Alabama lawmaker apologizes for racial ‘aborigine’ comment

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An Alabama state senator who was caught on tape referring to black people as ‘aborigines’ will retain his leadership position in the Statehouse after a ‘spirited’ meeting with his fellow Republicans, the Birmingham News reported. On Tuesday, he apologized for the remark.

Scott Beason, a GOP senator from the north Birmingham suburb of Gardendale -- and one of the authors of the state’s strict anti-illegal-immigration law -- is chairman of the state Senate’s powerful Rules Committee.

This summer, he was a witness for the prosecution in a high-profile criminal trial targeting alleged influence-peddling in the gambling industry.

In that case, Beason wore a wire on behalf of the FBI, and it was revealed in court that he was recorded making racially insensitive comments.

At one point, according to the Associated Press, a transcript of the recordings found Beason and two other Republicans joking about the customers at a casino in Greene County, which is 81.5% black.

‘That’s y’all’s Indians,’ former Rep. Benjamin Lewis said.

‘They’re aborigines, but they’re not Indians,’ replied Beason.

Last week, at a Senate Republican caucus meeting, Beason was ‘conciliatory’ and, according to the Birmingham paper, was allowed to keep the chairmanship.

At a news conference Tuesday, Beason said he was ‘very sorry’ for the comment.

‘As I have stated before, I do not know where that word came from or why it popped in my head that day. Nevertheless, the comments were careless and unnecessary,’ he said, according to a report by the News’ Sherrel Stewart.

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-- Richard Fausset in Atlanta