Marion Berry's Quotes

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

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 promise you a police car on every sidewalk.

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

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.

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

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?

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

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?

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.

When you have police officers who abuse citizens, you erode public confidence in law enforcement. That makes the job of good police officers unsafe.

Civil Rights opened the windows. When you open the windows, it does not mean that everybody will get through. We must create our own opportunities.

If Rosa Parks had taken a poll before she sat down in the bus in Montgomery, she'd still be standing.

The time when you need to do something is when no one else is willing to do it, when people are saying it can't be done.

When it comes to the cause of justice, I take no prisoners and I don't believe in compromise.

The adoring crowds and overwhelming Democratic support in the 2008 election was based largely on joy at jettisoning Bush and the appeal of electing a superbly qualified charismatic African American leader.