The Strings of Power

I find no glee in the fall of Marion Barry. Don't get me wrong. I have had more than my share of run-ins with the mayor of Washington, D.C., both personally and professionally. He and I have found ourselves on different sides of the issues many times, especially those issues that affect poor people.

But I wish that his likely departure from office would have been necessitated by these political positions instead of his personal behavior. Mayor Barry, as symbolic and actual leader of the city's fight against drugs -- which have nearly destroyed a generation of D.C.'s youth -- committed an atrocious act by using crack cocaine. But why did his drug use bring him down when his attempts to block rent control, education reform, and guaranteed shelters for the homeless did not?

For years the elite establishment in D.C. -- especially the Reagan Justice Department -- has tried to leak information to the media, hoping to embarrass Barry publicly or to entice some of his companions to turn in evidence about his wrongdoings (of which there have been many). But even with all the energy focused on indicting Barry, no illegalities could be verified.

And so, seemingly frustrated beyond their limits, the Justice Department and the FBI decided to win their battle, less so in a court of justice than in the court of public opinion. They "stung" Barry as a drug user, a charge that would cause him the most damage because of his high profile against drugs and crime. In the age of "public relations politics," a lot of money was spent on an operation simply to procure a misdemeanor offense.

Unable to control his behavior even though he was scheduled to announce his bid for a fourth mayoral term just two days later, Barry, willingly and with a "predisposition," rode the elevator up to the seventh floor of the Vista Hotel to attend a party with an old friend who was facing charges herself for substance-abuse violations. In one very short moment, Barry's seemingly invincible armor was broken.

WHILE IN OFFICE, BARRY HAS BEEN the darling boy of D.C.'s real estate industry. Contributions from developers and landlords made up the lion's share of his quadrennial million-dollar campaign chest. Had there been a serious challenge to his candidacy, he would have received even more support. The purse strings of the powerful became puppet strings.

And for their contributions, the members of the Board of Trade and Board of Realtors received Barry's help in defeating rent control and other progressive housing initiatives. Only by putting initiatives and referenda for rent control and the right to housing for the homeless on the ballot did those same voters who later reelected Barry by huge margins pass these proposals into law.

But as with Manuel Noriega and many others before him, when the wealthy elite tire of someone, they simply move on to another puppet. The Board of Trade had the power to hold Barry accountable for his activity earlier but failed to do so. Eventually, after his arrest and admittance to an alcohol rehabilitation center, the Board of Trade withdrew support from Barry in his bid for a fourth term.

Barry did enter the hotel room with a predisposition to use drugs. I don't deny that. But the FBI had to bring in a woman from California to catch him. Agents baby-sat her kids so that she could participate in the sting. It's a situation that creates the same reaction that the U.S. intervention into Panama did: The rich were dancing in the streets, but there was little celebrating in other parts of town.

Unlike some D.C. residents, most African Americans in D.C. and elsewhere, while not disregarding what Barry did, feel no relief in his departure. The talk on the street is that he must pay the price for his actions. But there is no sense of revenge or righteous indignation. Instead the people feel betrayed.

The same people who daily feel the fear of walking outside of their apartments because of the level of drug-related violence now know without a doubt what they had feared but denied for years. And they know that their earlier denials only further allowed Barry to deny his own actions and addictions.

Those same people, however, also know that racism played more than a little part in the motivation of those prosecuting Barry. And it's the very racism that Barry pointed to every time he got in trouble: The "plantation owner, " the powerful one, is out to get me. That's a racism that is all too palpable, and therefore believable, for most of the residents of the District. They see it, touch it, know it every day of their lives.

When it comes to the future of the city -- its racial makeup and its leadership -- this racism even has a name. It's known as "The Plan." The Plan has been talked about for years, and actually two "plans" exist. One is a detailed agenda set up by the banking and real estate industries to turn the District into a white-majority city by the year 2000. The other is a more nebulous plan for this city to have a white mayor even before that time -- someone who would help the Year 2000 Plan to proceed on course.

Racism makes Barry's actions a political tragedy, in addition to a personal tragedy. When Jim Wright and Wilbur Mills were shook from their powerful perches, no one questioned the ability of white people to govern the country. Yet now questions are being raised about the qualifications of African Americans to govern this city. Not only is the statehood movement hurt, but some reactionary voices in Congress are threatening to limit home rule.

A people betrayed is a terrible sight. A people betrayed by someone whom they worked hard to defend is even more devastating to see. Most people knew that Barry hadn't kept his nose clean, but they hoped that at least it was clean of crack cocaine. And because he had come from the streets and still appealed to the powerless, when he found himself in trouble, people wanted to believe him.

AND WHO BENEFITS? The puppeteers again. Still in control are the very forces whose financial backing kept Barry in power -- even as his policies hurt the majority of the residents of the city. Although the "Marion-ette" is gone, the puppet masters still have a tight hold on the reins.

Their "best" candidate for the next election is now John Ray. As the chair of the regulatory committee of the City Council, he blocked all the bills that would have most helped low-income people with housing and utility problems, never even allowing them to come before the committee for a vote. The real estate and banking industries love him.

And they've been very generous with their support. Ray has already raised nearly half a million dollars, twice what Barry had raised before his visit to the Vista, and as much as the other contenders put together. With Barry all but surely out of the race, Ray will likely pick up the rest of the contributions from developers.

Ray's three main announced Democratic competitors include another member of the council, Charlene Drew Jarvis, who has had her own problems with ethics probes recently; a former executive with the major local utility company, Sharon Pratt Dixon; and the white City Council chair, David Clarke. Although Clarke has the civil rights legitimacy that few whites in this city do, his election has the potential to escalate racial tension further, giving credence to the existence of The Plan.

A Democrat-turned-opportunist, former police chief Maurice Turner, has announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination. The Barry tragedy further mars his own candidacy, however, since most of the alleged corruption and drug charges against Barry occurred during Turner's tenure as chief. He must run against perceptions of him either as an incompetent administrator who didn't know what many of his officers knew or as an accessory to the corruption.

Jesse Jackson's decision not to pursue the office of mayor of the District leaves two other unannounced candidates waiting in the wings as Sojourners goes to press. Marion Barry himself is still measuring the mood of the city to determine whether he can draw on the sympathy of D.C. voters to seek a fourth term. And D.C. congressional delegate Walter Fauntroy is allowing a draft-Fauntroy movement to gain momentum to test the possibility of his own candidacy.

Without Jackson there is a void to fill. Unfortunately no candidate provides both administrative abilities and charismatic leadership. We need both ... and fast. It's a time for healing, not gloating.

Bob Hulteen was Under Review editor of Sojourners when this article appeared.