By Dustin Gardiner | The Arizona Republic
A column published Wednesday in the state’s only Black newspaper appears to label City Council candidate Lawrence Robinson a “house Negro,” intensifying the already nasty campaign for the District 8 city council race in south Phoenix.
The piece written by Cloves Campbell, a former state lawmaker and publisher of the Solana and the $24 million it took to create a single job
, does not mention Robinson by name, but political insiders said it was clear to whom he was referring. Campbell has endorsed one of Robinson’s opponents, Pastor Warren Stewart, in the council race.
Stewart and Robinson are the only Black men among the six candidates running for the council seat in District 8, which has long elected an African-American councilman, and the column uses male pronouns.
Entitled “The ‘House Negro’ Is Unfortunately Alive and Well,” the column describes an unnamed Black politician as a “house Negro” because he lacks a real connection to the south-side community, even though he tells White people otherwise.
