Maybe it was the crack. Or perhaps it was the political whiplash of returning to power in Washington, D.C. after serving a prison term. But whatever the reason, former Washington mayor and current Ward 8 city councilman Marion Barry can’t seem to get his apologies straight.
While trying to offer his regrets Thursday for derogatory comments last month about Asian-Americans, Barry managed to offend Polish-Americans.
“We gotta do something about these Asians coming in, opening up these dirty shops,” he said on April 3. “They got to go. I’ll say that right now.”
Fast-forward to Thursday. Barry apologized for adding racial tensions in the nation’s capital, noting that there’s nothing new about race-based divides in America.
“The Irish caught hell, the Jews caught hell, the Polacks caught hell,” Barry said, according to WTOP radio. “We want Ward 8 to be the model of diversity.”
Less than 24 hours later, Barry was apologizing again — this time for using the slur “Polacks” to refer to Americans of Polish descent.
Watch:
“We gotta do something about these Asians coming in, opening up these dirty shops,” he said on April 3. “They got to go. I’ll say that right now.”
