A political scandal is unfolding in Los Angeles, where City Council President Nury Martinez resigned from her leadership post Monday after she was caught on tape using racist language about the city's Indigenous immigrant population and referring to the Black son of another city councilmember as a "little monkey." Martinez made the comments last year during a conversation discussing redistricting with Councilmembers Kevin de León and Gil Cedillo, as well as Ron Herrera, the head of the L.A. County Federation of Labor, who also resigned from his leadership post Monday. "Her [Martinez] inciting hate against Indigenous people has a direct impact on their lives," says Odilia Romero of the L.A.-based organization Indigenous Communities in Leadership, who's calling for Martinez's resignation. "Beyond the pain and beyond the hurt is also this effort to really sideline Black power," says Melina Abdullah of Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, who is calling for the resignation of all four councilmembers, an investigation into how racism within the city council has undermined Black electoral power, and a "fundamental culture shift" in city politics.
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