DC Restaurant Doubles Down On ‘Racist’ Drug References To Marion Barry With New Menu Item
The swearing-in ceremony for the 2009 District of Columbia City Council. Pictured, Councilmember Marion Barry makes a few remarks after his swearing-in. | Source: The Washington Post / Getty
A restaurant in the nation’s capital has doubled down after coming under fire for the name of a new item on its menu that’s being called “racist and disrespectful” to its purported namesake, Marion Barry, the late former mayor of Washington, D.C.
The restaurant, &Pizza, seemingly invited the backlash not only with the name of its new “Marion Berry knots” but also by choosing to describe the dessert in terms that could be confused for references to the cocaine scandal widely associated with Mayor Barry’s tenure.
MORE: Cathy Hughes Reflects On The Life Of ‘Mayor For Life’ Marion Barry
A photo of the “Marion Berry knots” on the front page of &Pizza’s website claims that they will “blow” away people who try them and is accompanied by a photo that shows a small pile of powder that resembles cocaine. A social media post promoting the new menu item claims the “Marion Berry knots” are “topped with icing and enough powdered sugar for you and a few friends!”
@andpizzatiktok Our new Marion Berry Knots will blow you away! For a limited time try our marion berry filled knots topped with icing and enough powdered sugar for you and a few friends! #fyp #fypage #pizzalife #pizza #dc #washingtondc #dmv #Loveyourboobs
A post by &Pizza on X, formerly Twitter, was a bit more explicit in its optics with a photo showing small piles of powder on tiny mirrors surrounded by little baggies that also contained powder marked by the restaurant’s ampersand logo. A sign near the would-be paraphernalia reads, “our classic knots got a bump,” employing a pun that is also slang terminology associated with cocaine.
Source: X screenshot
A press release advertising the new dessert carried a headline that said “&Pizza cracks open new threshold for dessert.”
The public relations firm working for &Pizza told DC News Now of the new dessert: “For a good time, it’s the powder that’s the ultimate headline grabber. The Marion Berry Knots have enough powdered sugar that will have customers bumping elbows to order and even force the DEA to look twice.”
&Pizza said the new menu item “may not be the perfect dessert, but they’re the perfect dessert for D.C.”
Barry’s widow, Cora Masters Barry, called the clear publicity stunt “racist and disrespectful,” according to DC News Now.
When the CEO of &Pizza was told of Cora Masters Barry’s reaction, he doubled down on the promotion of the product.
“We’re talking about a marionberry, that’s spelled with an ‘e,’ Mike Burns said in a statement shared on social media by DC Now News reporter Ben Dennis. “We stuff that into a knot, drizzle it with icing and then top it off with powdered sugar. It’s delicious – we can’t wait for D.C. to try it.”
What happened to Marion Barry?
Marion Barry served as mayor of D.C. from 1978 until 1990, the same year he was arrested in Washington’s Vista Hotel and charged with smoking crack with Rasheeda Moore, a former model who cooperated with the FBI in setting up Barry’s drug arrest. She testified during his trial that they had habitually abused cocaine, marijuana, opium, and crack “over 100 times.” The woman also revealed that her relationship with Barry, who was married, had also been sexual and that they used drugs at all hours and in all places, from government offices to hotels to a drug dealer’s rooming house to his own home.
In spite of that tumultuous past, Barry – a civil rights icon in his own right – was revered by Washingtonians as “Mayor for Life” and subsequently elected to the D.C. city council before he died in 2014.
A statue of former Mayor Marion Barry is unveiled outside of the John A. Wilson Building on March 3, 2018, in Washington, D.C. | Source: Brian Stukes / Getty
DC News Now reported that &Pizza’s new dessert has left a sour taste in the mouths of some Washingtonians who still have a special place in their hearts for Marion Barry.
Resident Clarine Thomas told DC News Now that not only is the product tacky but it’s also making light of the societal scourge of drug addiction, something to which Barry’s own son also fell victim. Thomas suggested the combination might end up backfiring for the restaurant.
“I think this is definitely in very, very poor taste. And it does not represent what we stand for, especially not in this community. So very, very disappointed. It’s gonna make me rethink even buying something here,” Thomas said. “Being a pillar here in our community, we want partners in our community that are going to help to make things better, not make light and make fun of something that’s really serious, like substance abuse.”
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