After a conversation where she made racist remarks related to a colleague’s child was leaked online, Los Angeles City Council President Nury Martinez resigned from her post as President on Monday after issuing an apology.
Martinez released the resignation over 24 hours after the audio recording first leaked, with her apologizing for the racist remarks as well as resigning from her position as President, though it is unclear if she is also resigning from her position as Council member, according to ABC 7.
“I take responsibility for what I said and there are no excuses for those comments. I'm so sorry,” she said, before continuing within the letter: “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.”
Martinez was caught making racist remarks with fellow Council member Kevin de León regarding the Black son of Council member Mike Bonin, reportedly calling the young child a Spanish racist slur “ese changuito” (roughly translated as “that little monkey”) while mockingly calling Bonin the Council’s “fourth Black member,” NBC News reported.
“They're raising him like a little white kid,” Martinez reportedly said in the leaked audio. “I was like, this kid needs a beatdown. Let me take him around the corner and then I'll bring him back.”
“This is very emblematic of how difficult it is to improve Black-brown relations in our city,” Alex Alonso, a scholar for Chicano-Latino studies at California State University, said.
Bonin, as well as many other leaders in Los Angeles, have expressed disgust at the statements made by Martinez and de León and have asked for them to resign from their positions. Bonin also clarified that his child was three years old at the moment that Martinez was describing in the leaked audio.
“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 with his partner Sean Arian. “It's vile, abhorrent, and utterly disgraceful.”
de León and Council member Gil Cedillo, who was in the audio but who did not make racist remarks, also publicly apologized for their statements or involvement in the conversation, though neither has promised to resign.
“There were comments made in the context of this meeting that are wholly inappropriate; and I regret appearing to condone and even contribute to certain insensitive comments made about a colleague and his family in private. I've reached out to that colleague personally,” de León said.
“While I did not engage in the conversation in question, I was present at times during this meeting last year. It is my instinct to hold others accountable when they use derogatory or racially divisive language. Clearly, I should have intervened. I failed in holding others and myself to the highest standard,” Cedillo said.
