Well would you look at that: This Monday, Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez announced that she will resign after making racist remarks about a fellow council member and his Black child.
In a video posted anonymously on Reddit and obtained by The Los Angeles Times, you can hear a conversation between Martinez, Councilmembers Gil Cedillo, and Kevin de León and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera. In the secret recording, much of the conversation centered around the process of redistricting. Martinez can be heard discussing the need to “ensure that heavily Latino districts did not lose economic assets.”
From there, the councilmembers then discussed Councilmember Mike Bonin, a White man who has a Black child. In clips of the leaked audio posted by the Times, Martinez is heard recounting a conversation and says “Bonin thinks he’s f**king Black.”
Martinez went on to accuse Bonin of “handling his young Black son as though he were an accessory” when the father-son duo appeared on a float for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade. During their conversation, the city council president also spoke about the Black boy’s behavior during the event. “They’re raising him like a little White kid,” Martinez said. “I was like, this kid needs a beatdown. Let me take him around the corner and then I’ll bring him back.” Now, that wasn’t all…After discussing Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón, Martinez too remarked, “F*** that guy. He’s with the Blacks.”
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Following backlash over her remarks, she announced that she will step down from her position as council president but will maintain her seat on the council. She said, “I take responsibility for what I said and there are no excuses for those comments,” Martinez said in a statement Monday. “I’m so sorry.”
Her statement continued:
“I sincerely apologize to the people I hurt with my words: to my colleagues, their families, especially to Mike, Sean, and your son. As a mother, I know better and I am sorry. I am truly ashamed. I know this is the result of my own actions. I’m sorry to your entire family for putting you through this.
As someone who believes deeply in the empowerment of communities of color, I recognize my comments undercut that goal. Going forward, reconciliation will be my priority. I have already reached out to many of my Black colleagues and other Black leaders to express my regret in order for us to heal. I ask for forgiveness from my colleagues and from the residents of this city that I love so much. In the end, it is not my apologies that matter most; it will be the actions I take from this day forward. I hope that you will give me the opportunity to make amends. Therefore, effective immediately I am resigning as President of the Los Angeles City Council.”
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