DIGGING DEEPER

Alabama City Councilman Blames Black Mayor After Using N-Word

Tommy Bryant said he might run for mayor himself in the wake of the incident.

An Alabama city councilman who sparked outrage this week by referring to a colleague as a “house n----r” said Wednesday that he will not apologize for his remark, and he might even run for mayor. Tarrant, Alabama city councilman Tommy Bryant was caught on camera making the racial slur at a Monday night city council meeting, saying, “Do we have a house n----r in here? Do we? Do we? Will she please stand up.” In video footage, Bryant gestured towards fellow city council member Veronica Freeman, who is Black. Bryant said his use of the slur was a repetition of something the city’s Black mayor had uttered in a private meeting and that he sought to expose “what kind of person the mayor is.” The mayor, Wayman Newton, denied that claim and said of Bryant, “The video speaks for itself.”

When asked if he was racist, Bryant told news outlets, “It’s according to what your definition of the word racist is. What a lot of the public’s definition is, I might be a racist. But according to what the true definition of a racist is, absolutely not.” The Alabama Democratic Party has called for Bryant to resign. Tarrant has already been the site of fiery racial tensions between Newton and the city’s former chief of police, Dennis Reno, who is white. Reno has accused Newton of assault, which the latter has denied.