Mitchell's Speech

The following is the full text of the remarks Councilmember Eric Mitchell made at the City Coliseum after the runoff returns made it clear that he would not be reelected. He was surrounded by 30 supporters, including members of his family, his campaign manager Preston Irvin, local Nation of Islam leader Cedric Muhammed, and the Rev. Frank Garrett. (remarks from the audience are in brackets)

Eric Mitchell photograph by Alan Pogue

First off, I would like to give all praise, all thanks, to God my father, my Lord, and savior, Jesus Christ. I would like to thank my family: my wife... my grandson, my daughter... This is a great, great day. This is a great night. The voters of Austin have spoken. The voters chose the politics of more of the same, rather than the politics of change. Perhaps I overestimated the ambitions, aspirations, and sophistication of the Austin voters. I did not lose this evening. Austin lost. Ten percent of Austin voters chose to vote. I did not lose. Austin lost. And that 10% chose to believe lies, innuendo, and misrepresentation. [Now they got to live with it.] Ten percent. I did not lose. Austin lost. [Grumblings from the audience.] No, hey, Austin lost. I am very proud of the three years I had the opportunity to serve on the city council of Austin, Texas, because I told it like it was. I told the truth. The only problem was that I was a little too black, and a whole lot too strong. [Claps. Black is proud!] I fit every stereotype that you want to believe, every stereotype that you have hidden in the recesses of your bigotted minds. Every stereotype. [Come on, brother, come on, brother.]

This is a great day. I pulled a sheet off of Austin, Texas. [Claps, cheers.] A great day. A great day. I have been proud of being a black man. I have been proud of being a child of God. [Black and proud, my brother.] I can get along and I can love any man. But Austin lost the day. You can't stand the truth. You don't want honesty. You don't want integrity. You don't want responsibility. You want a house nigger. And you got one! You got one. [That's what they got, that's what they got.] You got one. [They got one.] [That's better than a pimp!]

So I want to thank all of the good people of Austin, Texas that supported me. All of the good people of Austin, Texas that can look past the lies. All the good people in Austin, Texas that can stand the truth, that want honesty, that want real integrity. All the good people of Austin that can take a man and can say, "I am a sinner. I have done wrong things in my life, but I have grown." Because that's what you got with Eric Mitchell. I love this day. I get a lot more time to spend with my family, a lot more time to work in my business. But guess what? I'm not going away. I'm not going away. No justice, no peace. No justice! No peace! No justice! No peace! [No justice, no peace. No justice, no peace.]

I demand, and the community demands, that this city council be accountable and responsibility for everybody in this city, and that's the only problem that I have had. The only problem that I have had. Because I asked for balance. I asked for accountability. I asked for responsibility. But you want to play the game. You want to let the people trick you. You want to be fooled. So, we're not going away. This is just a start. Maybe mayor next time. Maybe Congress. Maybe Senate. Who knows? But we're not going away. We're not going anywhere. Because guess what? Eric Mitchell was a little too uppity, but there'll always be an Eric Mitchell.

We didn't get this far by rolling over, and I didn't roll over. We didn't get this far by being quiet, and I was not quiet. And I'm proud of that. My wife is proud of that. The Lord loves me, my family loves me. [We love you.] I was hoping, I was hoping that Austin would see the light. But you got what you deserve. You got what you deserve. There's a lot of people gloating, a lot of people happy, but they're not any happier than Eric Mitchell because this is a wake-up call for Austin, Texas. This is a wake-up call. So I greatly appreciate all the support I've gotten over the past three years. I greatly appreciate all the things we were able to accomplish. I love Sammy and Bob. [You and the other angry white males!] I love Rev. Garrett and Dorothy Turner. I love all the people in the commmunity. All the good people. All the good people. Everybody else, I'll pray for you. I'll pray for you. [They need it brother, they need it brother.] Because I have grown, I have grown, and I have matured, and I'll pray for you. I have been blamed for fanning the flames of racial division, divisiveness during this campaign. The fact is that these feelings that have been at the forefront during the campaign have been simmering for years, and nobody was afraid to say it. Everbody, rather, was afraid to say it.

And what I'm looking forward to is a return to my private life, to my business, more time with my family, watching my gransdson play baseball. But I'll also... continue to work in this community, continue to expose all the lies, all the deceit, and watch this council do what they need to do. I pray for them. I hope they do well. I don't have a lot of hope for them. I don't think they're going to do well. But I pray that they prove me wrong. And if I'm wrong, just as strong as I came here tonight I'll come back and tell you I was wrong. But, Austin lost. Ten percent. Ten percent. Ten percent.

So I greatly appreciate it, and guess what? I will be seeing all of you around.

[No justice, no peace! No justice, no peace!]