An Arizona state legislator with a history of anti-immigrant commentary is facing calls to resign after he told university students that black people “don’t blend in” to society like European immigrants and “always look different.”

The legislator, Representative David Stringer, who represents the Yavapai County area, made the comments after a public lecture at Arizona State University on Nov. 19, during which a history professor, Donald Critchlow, discussed the 2018 midterm elections.

Mr. Critchlow said students recorded a “private conversation” they had with Mr. Stringer after the lecture. The recording was sent to local news outlets last week.

Mr. Stringer can be heard saying that he doesn’t think America is a “successful nation.” He follows up by saying that “diversity is relatively new” in the country, and that while European immigrants assimilated to society, “that’s not the case with African-Americans or other racial groups because they don’t melt in.”