SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Yesterday, an audio taped was leaked to the Los Angeles Times. In the recording, which had been kept secret for over a year, LA City Council President, Nury Martinez, called the son of one of her Co-Council Members a “changuito.” Translation to English – Martinez called him a MONKEY!
The four people who engaged in the racist conversation were Nury Martinez, Gil Cedillo, Kevin de Leon, and LA County Federation of Labor President, Ron Herrera.
During the conversation, Martinez dropped F-bomb after F-bomb. Martinez even said the young boy, who is African American, needed a “beat down!”
Martinez and her friends sounded like thugs. They showed little respect for people of color and those who live alternate lifestyles. They showed that they have very little concern for an equitable society and just society.
What they did show concern for, however, was the further concentration of power in their hands.
During the secretly recorded conversation, Martinez even went so far as to call Council Member Mike Bonin a “little bitch.” According to Bonin’s website, he is an openly gay man.
Are these the leaders who we elected to be in charge of Los Angeles? Or are they a Hispanic Mafia that believes it is ok call people of color “monkeys” while also calling homosexual men “bitches” and “prima donnas.”
The reality is that these supposed Democrats share common traits with Donald Trump and the worst of his supporters. We can all agree that Trump has a long way to go in order to achieve any hope of enlightenment – by their actions, some members of the LA City Council do as well.
How are we, as a society, ever going to get past racism when our leaders are the most racist people there are?
For the moment, Martinez, de Leon, and Cedillo must resign from the LA City Council.