Talk:Marion Barry/Archive 1

Start Class
I rated this as start class. This article would benefit greatly from more relevant, first rate citations, and less personal opinions. Instead, let's work together to make this a NPOV Good article.Robotam — Preceding undated comment added 14:47, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Picture of Barry smoking crack
I would dispute the picture added of him smoking crack —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Laurap414 (talk • contribs) 22:40, 11 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Laura, may I ask why you dispute it? This is the same photo used by the BBC, the L.A. Times, and the Washington Post, amongst many, many other reputable news organisations.  Hall Monitor 22:55, 11 August 2005 (UTC)


 * I dispute it being used as the lead photo (a portrait should be, or something similar), but including it in the article shouldn't be a problem. -- tomf688  23:31, August 11, 2005 (UTC)
 * That sounds agreeable. Hall Monitor 23:39, 11 August 2005 (UTC)

Yeah that's what I meant. Now we need a head shot of him which we could use for his bio, up top. I am still not sure how to get public domain pix. laurap414 18:37, August 12, 2005 (UTC)

Why do people like Barry? It would be nice if there were some explanation as to why he keeps getting reelected. 24.255.46.150 22:30, 12 November 2005 (UTC)

The blacks vote for him because he's black. Smoking crack doesn't discredit someone with that constituency. It's not enough to discredit him to me either (and I don't partake). Participating in anti-drug campaigns simultaneously, however, is. 69.23.125.124 03:36, 13 May 2006 (UTC)


 * Barry has consistently run either unopposed or against other black candidates as a D.C. council member representing Ward Eight. (Before he was ever elected mayor, he served as an at-large council member).  Polls and quotes in the paper have consistently indicated that Barry wins because members of his ward consider Barry more willing to defend their interests.  He has always portrayed himself as the representative of the "disenfranchised."Carlaclaws 22:49, 21 January 2007 (UTC)

"The blacks vote for him because he's black. Smoking crack doesn't discredit someone with that constituency. It's not enough to discredit him to me either (and I don't partake). Participating in anti-drug campaigns simultaneously, however, is. 69.23.125.124 03:36, 13 May 2006 (UTC)" This is highly racist, and entirely unwarrranted. Barry is elected because of his persona, and the work he does for his community, his addiction notwithstanding, people in this district have learned to forgive. Kindly check your bigotry at the door. Unsined, Mar 3 07

Simply, Barry delivered services to all constituents. Here's a secret: whites also live in D.C. and some have also supported Barry. Read some of the Washington Post's opinion articles from the time (1978 - 1982) when Barry first ran for Mayor. I guess I'm old school because I think it's none of my business about whatever you do to your body in the privacy of your home. Then, its another topic for another day about how poor people's communities across this country became inudated with crack and cocaine.

during the '80. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.207.171.31 (talk) 14:37, 6 October 2007 (UTC)
 * The comment by the previous respondent does not follow the Wiki policies nor does it have any merit and should be deleted. Specifically, stating "whites also live in DC ans some have also supported Barry.  Read some of the ...Post's opinion articles...1978-1982" This time frame is before Marion Barry began much of his legal troubles.  Therefore, the previous responder is indeed displaying racist views and it is illogical that anyone black or white would stand behind a person with such a history.  It appears as if the other poster was trying to deflect away from current knowledge we now have within this article on its subject.  PSP 7/06/09

Lead Photo
I think the lead photo of Barry should be comparable to photos of other prominent politicians. That is, it should show him dressed up in a nice suit, just like the other photos of famous mayors in wikipedia articles, e.g. John_Lindsay and Andrew_Young. There are lots of nice photos of him wearing good suits on the net, so it's not like they don't exist. Would it be possible for somebody who knows how to to contact his office and ask for a press release photo for this article? 69.228.170.18 (talk) 03:54, 2 January 2011 (UTC)

Conviction before arrest?
I took a college class on the Soviet Union in the Spring of 1989. The teacher gave us an example of the Soviet media lying to its people by stating that the Mayor of Washington smoked crack. Everyone laughed. This was almost a year before he was arrested and it became public. Somehow the Russians knew about it in advance, or our own media and government covered it up for that long. (Added by Frank 3/10/08) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.59.237.189 (talk) 05:23, 11 March 2008 (UTC)

"On January 18, 1990, Barry was arrested with a woman in a sting operation at the Vista Hotel by the FBI and D.C. Police for crack cocaine use and possession.

... Barry was charged with three counts of felony perjury, 10 counts of misdemeanor drug possession, and one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to possess cocaine; however, he was convicted only of a single misdemeanor count of possessing cocaine in November 1989. He was acquitted on one possession charge and a mistrial was declared on the 12 remaining charges."

How exactly could Barry have been convicted three months before his arrest?

Delaney 10:44, 18 November 2005 (UTC)

He was convicted, in 1990, for possession of crack in 1989. That's probably how the Russians knew about it. RyanGentry (talk) 19:42, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

Grocery Robbery
Does the information about the youth's helping him carry his groceries inside and then robbing him really belong in an encyclopedia entry about Barry? It seems more minor news than anything. If it does belong in the entry, I don't think it's in the "conviction" section because it is unrelated. Agerard 16:46, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Crackula?
Crackula and Count Crackula? Are you serious? --Agerard 08:11, 15 January 2006 (UTC)


 * DC local government is a disgrace - they're all vermin. Haizum 03:06, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

Have this section removed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.207.171.31 (talk) 14:39, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

Traffic incident
http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20060512-111400-2205r.htm

Is this significant to go in the article? --Uncle Ed 16:51, 12 May 2006 (UTC)

Maybe not one, but when it gets to be a pattern, perhaps.

http://www.wtopnews.com/index.php?nid=596&sid=1009726

68.169.200.61 14:46, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

The linked source is titled "Acquitted". Looking over the article there is no mention of not guilty.

Was he found guilty and later aquitted? That's usually how it works, perhaps another source is in line.Woods01 (talk) 08:33, 24 December 2010 (UTC)

Prostate misuse?
"Barry's use of cocaine has been suggested to have been caused by the pain engendered by alleged misuse of his prostate." What does this mean? Or do I not want to find out? Andy M. 14:32, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

Temporary Halt to City's Handgun Ban
D.C. Council Member Barry Proposes Temporary Halt to City's Handgun Ban. WASHINGTON — If guns are outlawed only outlaws will have guns. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,250770,00.html Crocoite 00:03, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Trivia
I would like to remove the "trivia" section unless there is a good reason for keeping it.-Robotam 14:53, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Political Achievements as Mayor
"In 1978, Barry was elected mayor of Washington, D.C. He was only the second person elected to this  position. Barry was elected to three consecutive terms as mayor and held the position for over a decade until his arrest and imprisonment on drug charges in 1990."

For some reason the world and the 4th estate love reporting the shortcomings of Barry's life. Marion Barry accomplished a lot of positive things as Mayor of D.C. and was largely responsible for today's powerful D.C. black-middle class, especially for those now living in Prince George's County. He opened opportunities for all regardless of race. For example, I certainly remember Barry embracing Robert Johnson, former BET CEO and black billionare, when the D.C. Council had doubts about awarding him a cable franchise. A shrew politician and superb organizer, Barry's a man-of-the-people. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.207.171.31 (talk) 14:16, 6 October 2007 (UTC)

70s and 80s election results
I have added election results for 1994 Mayoral and 2004 Council elections. I cannot find the election results for his run for City Council in 1974 and his runs for Mayor in 1978, 1982, and 1986. If anyone can find these results, kindly add them to the article. Quacks Like a Duck (talk) 01:24, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

Wives
The article mentions his "third wife" and, later on, his "second wife"; there is no mention of any first wife. I seem to recall that Cora Masters was also married to him in the '90s, but she's not named, either. Shouldn't the wives all be mentioned, and in numerical order? A lot of work seems needed. --Piledhigheranddeeper (talk) 19:13, 27 June 2008 (UTC)
 * Looks like his first wife was Blantie Evans, married in 1962. KCinDC (talk) 20:42, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

Gasification machine?
Why is the sentence about the gasification machine in this article? It doesn't seem like a significant fact about Barry. KCinDC (talk) 20:50, 1 August 2008 (UTC)


 * I removed it. We really need more about his time as mayor (which is mostly skipped over), not trivia. Here's the sentence, for anyone curious: "In 2005 Barry supported a Gasification Machine, whose inventor, Simon Romanna, said it could cheaply turn waste into efficient gas for electricity and clean water. " —KCinDC (talk) 19:03, 9 August 2008 (UTC)

Citation
I added a citation where one was missing, but it's to a Washington Times article no longer available online. I got it through LexisNexis. How do I indicate that in the cite?Mahewa (talk) 14:56, 10 February 2009 (UTC)
 * Is the article available in the archives of the Wayback Machine? If so, see Wikipedia:Using the Wayback Machine. ~ Quacks Like a Duck (talk) 17:41, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Racist post calls Barry a "bonobo", which is a type of chimp.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonobo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonobo_(disambiguation)

I noticed on April 15, 2009 that the first heading, entitled "Early Life and Activism", for Marion Barry read,

"Marion Barry was born in Itta Bena, Mississippi, the third of ten little bonobos.[1][2]"

The two references are

1) Janofsky, Michael (September 14, 1994). "The 1994 Campaign: The Comeback Man in the News: From Disgrace to 'Amazing Grace': Marion Shepilov Barry Jr.". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D02E3DC153BF937A2575AC0A962958260.

2) Brisbane, Arthur S. (April 26, 1987). "Marion Barry Just Wants to Be Loved". The Washington Post: p. W20. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/library/dc/barry/87prof.htm.

Neither of these reputable sources uses the label "bonobos". A Bonobo is a type of chimpanzee that happens to be friendlier than most species. Still, it is disgusting that someone would change this article to read this. Someone please change this to read something else as I have never edited an article on wikipedia before. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shumich (talk • contribs) 03:36, 16 April 2009 (UTC)

Political achievements???
It's a little ridiculous to me that this article goes on to quite some length about Barry's legal problems, but says nothing about what he actually did as mayor.CircleAdrian (talk) 05:03, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

He didn't do anything but let DC govt turn into a complete joke. One small example: They couldnt even give potential school superintendents an estimate of how many students they had in the DCPS system because they had no idea. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 205.130.226.100 (talk) 15:53, 8 June 2011 (UTC)

Shepilov?
Does anyone know as to where he got this strange (Russian?) middle name? All Hallow&#39;s Wraith (talk) 07:26, 14 May 2009 (UTC)


 * From The Independent - "At a local college his fraternity brothers nicknamed him 'Shep', after Dmitri Shepilov, editor of Pravda in the Khrushchev years. Barry adopted the surname as his middle name."  APK  straight up now tell me  17:21, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

Personal benefit from contract
User Ioncewasgod reverted my additions about the Special Counsel's report on alleged personal benefit on contracts. Wikipedia's policy on Biographies on Living Persons (WP:WELLKNOWN) says "If an allegation or incident is notable, relevant, and well-documented by reliable published sources, it belongs in the article—even if it's negative and the subject dislikes all mention of it." Media who have reported on the allegations include The Washington Post, Washington City Paper, and WRC (local NBC affiliate), to name just a few. For this reason, I believe this information should remain in the article. I am stating my reasoning here, in accordance with Wikipedia's policy on reverting (WP:REVEXP). If another user disagrees, feel free to state why here. ~ Quacks Like a Duck (talk) 00:55, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

1990 Arrest & Drug Conviction
This section references a person named "Moore" without previously identifying the person's full name anywhere in the entry. A primary mention of the individual, Hazel Diane "Rasheeda" Moore, should be established in this section and subsequent mentions should be to "Miss Moore". Chairman B. (talk) 22:16, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

Errors
Some errors in the original article:
 * Barry was shot by Hanafi Muslim terrorists, not by members of the Nation of Islam.
 * Barry abandoned his chemistry Ph.D. studies at the University of Tennessee, not Fisk University.
 * Also I would like to note that he did abandon his studies at University of Tenessee. But that was for a PHD. Although, he did actually obtain a masters from Fisk University in chemistry while on full scholarship. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.107.58.226 (talk • contribs) 23:29, 27 January 2005 (UTC)
 * I have removed the unsupported assertion that he left the University of Kansas because white people objected to his tutoring their children. (This in the most liberal town in Kansas?)  Actually, in about 1997 I was told by a senior KU chemistry professor (himself a minority, btw) that the worst graduate student in the history of the Chemistry Department was Marion Barry, who soon left by mutual consent. C. Cerf (talk) 19:42, 23 July 2014 (UTC)

Spelling
This article states that he was born "Marion Berry, Jr." and is now known as "Marion Barry, Jr.". Is there a reliable source for the variant spelling? If not, I will delete the statement about the variant spelling. Robert McClenon (talk) 22:02, 24 November 2014 (UTC)

Bitch set me up
Barry's most famous quote IIRC is "bitch set me up". In fact those words in Wikipedia redirect to this article.

So why isn't the quote (in context of course) in the actual article? This quote isn't even in the talk page. Some PC cleanup done in the past??? Enquiring minds want to know. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 50.139.4.36 (talk) 05:21, 2 September 2013 (UTC)

Yes we all know who is doing the editing here. Where is the colon hydrotherapy section? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:d:af80:5ee:dfe:908b:7396:f (talk) 02:33, 25 November 2014 (UTC)

External links modified
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Assessment comment
Substituted at 15:19, 1 May 2016 (UTC)

Flor/Oppenheimer Doc about Barry's Life and Resilience
Hi all - should we add a section about this documentary or should it be its own article? Tedwillett (talk) 06:25, 23 March 2016 (UTC)
 * Are you talking about The Nine Lives of Marion Barry? It is already mentioned in the article, under "Legacy". That could be expanded a little but I doubt if the film qualifies for its own article. --MelanieN (talk) 15:08, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

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