A House District 18A candidate raised eyebrows last week with a campaign video that included a racial slur.
“I want to be your state representative, I want to be your public servant, and I want to be your (N-word),” candidate Kyle Greene says in the video, which is posted on his campaign website and his Facebook page.
One viewer wondered if Greene had said “neighbor.” Others expressed disbelief and outrage on the Facebook page.
Greene, 35, who identifies as African-American, white and Cherokee Indian, said he doesn't attach race to the way in which he used the term in his video. The rural Grove City resident met with a reporter Wednesday morning at Serenity's Cafe in Litchfield, which he and his wife own and operate.
“I'm not surprised by the attention,” he said. “I'm more surprised by the responses.”
The surprise, he said, has been the amount of positive responses sent by District 18A residents through phone calls and emails, and in person.
“I think a lot of people here in District 18 know me, know who I am,” Greene said. “Regardless of race, if they use the term (N-word) in a conversation with me, I know the context they are using it in. … They understand I am not attaching race to it.”
When filing to run for office, Greene registered his party as “Independent-Judicial Reform.” He said the use of the slur ties back to that message. And while he denies it was a publicity stunt, he said his use of the term was meant to grab attention.
“Now that I have attention I want to direct people to major issues,” he said. “I know people of all races, and they don't have a grudge against other people based on race. The problem is, whether you are black, white, Hispanic, Democrat, liberal, conservative, you are getting the same treatment from the court system, and that needs to stop. We have a common enemy.”
He said that when evidence of innocence for an accused person is ignored to advance a career, “you're getting the (N-word) treatment. Doesn't matter what the color of your skin is.”
Greene said he first heard the term in 2008, in California, when he was researching law. He then learned other minorities had started using the term to describe their own treatment. It's that context that prompted Greene to use the N-word in his video, he said, as a launching point to discuss an unfair judicial system.
He also meant the term to be used as a play on the concept of legislators acting as public servants, he said.
As for the issues Greene hopes to address if elected, he said he is focused on judicial immunity and the jury system.
He said judicial immunity — which protects judges from civil liability for acts they perform in their judicial function — allows judgest to misapply or misquote the law. And jurors, he said, are not fully informed of their rights and powers. Fixing these issues legislatively, Greene said, will result in a more fair system.
According to the Minnesota Court Database, Greene has been convicted of several minor charges related to his driving.
While many commentators have expressed outrage for the ad on Greene's Facebook page, he said he has also heard from many people grateful he wants to highlight judicial issues. In addition to a strong local response, he has received national attention. Local, state and national papers picked up the story.
“The most negative (responses) I got were from the black community outside the state of Minnesota,” Greene said. “Nationwide, I'm at a 50/50 positive/negative with the black community.”
He said a lot of the backlash has come from southern groups, but not all.
“A lot of people were shocked,” Greene said. “They don't know what to do. It's (the term) so alien. I have never been called racist so much in my life, either. There are a lot of liberals out there. It seems to me, based on the reactions I'm getting, liberals are more outspoken.”
Green described himself as a pro-life, pro-second ammendment conservative. In District 18A, he is challenging Republican incumbent Rep. Dean Urdahl and DFL candidate Justin Vold.
Greene is an organic farmer who raises chickens, ducks and goats, according to his campaign website. He and his wife, Krystle, have been married for 10 years and they have six children.
