A white city councilman in Tarrant City, Alabama, is facing growing calls to resign after blurting out the n-word this week during a public meeting that was broadcast on Facebook Live.
The incident happened Monday night as Republican Councilman John ‘Tommy’ Bryant was being questioned about controversial social media posts that were allegedly made by his wife about race.
Bryant stood up from his council seat and said, “The n-word. The n-word. Let’s get to the n-word. Hey. Do we have a house n----- in here?” saying the n-word while gesturing toward Veronica Freeman, a Black council member who reportedly left the room in tears.
Videos posted online show Bryant in the tense moment, asking “Do we? Do we? Would she please stand up?”
He then continued: “That’s what the mayor called her. What do y’all think about that? Huh? Y’all like that?” Bryant said.
The tirade drew audible gasps from residents and others in attendance.
“We were astonished. No one left, because we were actually very very in shock as to what he had said,” Tarrant resident Waynette Bonham said, according to CBS4.
Afterwards Bryant refused to apologize and then claimed he was only repeating language that he heard the city’s first Black mayor, Wayman Newton, use toward Freeman during a past executive session.
“It is ok for me to repeat it because as I said before, I wanted everybody to know what the mayor had said. He said it in a derogatory manner, I said it so that people would know what the mayor said,” Bryant said.
By Wednesday, though, Newton adamantly denied Bryant’s claim, saying “They are trying to expose me for saying something I did not say ... All of that was a political stunt that they did not do very well.”
The city’s Black residents said that Bryant’s choice to use the word was a poor decision, even if he was only repeating what he heard.
“I think he should resign because he was way too comfortable standing up and using that word in front of a group of people of color,” Bonham said.
A day after the meeting, Alabama Democrats and Tarrant City Councilwoman and Mayor Pro Tem Tracie Threadford called on Bryant to resign.
“Tommy Bryant is a distraction to all the change to our city and he needs to resign,” Threadford said.
But Bryant appeared to grow even more defiant.
“Absolutely not,” Bryant said about stepping down. “I may even consider running for mayor next time.”
Bryant is the latest in a string of American public officials to find themselves in hot water amid the country’s reckoning with its history of racism.
Two months ago, a Republican state lawmaker in Colorado apologized after calling a colleague “Buckwheat” during a floor debate.
Rep. Richard Holtorf, who is white, made the remark after another representative interrupted his comments during debate on a civics education bill.
“I’m getting there. Don’t worry, Buckwheat. I’m getting there,” Holtorf told the lawmaker. “That’s an endearing term, by the way,” he added moments later, which provoked further anger among Democrats.
A similar controversy erupted the same week in the Tennessee General Assembly when state Republican Rep. Justin Lafferty defended the Three-Fifths Compromise, arguing that it was “a bitter, bitter pill” that was necessary to curtail the power of slaveholding states and that helped clear the way to ending slavery — remarks that were rebuked by critics, including Black colleagues, as insulting and demeaning.
In April, Democrats in the Colorado House criticized another Republican lawmaker for making a joke about lynching before saying an 18th-century clause in the U.S. Constitution designating a slave as three-fifths of a person “was not impugning anybody’s humanity.”
The lawmaker, Rep. Ron Hanks, who is white, said his comments were misconstrued and that his point “was to kind of talk about the Three-Fifths Compromise of 1787, not 2021.”
Tarrant Councilwoman Freeman later released a statement on Bryant’s comments.
“The statements constitute unconscionable racial discrimination and harassment. Such statements are also deeply hurtful and absolutely unacceptable in our society.”
The Alabama Republican Party also issues a statement condemning Bryant’s words.
“The Alabama Republican Party is deeply troubled by the racially charged outburst, and disrespect shown by Councilman Tommy Bryant. Such language is completely unacceptable in any setting, and even more concerning coming from an elected official. We are proud to have Mayor Wayman Newton as a member of the Jefferson County Republican Party, and we stand behind him 100%.”
Tarrant, located just outside Birmingham, has a population of about 6,100 and is about 53% Black, according to the U.S. Census.
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