USC.edu
USC Equity Research Institute (ERI)

ERI Statement – October 10, 2022

ERI statement regarding the racist remarks made by LA elected officials and leaders
October 11, 2022

(First published October 10, 2022 4:45 PT)

The racist remarks, cruel commentary, and dehumanizing political power plays revealed by the leaked recording of LA Councilmembers Nury Martinez, Kevin de Leon, and Gil Cedillo; and LA County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera are extremely hurtful and deeply damaging to the people of Los Angeles. We must call for full accountability for these leaders’ anti-Black, anti-indigenous, anti-LGBTQ+, and anti-Asian remarks and actions. Their words realized the worst fears of Angelenos—particularly Black Angelenos, not to mention Afro-Latinos who are invisibilized in this moment.

With shrinking numbers and the threat of displacement as development finally arrives (in places like Crenshaw), Black Angelenos face a daily threat of erasure. The Councilmembers’ comments—catalyzed by the precious democratic practice of redrawing district lines—are dangerous, period. But when added to the power held by these leaders, they become lethal; the City Council influences and makes policies on policing, housing policy, education, immigrant integration, and more.

As a community-engaged research center, ERI works with community partners to support social, racial, economic, and environmental equity. Core to this work is centering the Black community, who holds a special role in understanding oppression in the U.S.—and so a central role in leading us to liberation for all. We “are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

ERI has previously offered analyses on decades of multi-racial organizing in the City of Los Angeles. For Black and Brown Angelenos, there are common stories of migration, oppression, and struggle as well as solidarity, mutualism, and the ongoing fight for self-determination. In South Los Angeles, in particular, there are daily accommodations and acts of mutualism that have created a Black-Brown unity that is the pride of South LA—as well as a history of leaders who have led for both: Karen Bass, Lark Galloway-Gilliam, Ted Watkins Sr., Marqueece Harris Dawson, Alberto Retana, Benny Torres, Maisie Chin, and many more—and often those whose names are unknown.

In another ERI report titled, Bridges-Puentes: Building Black-Brown Solidarities Across the U.S., we noted that “lifting up anti-Blackness forms a different sort of Latino identity that lends itself to solidarity and improving upward mobility for all.” There is strength in working together to end white supremacy culture. Everyone can be complicit in white supremacy and it permeates institutions, politics, and interactions in everyday life.

At this critical time for Los Angeles, we need to turn towards the work of navigating challenges and addressing tensions, building racial justice leadership capacity and civic engagement, and helping to strengthen Black-Latino organizing alliances for a shared future. And to do that, we need accountable leaders committed to rooting out systemic anti-Blackness and to rebuilding cross-racial solidarity. We need leaders with imagination for the possibilities of our multi-racial future; with vision for a Los Angeles for all. It is not a zero-sum game; together we get free.

Resources

We urge you to learn about and support the following LA-area organizations.

 

Special thanks to Vanessa Carter Fahnestock, Gladys Malibiran, Jody Agius Vallejo, Blanca Ramirez, and ERI’s Management Team for their contributions to this post

Explore other articles