A white Alabama city councilman referred to a black colleague as a “house n—-r” during a public meeting, prompting gasps from the audience and calls for him to step down.
Tarrant City Councilman Tommy Bryant used the racial slur during a council meeting Monday while gesturing toward Councilwoman Veronica Freeman, who later left the meeting visibly shaken.
Video shows an agitated Bryant discussing social media posts allegedly made by his wife with Mayor Wayman Newton and another councilwoman when someone in the audience claimed Bryant’s wife used a racial epithet.
That prompted Bryant to slam his hand on a desk, saying “let’s get to the N-word,” video shows.
“Hey, do we have a house n—-r in here?” Bryant said, eliciting gasps from the crowd. “Do we? Hey, do we?”
Bryant then raised his hand toward Freeman, saying: “Would she please stand up? That’s what the mayor called her, what do you think about that?”
Bryant claimed he was merely repeating what Newton, Tarrant’s first black mayor, had previousuly called Freeman, a claim the mayor denied, AL.com reported.
“They are trying to expose me for saying something I did not say,” Newton told the outlet. “All of that was a political stunt that they did not do very well.”
Source: Alabama councilman uses racial slur at meeting to refer to colleague
