Focusing on whether a few politicians will resign, rather than on a culture that nurtures anti-Black racism within Latino communities, can obscure the prevalence of racist beliefs, experts told The Times.
L.A. Latinos decry racist tape and fear it will set back leadership gains and cast them under a cloud of suspicion. Some say it exposed the need to have a conversation about colorism.
But racial disparities permeate Latin American societies. In Colombia, for example, Afro-Latinos account for 26% of the country’s population and 75% of poor people, according to the. On average, Colombian Afro-Latinos earn 34% less than their non-Black counterparts. In Brazil, Afro-Latinos make up nearly half the population, yet their economic participation is only 20% of the nation’s gross domestic product.
Pastor Thembekila Coleman-Smart and activist Greg Akili, inside City Hall last week, demand the resignations of council members involved in the taped conversation., a historian at Ohio State University, noted that Martinez made her racist comments during a conversation about political redistricting. In the Los Angeles political power structure, however, there is no shortage of Democrats of color, and lawmakers often find that their most threatening rivals are within their own party.
“How can you have any trust in people to make public policy around the interests of Black folks when they’re making fun of Black people like that,” said Greg Akili, a 74-year-old organizer with Black Lives Matter-Los Angeles. “It shows a certain side that many of us thought did not exist within the Los Angeles Latino leadership.”, a 23-year-old San Fernando Valley resident, expressed dismay over Martinez’s comments and said they were not an anomaly.
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