Washington, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton is asking Councilmember Marion Barry to stop the divisive racial rhetoric and apologize. Norton is calling on the Ward 8 official to leave the racial rhetoric in the past and to stop targeting racial groups when talking about issues. According to a news release, Congresswoman Norton says Barry should apologize to the Filipino nurses in particular, “who do not deserve to be insulted for helping fill an indispensable health care need in a profession that we in this country have neglected.”
In a statement, Norton said, “The UDC School of Nursing is doing its job, but we have not done ours.” Commissioner for the Office of Asian Pacific Islander Affairs, David Chung, attended a D.C. council meeting, in which Barry chaired, on Thursday and asked for an apology. Chung said, “He wouldn’t retract the statement. He wouldn’t apologize for the statement. He kept coming up with excuses in how it was misinterpreted.” Barry apologized for comments made about Asian businesses, but has yet to apologize for comments he made about hiring Filipino nurses. Norton also points out that Barry’s “racially cloaked language deflects attention from the underlying issues of concern.”
