street cred up the wazoo. to those of the non-african american persuasion he is the caricatured epitome of the lazy, shiftless, lying, stealing, fornicating, drug and alcohol induced porch monkey. It's the clash of images between these diverse constituencies ( ward 8's image of barry vs. the rest of the world's image of him ) that spurs ward 8 on to the polls each time he's up for re-election. he'll die in office with his boots on, most likely mugged in an some darkened corner of an alley trying to score.i write this as a disinterested observer many miles removed from the problems that are DC'S.
6/16/2008 6:00:34 PM