When Marion Barry, a long-time Washington D.C. councilman, said he wanted to get rid of some Asian-owned businesses and replace them with black-owners, he shocked his constituents.
Some said Barry was the last person they would expect to make such a comment.
“We’ve got to do something about these Asians coming in, opening up businesses, those dirty shops. They ought to go, I’ll just say that right now, you know. But we need African-American businesspeople to be able to take their places, too,” he told a crowd of supporters after a primary win.
RELATED: To see his comments caught on video, click on the image above.
Barry is no stranger to trouble. He served six months in prison when he was caught smoking crack.
But that had nothing to do with racism. Nobody had seen a hint of discrimination in anything the councilman said before.
This raises the question, if this could happen in D.C., could it happen in Temecula?
Despite having a white-majority population, it has a diverse City Council. No hint of racism has appeared among any city leaders.
But that was the case before Barry's comments.
Some argued was discriminatory. It forced employers to check the citizen status of their employees.
Critics said it might cause employers to steer clear of Hispanic employee candidates altogether. It turns out, Governor Jerry Brown agreed. He banning this type of ordinance, and the chose .
Do you think discrimination is alive in Temecula? Or do you think there are problems lying below the surface. Tell us in the poll below.
