Pressure mounts on Los Angeles city leaders following leaked audio of racist remarks

William Brangham:

Outrage is growing in Los Angeles after The L.A. Times published secretly recorded audio of Latino city leaders making a series of derogatory and racist remarks last year as they conspired to consolidate their power.

For example, City Council President Democrat Nury Martinez called a fellow councilman's Black child — quote — "a little monkey" and described how she would have punished the then-2 year-old boy.

Nury Martinez, Los Angeles City Council Member:

And then there's this white guy with this little black kid, who is misbehaved. The kid is bouncing off the effing walls on the float, practically tipping it over. They're raising him like a little white kid, which I was like, this kid needs a beatdown. Like, let me take him around the corner, and then I will bring him back.

William Brangham:

The comments have led to widespread calls for those on the recordings to resign.

Earlier today, protests erupted at the City Council's meeting. Martinez said she'd stepped down as president of the City Council and take a leave of absence, but not resign.

For more on all of this, I'm joined now by L.A. Times opinion columnist Erika Smith, who has been covering this very closely.

Erika Smith, thank you so much for being here.

We saw a touch of the protests that broke out the City Council today. Can you just give us a sense of, what is the mood like in the city right now?

Erika Smith, The Los Angeles Times:

Well, I think people are very upset. They're very angry with what's happened.

I think that was expressed definitely in the council meeting earlier today, where hundreds showed up, tried to get in the chamber. Many more were outside and even blocking a few streets, calling for the resignation of these three councilmembers involved.

But I also think there was a lot of hurt. The councilperson you mentioned whose Black child was called a monkey, I mean, he made an impassioned speech, tearful speech, that really, I think, captured the kind of hurt that — and surprise at these comments that have come out.

William Brangham:

Can you remind us, for those of us who are not in California or not Angelenos, who else is mixed up in this scandal?

Erika Smith:

So there are three specific councilmen, former Council President Nury Martinez, who has taken a leave of absence, two others, Councilmen Kevin de Leon and Gil Cedillo, both of whom are Latino and have been on the council for a while. And there's also a labor leader, Ron Herrera, who has actually resigned or offered his resignation yesterday, last night, actually.

So those are the four people that are involved in this recording.

William Brangham:

I'd like to read something that you wrote earlier this week about all of this.

You wrote — quote — "This entire ugly incident blows a massive hole in the narrative that many would like to believe about Los Angeles and about California being some sort of multicultural mecca, where Black and brown people build alliances to work together in solidarity towards solving problems."

How so?

Erika Smith:

Well, I think that there's this notion of California, right, as this — obviously, the left coast, very liberal state. Los Angeles is a very diverse city. And there's a sense that we embrace our multiculturalism, which is true.

But I also think that there's an undercurrent, obviously, of racism and inequity. And I think that that is starting to come out with these recordings. We saw some of that in 2020 after George Floyd. We had massive protests here, Black Lives Matter and like.

But we are seeing something else between racial tensions between Black and Latino Angelenos and this kind of struggle for power. And I think that that is — it's a narrative that I think some of us know pretty well, but — and a narrative that I think a lot of people here in Los Angeles thought we left behind in the '90s, but is still rearing its ugly head and showing itself again.

William Brangham:

I mean, that divide between Blacks and Latinos might strike a lot of people as a surprise, because people tend to think of them as natural political allies and social allies.

Erika Smith:

Yes, I mean, I think there's a — definitely, the allegiance and in the alliance is there. I think everybody recognizes it intellectually.

And I think there have been several efforts to kind of draw both communities together to address everything from housing prices, to homelessness, to public safety. But there's also the sense here in Los Angeles, where Latinos make up more than 50 percent of the population, there's a fear that they will kind of take over political power within the city structure and run the city specifically for Latinos and leave out the needs of the Black residents here.

And while — while our needs are similar, there are some differences. And I think there's some kind of a struggle for power that's been going on for quite some time. And this tape really shows that.

William Brangham:

Right, that the tape was a meeting that was going on where these Latino leaders and this labor leader were talking about how to redraw some boundaries that might in the end exclude Blacks from political power.

Erika Smith:

Yes, this was a conversation that happened basically a year ago, at the time when redistricting was happening in the city of Los Angeles.

And redistricting is contentious no matter where you are in the country, but, in this case, it was about, how do you draw maps, according to this conversation, in a way that benefits Latino constituents and Latino political power, to this extent, at the expense of Black political power?

And so it was really — I mean, aside from the horrific insults that were that were brought up, it was really an hour-long strategy session on how to dilute Black political power in Los Angeles. And that is part of the other thing that really, really upset a lot of people here.

William Brangham:

And lastly, in just the few seconds we have left, this also comes as your city is going through a major mayoral election.

There's big debate happening tonight. How is that going to echo in that race?

Erika Smith:

Yes, already, both candidates, Karen Bass and Rick Caruso, are kind of positioning themselves to be the person that's going to shepherd Los Angeles through this next chapter, and saying that they are the person that's the right person to kind of heal some of the tension that's happening.

Karen Bass has a history of doing that in the city with a nonprofit she founded. Rick Caruso says that he is the one to do it because he's outside of the political system. So it'll be up to voters to decide, but we will see what they have to say tonight.

William Brangham:

All right, Erika Smith of The Los Angeles Times, thank you so much for being here.

Erika Smith:

Thanks for having me on.