A Republican state representative in Arizona earlier this week lamented that “there aren’t enough white kids to go around” in public schools in the state.
“Sixty percent of public school children in the state of Arizona today are minorities,” freshman state Rep. David Stringer told the Yavapai County Republican Men’s Forum on Monday, according to video posted online Tuesday night by David Schapira, a Democratic candidate for superintendent of public instruction in the state.
“That complicates racial integration because there aren’t enough white kids to go around,” Stringer said.
The Phoenix New Times picked up the story on Wednesday. Though the video was apparently originally published on Stringer’s Facebook page, it’s since been removed.
According to a 2016 campaign website, Stringer is “currently enrolled in a graduate program at Arizona State University leading to a Masters Degree in teaching English as a Second Language to Arizona’s large non-English speaking population.”
Stringer didn’t get any better as he went on. The New Times transcribed his comments:
Sixty percent of public school children in the state of Arizona today are minorities. That complicates racial integration because there aren’t enough white kids to go around. And when you look at that 60 percent number for public school students, just carry that forward 10 or 15 years. It’s going to change the demographic voting base of this state. And that’s what’s going on around the country. Immigration is politically destabilizing. President Trump has talked about this. Immigration today represents an existential threat to the United States. If we don’t do something about immigration very, very soon, the demographics of our country will be irrevocably changed and we will be a very different country. It will not be the country you were born into.
Stringer’s office told TPM he’s not giving interviews about the remark but said the representative would be posting a statement on his Facebook page sometime this afternoon.
Watch Stringer’s comments below, via Schapira:
An AZ legislator made these overtly racist comments about our students. It's time to remove xenophobic radicals from elected office this November! We deserve leaders who understand we're a nation of immigrants who bring a diversity of experiences & ideas. https://t.co/P5I9QpUHDI pic.twitter.com/NSrJS2WZA3
— David Schapira (@dschapira) June 13, 2018
