Legislative District 1 Democrats sent an open letter to the media regarding Rep. Stringer’s racist remarks that demonstrate he is not fit to serve all constituents for which he is responsible.
The Arizona Republic published a shorter edited version (pictured). Here is the original longer version.
December 21, 2018
Hon. David Stringer
AZ House of Representatives, Legislative District 1
Representative Stringer,
We write this open letter in order to express support for East Valley Arizona NAACP, which is a vital organization fighting for racial justice every day in Phoenix and beyond. We also write in order to express our support for people across this country who do not identify as Caucasian and who are rightly offended by positions you have taken regarding the racial makeup of the United States. Many of us are people of color living in Arizona’s first legislative district who, like our children, are directly endangered by your language. Others are white constituents who are obliged to use our voices to protest the racist ideology you promote and to which we object energetically.
On numerous occasions over the past two years you have publicly deprecated the racial diversity of Arizona and the United States. Campaigning for the Arizona House of Representatives on October 24, 2016, you denounced “the history of diversity, and the history of the racial spoil system that inevitably results from a multicultural society” while predicting “some kind of civil disorder and a dissolution of the United States as we know it” due to immigration.[1]In a column you published after your election (October 16, 2017), you lamented the transformation of the United States from “a nation predominantly peopled by those of European ancestry into a true multiracial society where White people are becoming a minority.”[2]
Running for re-election on June 11, 2018, you stated before the Yavapai County Republican Men’s Forum that “there aren’t enough white kids to go around” in Arizona’s public schools.[3]On November 19, 2018 you told a group of students at Arizona State University that “African-Americans and other racial groups […] don’t melt in. They don’t blend in. They always look different.” Asked whether such forms of difference “matter to you,” you replied with ambivalence: “I don’t know. I honestly don’t know.”[4]
Your remarks have embarrassed many of your constituents while terrifying others, and they have emboldened a fringe segment of racists in Arizona to address people of color with hatred. Days ago, one of your constituents, Tony Imbronone of Chino Valley, signed and sent a letter filled with racist obscenities to the headquarters of the East Valley Arizona chapter of the NAACP. Mr. Imbronone specifically references your racist remarks as he offers his own, claiming that “[T]here are plenty of intellectually honest people all over the U.S. who know that what David Stringer said is true!” Mr. Imbronone then closes his letter in this way:
After having been emancipated for over 150 years your race is still unable to sucessfully [sic] integrate themselves into society and it’s not whitey’s fault. It’s your own fault. It is the result of your own inherent (genetic) inferiority and your decadent counter-cultural values! Leave!
Given your history of antagonistic remarks we assume you agree with Mr. Imbronone’s sentiments. But we also write to remind you that there is widespread agreement in LD1, across both major parties, that by activating racists you not only threaten people of color but also destabilize civil society itself. We call upon you to resign your seat in order for the local Republican Party to recommend a more mainstream member of the G.O.P. to replace you in the Arizona Legislature.
Sincerely,
Democrats of Arizona Legislative District 1
Supported by the Maricopa County Democratic Party LD1 Board of Directors
[1]Antonia Noori Farzan, “Stringer Once Warned Diversity Would Lead to Civil Disorder … Dissolution’ of the United States,” Phoenix New Times(14 June 2018): https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/arizona-legislator-david-stringers-history-racist-anti-immigrant-comments-10522103
[2]Steven Hsieh, “Rep. David Stringer Wrote White Nationalist Column in 2017,” Phoenix New Times(3 December 2018): https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/rep-david-stringer-wrote-racist-white-nationalist-column-in-2017-11058453
[3]Dustin Gardiner and Alison Steinbach, “Arizona Lawmaker: Immigrants represent ‘threat to U.S. due to lack of ‘white kids,’” Arizona Republic(13 June 2018): https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/politics/arizona/2018/06/13/arizona-rep-david-stringer-criticized-remarks-immigration/699163002/
[4]Steven Hsieh, Joseph Flaherty, “In Latest Racist Remarks, Rep. David Stringer Says Black People Don’t ‘Blend In,” Phoenix New Times(30 November 2018): https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/arizona-lawmakers-latest-racist-remarks-caught-on-tape-at-asu-11056567