Arizona Lawmaker Doubles Down On Saying Black People Don’t ‘Blend In’

Source: Robert Alexander / Getty

David Stringer Doesn’t See A Problem With His Racist Comments

An Arizona state legislator with a long history of anti-immigrant comments is facing calls to resign after he told university students that black people “don’t blend in” to society like European immigrants do.

Representative David Stringer, who represents the Yavapai County area, made the comments after a public lecture at Arizona State University on November 19, during which a history professor, Donald Critchlow, discussed the 2018 midterm elections.

Mr. Critchlow said that the students recorded a “private conversation” they had with Mr. Stringer after the lecture, which was sent to local news outlets last week.

In said recordings, Mr. Stringer can be heard saying that he doesn’t think America is a “successful nation.” He follows up by saying that “diversity is relatively new” in our country, and that while European immigrants assimilated to society, “that’s not the case with African-Americans or other racial groups because they don’t melt in.” He continued on to say that this was connected to “white flight” and people moving out of Detroit and Baltimore.

Stringer said that immigration was affecting states like Arizona in a “dramatic way.” He claimed that it cost more to educate children who don’t speak English as their first language, which he described as a “burden” on taxpayers. He also said that he wants to slow down immigration because it is happening too fast.

The context of the conversation and how it began were not immediately clear from these recordings.

Since his comments became public, there has been widespread condemnation of Stringer’s words. The Prescott City Council voted 6 to 1 to pass a resolution asking for Mr. Stringer’s resignation.

David Stringer says he doesn’t intend to resign for his comments, though–because to him, it’s all true, he explained to the Prescott Valley Town Council on Thursday evening.

“I believe that everything I‘ve said, if you look at what I actually said, is defensible, that it is truthful, that it is factually accurate, that it can be supported by academic research,” the Republican said.

Though calls for his resignation have been made, not a single Republican in the Arizona House has called for Stringer’s resignation.