Shockingly, a leaked audio tape has revealed some unfortunate comments made by a popular politician.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nury Martinez resigned from her role as president of the body after leaked audio revealed she made racist remarks directed at a fellow council member’s Black son, sparking a public outcry.
“I take responsibility for what I said and there are no excuses for those comments. I’m so sorry,” Martinez said in a statement on Monday. “Effective immediately I am resigning as president of the Los Angeles City Council.”
The Los Angeles Times said it appeared she would remain a member of the council.
Councilmember Mike Bonin released a statement on Sunday calling for Martinez to be removed from office after the Los Angeles Times obtained a recording of a 2021 conversation involving Martinez and Councilman Kevin de León.
“We are appalled, angry and absolutely disgusted that Nury Martinez attacked our son with horrific racist slurs, and talked about her desire to physically harm him,” Bonin said in a statement on Twitter.
According to an account by the Times, Martinez said Bonin’s son “parece changuito,” which translates from Spanish to “looks like a monkey.” She also said the child was brought out by Bonin, who is White, as an “accessory” during a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade, the newspaper reported.
‘Wholly Inappropriate’
LA Mayor Eric Garcetti and California Representative Adam Schiff, both Democrats, joined the call on Monday for Martinez to step down from city council, as well de León and Councilmember Gil Cedillo. Cedillo, who lost his campaign for re-election in the June primary, also took part in the conversation, along with LA County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera.
Herrera offered his resignation at Monday night meeting with the board, which was accepted, the Times reported, citing California Labor Federation head Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher.
De León on Sunday issued a statement saying that he’s reached out to his colleague about his “wholly inappropriate” remarks. “I will hold myself to a higher standard,” he said.
Representatives for Herrera and Cedillo didn’t respond to requests from Bloomberg for comment.
A lawyer representing the LA County Federation of Labor said in a letter to the Times that the conversation was taped in violation of California’s privacy and recording laws.
The Times reported that the group was discussing redistricting maps and the need to reelect Latino councilmembers and ensure that heavily Latino districts didn’t lose economic assets.
Not justifying, but as somebody who lived in Mexico for a few years (where there are very few blacks) the word Chango is also used to described somebody with an unattractive face.
Calling a black person a “monkey” is an immediate scandal in our country, but I find hypocritical that black people get offended so easily, when they constantly use the N word describing each others. I find all this racial hypersensitivity off-putting and probably not helping in reaching our final objective of racial equality.
Thank you, Geronimo Schmidt for your reply. I did not know that the word “chango” was used in that way, and not just to say that someone is a monkey. Black people may use the N word amongst themselves where it is not neccessarily an insult, but when a white person says it, it is almost always an insult. And of course, not all Black people use the word or like it to be used. I agree with you that we must find a way to reach our ultimate objective of racial equality.
C’mon man! Racism is a Democrat rèsumè enhancement.
Resign as president, should be expelled completely.
What a waste of FREE speech in the world today TO much PC