LA City Councilman Gives Emotional Speech on Racist Remarks From Ex-Council President: ‘Makes My Soul Bleed’ and ‘My Temper Burn’
Los Angeles City Councilmember Mike Bonin spoke through tears and anger as he expressed his outrage over the racist remarks that were recently unearthed among his colleagues.
Nury Martinez apologized and resigned on Monday as president of the city council amid revelations of the disparaging comments she made last year about Bonin and his adopted African-American son. In a recording published by the Los Angeles Times, Martinez was heard saying Bonin used his son like a political accessory, said his son acted “like a monkey” on a Martin Luther King Jr. Day parade float, and also she bashed Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón by saying “F*ck that guy…He’s with the Blacks.”
The LA Times identified other outrageous statements from Martinez as well, and during a Tuesday City Hall meeting rocked by protests, Bonin gave a speech as he reacted to the disparaging remarks.
I really, really, don’t want to be here today. I want to be home with my family right now. But I want to say a few words.
I am still trying to wrap my head around everything that was said and everything that is happening. My husband and I are both raw and angry and heartbroken and sick. For our family and for Los Angeles. And as an Angeleno, like most Angelenos, I am reeling from the revelations of what these people said. Trusted servants who voiced hate and bile. Public officials are supposed to call us to our highest selves. And these people stabbed us and shot us and cut the spirit of Los Angeles. It gave a beatdown the heart and the soul of the city. But before anything else in the world, I’m a dad.
I am a dad who loves his son in ways that words cannot capture. I take a lot of hits, and hell, I know I practically invite a bunch of them. But my son? Man, that makes my soul bleed and it makes my temper burn.
Bonin continued to speak of the emotional crush he experienced when he learned of the remarks and thought of the racism his son will have to face in his later life. To those who’ve apologized to him for their offensive statements, Bonin said “There are a lot of people who are now asking for forgiveness.”
“Asking for forgiveness is a good first step. But well, it’s a second step because first, first you must resign and then ask for forgiveness,” he said. “But let me be clear: People should not ask me for forgiveness, because I can’t forgive them because it’s not my prerogative. It’s the prerogative of a boy who was too young to really understand what the hell was going on. And when he’s older, maybe when he’s in high school, you can seek his forgiveness.”
Watch above.
