Nury Martinez, former president of the Los Angeles City Council, resigned from public office after a recording surfaced of her making racist remarks in a meeting. The 49-year-old and two other council members involved in the conversation recorded last year were facing public outrage and calls for resignation. 

During a conversation with Councilmembers Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera, Martinez made racist remarks about the Black son of a white councilman and other crude comments.

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“I know I have fallen short recently of the expectations we have for our family. I vow to you that I will strive to be a better woman to make you proud,” Martinez said in a press release. 

Her resignation was announced hours after Attorney General Rob Bonta said he would investigate Los Angeles’ redistricting process that the four leaders discussed. 

Martinez had stepped down as council president on Monday while still holding onto her council seat. Her decision to give up her seat came as President Joe Biden was due to arrive in Los Angeles a day after he condemned the remarks. 

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What racist comments did Nury Martinez make?

In the leaked conversation, Martinez and the other Latino leaders spoke about colleague Mike Bonin’s relationship with his Black son. 

Martinez said that the white councilmember handled his young Black son as though he were an ‘accessory’. She described him as  ‘Parece changuito’ or ‘like a monkey’, the LA Times reported. 

She also referred to Bonin as a ‘little bitch’. 

The former council president also called indigenous immigrants from the Mexican state of Oaxaca ugly, and made crass remarks about Jews and Armenians.

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She said, “F— that guy … He’s with the Blacks” while speaking about Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón. De León appeared to compare Bonin’s handling of his child to Martinez holding a Louis Vuitton handbag.

The conversation took place in October 2021. The three councilmembers were frustrated with maps that had been proposed by the city’s 21-member redistricting commission.

Martinez made history in 2019 when she became the first Latina elected to the council presidency and described herself as “a glass-ceiling shattering leader who brings profound life experience as the proud daughter of working-class immigrants” on her website. She is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and was born and raised in the San Fernando Valley.