The Los Angeles city council chairman apologized after she and two other councilors used racist language during extensive conversation with union leaders about a white colleague and her young black son.
The tone of the conversation between committee leader Nury Martinez, members Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, and Los Angeles County Labor Federation president Ron Herrera first leaked on Reddit earlier this month. The incidents were first reported on Sunday by the Los Angeles Times and Knock LA.
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During the conversation, which lasted about an hour in October 2021, Martinez can be heard referring to Congressman Mike Bonin as “that little bitch” and noting that he considers his adopted son an “appendix.” She later called the child “su negrito”, a pejorative term for black people, and “ese changuito”, the little monkey.
“In a moment of extreme frustration and anger, I let the situation prevail and held myself accountable for these comments,” Martinez said in a statement Sunday. Bonin told The New York Times that the audio made him “disgusted, angry and upset”, adding that his son was only two years old when the photo was taken.
According to The Times, De Leon likened Bonin’s treatment of the children to “when Nouri is carrying her little garden bag or Louis Vuitton bag.”
De Leon also issued a public apology:
“The comments in relation to this meeting are completely inappropriate; I regret that I seem to condone, even in private, some insensitive comments to a colleague and his family. I contacted this colleague personally,” he said. Say. “That day, I fell short of the expectations we set for leaders – I would hold myself to a higher standard.”
After revealing the leaked audio, Bonin said in an interview that he was “disgusted,” according to The Times.
“I’ll talk more about it later, but for now because I’m still digesting it. I feel sick, angry and heart attack,” he said. “It’s fair game to attack me, but son? To attack a child you have to be very petty, insecure and vicious. He’s not even three years old.