The observations date back to 2021, but their transmission on Sunday, October 9, 2022, first on the Internet, then in Los Angeles Times, which caused the Los Angeles City Council to implode.
At the time, “elected officials thought they were holding a closed meeting and were unaware that their discussion was being recorded,” points out the Los Angeles newspaper.
That day, city council president and first Latina elected to office, Nury Martinez, held a redistricting strategy meeting with two other Latino city councilors, Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, as well as the president of a powerful local union federation. Ron Herrera.
Overtly racist comments
Nury Martinez, who speaks both English and Spanish, can be heard distinctly in these recordings addressing the black child adopted by one of his colleagues at “changuito”, or “little monkey”, reports the newspaper. He says the child’s parents use it as “accessory”.
We also hear him making fun of Mexican immigrants from the Oaxaca region who have settled in the Korea Town district of Los Angeles:
“I don’t know which village they come from. They are so ugly.
In another article on the case, the Los Angeles Times points out that the city council president made crude and inappropriate comments about Jews and Armenians in other passages of the same conversation.
Not enough excuses
Faced with the scandal caused by the dissemination of his remarks, the alderman resigned as head of the city council, but not from the body itself. On October 10, trade unionist Ron Herrera also resigned.
The case also took on national significance when the president made his position known on Oct. 11. Joe Biden believes all participants in the conversation should resign from all their positions, the White House spokeswoman said Tuesday.
What this editorial of Los Angeles Times, which considers the repeated apologies of Nury Martinez and other elected officials very insufficient.
“Nury Martinez must step down from the city council immediately, he can no longer represent his constituents in any way after the spread of these racist and divisive comments.”
As for the other two city councilors, Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, “They too have to stop. A city like Los Angeles, with such racial diversity and a history marked by intercommunal strife, can in no way tolerate elected officials with racist and hateful views.” concludes the paper.
