Marion Barry Quotations

I am clearly more popular than Reagan. I am in my third term. Where's Reagan? Gone after two! Defeated by George Bush and Michael Dukakis no less.

I read a funny story about how the Republicans freed the slaves. The Republicans are the ones who created slavery by law in the 1600's. Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and he was not a Republican.

I have to admit I didn't do as much as I should have back when I was mayor, but now we're getting it done. It's not where you've been but where you're going.

First, it was not a strip bar, it was an erotic club. And second, what can I say? I'm a night owl.

The brave men who died in Vietnam, more than 100% of which were black, were the ultimate sacrifice.

This is not a sham, not a game. This is the real stuff.

Aside from the murders, DC has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.

I am making this trip to Africa because Washington is an international city, just like Tokyo, Nigeria or Israel. As mayor, I am an international symbol. Can you deny that to Africa?

Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country.

What right does Congress have to go around making laws just because they deem it necessary?

The laws in this city are clearly racist. All laws are racist. The law of gravity is racist.

When you know more, you can do more.

People blame me because these water mains break, but I ask you, if the water mains didn't break, would it be my responsibility to fix them then? WOULD IT!?!

People have criticised me because my security detail is larger than the president's. But you must ask yourself: are there more people who want to kill me than who want to kill the president? I can assure you there are.

I promise you a police car on every sidewalk.

If you take out the killings, Washington actually has a very very low crime rate.

She was the people's champion working tirelessly for equality and justice.

We in Washington, D.C., are experiencing the best of times but yet the worst of times. The number of jobs is rising, but so is unemployment. Go to these construction sites. You'll find that a majority of construction workers are not District residents.

It was an awful lease for the city, but we've now put a cap of $610 million on the costs.

I've gone through the Civil Rights Movement. I've seen courts and mayors and white people do things, you turn your back and they undo it. And we don't need that ... so I speak a little different about it. I've experienced this kind of double-dealing, and I'm not going to take it anymore.

I want somebody fired for this. If somebody doesn't get fired for this, you're not doing your job.

I'm just outraged by this. Our young people have enough problems already.

Our neighbors in Virginia are just as responsible for these killings as the criminals are because they won't pass strong gun [control] legislation.

There is a sort of an unwritten code in Washington, among the underworld and the hustlers and these other guys, that I am their friend.

My personal view is very simple: What happens in your bedroom, it's up to you. If you want to use gay marriage as an affectionate kind of thing you're doing, do it.

Jesse ain't running nothin' but his mouth.

People have criticized me because my security detail is larger than the president's. But you must ask yourself: are there more people who want to kill me than who want to kill the president? I can assure you there are.

My greatest work comes in the community.

We got to do something about these Asians coming in and opening up business and dirty shops. They ought to go.

The contagious people of Washington have stood firm against diversity during this long period of increment weather.

I had my bad times. But the good news is that every time this has happened I've taken full responsibility for it. I don't try to duck it, I don't try to dodge it, I don't try to bullshit about it. Truth crushed to the ground will rise again. And that's what my life has been about.

I am a great mayor; I am an upstanding Christian man; I am an intelligent man; I am a deeply educated man; I am a humble man.

There are two kinds of truth. There are real truths, and there are made up truths.

And no offense, but let’s grow our own teachers, let’s grow our own nurses—and so that we don’t have to be scrounging around in our community clinics and other kinds of places—having to hire people from somewhere else.

If you take out the killings, Washington actually has a very low crime rate.