Since St. Petersburg mayoral candidate Kathleen Ford made headlines earlier this month with a comment about race, about the only person not talking about her comment was the candidate.
Ford has dodged reporters for the past week, refusing to explain or answer media questions.
She finally addressed the issue Monday morning during a question-and-answer session with students at Gibbs High School.
At issue was a reference to "HNIC" that Ford made when appearing on a radio program hosted by Bubba the Love Sponge Clem. HNIC stands for "head Negro in charge," although the "n" sometimes is used as a racial epithet.
"Actually Cornell West has a whole explanation about the H-N-I-C theory, and I agree with that," Ford told Bubba during the hourlong interview. "We don't need one spokesperson for a group."
On Monday, Ford said, "I'm for open, accessible, accountable and affordable government for everyone. And that means I don't want anybody to have to go through any gatekeeper whatsoever."
Ford blamed the incident on her opponent, Bill Foster.
"Most folks know it was just a political setup because you compare the questions asked of my opponent and those asked of me, and they were pretty different," she said.
Ford added that she has gotten positive feedback from her supporters.
"They're saying it's just politics, Kathleen, move on. You are right on target on the issues," she said. "We need to be looking at education, how we can cooperate our school systems, you know, the budget is really important."
Foster called Ford's explanation ludicrous.
"That's like saying I made her go on a radio show, and that's like saying I made her use an inappropriate acronym," he said.
Ford and Foster face each other in a runoff Nov. 3.
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