Marion Barry: “We got to do something about these Asians coming in"

Those of you who read my Melly Christmas post should not be surprised that I think Asian in migration is one of the few bright spots in twenty-first century America. Former Washington mayor and convicted felon and now city Councilman Marion Barry tells us that we have to do something about "all these Asians coming in." We really have no cause to be surprised that he holds that opinion but his candor, or to put it more bluntly, his overt racism only confirms what we have long known about the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party has long been closed to Asians. Bobby Jindal and Nikki Haley could never be elected to anything beyond congressman from a largely Asian district in spite of the fact that they are both effective governors and frequently mentioned as vice presidential favorites in the Republican Party.

Race dominates the Democratic Party. There is a sense of political entitlement among black and Hispanic Democrats because they listen to jackasses like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and Marion Barry. Only those groups who are deemed to have "paid their dues" need apply for positions of leadership. Senator Marco Rubio could not have been elected as a Democrat because party leaders would have argued that Cuban Americans have not paid their dues. Not since Governor Doug Wilder of Virginia, if we exclude faux Hispanic Bill Richardson whose father was a Citi Bank exec, have the Democrats ran a minority candidate in a largely white electorate as have the Republicans done with with Congressmen Tim Scott or Alan West. This party is dooming itself into a party of stereotypes.