The resignation letter that Nury Martinez presented on Wednesday to announce her resignation as a Los Angeles City Council member amid the scandal over her racist comments in a leaked audio has been the subject of multiple questions on social networks.
The former council president's statement, her critics point out,
did not include an apology for the damage her words caused to an eminently Latino and Afro-Latino community
.
Additionally, many say that Martinez used his farewell letter more to list his accomplishments during the 9 years he held the position.
“As the first Latina president of the Council, I strove to serve with compassion and to provide a great platform to serve communities that I have felt have been forgotten,” she said in her resignation letter.
In particular, critics noted the passage in which Martinez suggested
that she was an inspiration to "every little Latina girl in town."
Los Angeles Councilmember Says She's 'Heartbroken' Resigning After Racist Comments
Oct. 13, 202202:12
"She should not be the inspiration of any Latin girl. Martínez has a heart where African-Americans, indigenous people do not fit, and there is no room for diversity,
that is not an example
," said Odilia Romero, director of Indigenous Communities in Leadership ( Cielo), to the EFE news agency.
[“There are many Nury Martinez”. Why are racist comments among Latinos more common than they seem?]
The actress Melina Bobadilla, known for her role in the series
Gentified
,
also referred to this passage of the statement.
On his Twitter social network account, she questioned Martinez.
"You are no goal and no inspiration. You are a story gone wrong that leaves a cautionary tale about a power-hungry female boss. This is an example of narcissism and
gaslighting
. BYE."
Podcast writer and producer Broti Gupta also criticized the closing lines of Martainez's statement, directed at Latina girls, in which Martinez said she hoped she had inspired them to "dream beyond what they can see."
"This is my favorite part of Nury Martinez's statement... The tone is like she won a Nobel Prize...
Mother Teresa of being a racist
..." Gupta wrote on Twitter.
Yesika Salgado, a Salvadoran poet living in Los Angeles, said on the same social network that the statement was a "
shame
."
“The fact that Nury Martínez has not apologized to any of the groups of people she insulted while sitting as president on the city council of one of the largest cities in the world is disgusting,” Salgado said.
Many said the former councilwoman missed the opportunity to repair the damage from her racist comments.
In the recording, which was posted anonymously on Reddit over the weekend and first reported by the
Los Angeles Times
,
Martinez is heard calling
Councilman Mike Bonin's black son 'changuito' (monkey) and uttering insults. against people of Oaxacan, Armenian and Jewish origin.
It is not clear by whom the conversation was recorded, which corresponds to a 2021 City Council meeting, and in which councilors Gil Cedillo, Kevin de León and the president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor also participated. Ron Herrera.
Journalist Memo Torres, who also lives in the city, shared Martinez's full statement and, after learning of his resignation, sarcastically said that everyone is invited to eat at Oaxacan restaurants in Koreatown, Los Angeles, except for Martinez.
He said this in reference to the former official's comment that those Mexican migrants are "ugly."
"No ugly allowed (Ugly women are not allowed)," Torres tweeted.
None of the other councilors involved in the scandal have left their seats, but the protests in the city continue and the president, Joe Biden, called through the White House spokesman for them to resign.
