Racist Arizona Lawmaker Says Black People 'Don't Blend In'
An Arizona lawmaker known for his past racist remarks continues to remind everyone he is still a racist.
Republican State House Rep. David Stringer was captured on audio calling non-native English speaking students a “burden,” saying black people “don’t blend in” and lamenting a supposed “white flight” in more diverse areas of the country.
The audio, obtained by the Phoenix New Times, was of Stringer speaking with Arizona State University students following a lecture. After telling a student that “diversity in our country is relatively new,” ASU sophomore Stephen Chmura challenged Stringer, saying there was early immigration from places like Ireland and Italy.
“They were all European,” Stringer responded in the audio. “So after their second or third generation, everybody looks the same. Everybody talks the same. That’s not the case with African-Americans and other racial groups because they don’t melt in. They don’t blend in. They always look different.”
When asked whether that should matter, Stringer hemmed and hawed, saying “maybe it doesn’t” but that “it seems to matter to a lot of people.” He did not respond to a request for comment from HuffPost.
The remarks should be little surprise to those who have followed Stringer’s past comments. In June, Stringer made headlines after speaking at a Republican Men’s Forum event where he said immigration represents an “existential threat” to the country.
“Sixty percent of public school children in the state of Arizona today are minorities,” Stringer told the crowd. “That complicates racial integration because there aren’t enough white kids to go around.”
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) called for Stringer to resign after his June comments.
“I don’t think there’s any place for that kind of commentary in the public square and he’s basically disqualified himself to lead at the state level,” Ducey said at the time.
Instead, Stringer was re-elected to office earlier this month.
Read the full story at the Phoenix New Times.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
