The Root, on D.C. Politics
In a feature titled “The Chocolate City’s Two Faces”, The Root kicks off a three-part series examining D.C.’s local political scene:
…(Harry) Thomas said there are pockets of the city and residents who are not benefiting from its new status, with a population that is steadily increasing as urban centers become more attractive. “The issue becomes not just about race but about economics, salaries and opportunities,” he said…
Some members of Congress “ran this city like a plantation until Marion Barry came into office,” said Bernard Demczuk, assistant vice president of District of Columbia relations at George Washington University. “Blacks made up 70 percent of the city and did not have those jobs.”
Barry, who took office in 1979 as the city’s second elected mayor, is credited with administrative policies that enforced and expanded minority-contract laws and hired more blacks in government. His efforts helped build the city’s black middle class and provided momentum for billionaire BET founders Robert L. Johnson and Sheila Johnson, as well as real estate mogul R. Donahue Peebles.
One more answer to the question of why certain D.C. residents love Marion Barry.
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