美国国家公共电台 NPR--What does the leaked racist conversation tell us about local Los Angeles politics?

What does the leaked racist¹ conversation tell us about local Los Angeles politics?

Transcript²

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Los Angeles Time columnist³ Gustavo Arellano about the president of the Los Angeles City Council resigning her leadership post after she made racist remarks.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

And now to Los Angeles, where some of the most powerful names in Latino politics are caught in a racist scandal. Three city council members were caught on a leaked recording⁴ talking about the state of Latino political power and saying racist things. A warning - I'm about to repeat some of what was said to convey just how awful it was. The now former president of the Los Angeles City Council, Nury Martinez - she stepped down from that position over this - is heard using the term little darky to describe the Black son of a white city council member. She goes on to describe him as an accessory and a, quote, "little monkey." The two other council members present don't stop her. They participate in the conversation, as does a top labor⁵ leader in LA. The city's mayor, Eric Garcetti, and others are calling on Martinez and the two other council members to give up their seats.

For more on this, we're now joined by Gustavo Arellano. He's an LA Times columnist and wrote a scathing⁶ column about all this. Good morning, Gustavo.

GUSTAVO ARELLANO: Morning.

FADEL: So I just want to start with what you were thinking when you first heard this recording.

ARELLANO: Disgusted. I mean, when you are hearing words that you know are racist, have been around and you hear more and more insults - and these are elected officials, some of the most powerful Latinos in the country - you're just absolutely disgusted. And you think, what on earth are you saying and why? And if you hear the tape, it gets worse and worse and worse.

FADEL: What are the wider implications here? I mean, you write in your column, this isn't small-town politics here. And as you said, these four people are some of the most powerful politicians in the country. What are the big implications here?

ARELLANO: There is no trust right now of the political system in Los Angeles, in the city council. This is a city council where you've had other - you know, other council members indicted⁷, other council members in scandals. And now you have the supposed liberal - even on the left - leaders, Democrats⁸, caught up in stuff that you throw at Donald Trump⁹, that you throw at Republicans. Like, how good of a politician can you be if you're using that exact same rhetoric¹⁰ and, in many cases, worse?

FADEL: Now, you point out the question of Latino representation, which was being discussed at this meeting, is legit in a city that's almost half Latino and only has about a third of the council. But this, using racist remarks attacking Black people basically, is not the way.

ARELLANO: No, this is a city that has long had racial tensions between Black and Latinos, and this helps nothing at all. And it's also goes counter, though, to recent movements in the - you know, just recently of politicians, Latinos saying, like, we need to make coalitions¹¹ with...

FADEL: Yeah.

ARELLANO: ...Our Black council members because the population is getting smaller and smaller. So you respect what they've done in the past. They throw it all the way. And by the way, there's also insults against Oaxacans, Latinos themselves, calling them - this is Nury Martinez calling them ugly and small and short. Like...

FADEL: Yeah.

ARELLANO: ...There's insults against Armenians, LGBT folks, everything.

FADEL: No one was spared, it sounds like. So how does that impact these coalitions? All this coalition-building, as you point out, has been happening in the recent years about overlapping¹² interests. How does that then impact this coalition-building?

ARELLANO: The silver lining¹³ is that everyone is disgusted. There's so little support for Nury Martinez, Kevin de Leon, Gil Cedillo, Ron Herrera, the labor leader. He resigned. And you have a younger generation of Latino politicians who have been fighting this old guard for the past couple years and saying, see? What did we tell you? Now it's our turn. But, you know, I have been following Latino politics in Southern California for decades, in terms of at least reading it. And this is something that happens again and again. Old guard falls down, the new guard comes up, say never again, and then it happens again.

FADEL: Now, the four people involved in this conversation that were on this tape, they've apologized. But what do you think - what else needs to happen in this case?

ARELLANO: They all need to go. I mean, they're - they will not - you know, just last night in LA City Hall, there was a vigil. I slept at 11 o'clock at night, and there was bands, there was candlelights, there was speeches. People are not going to let this go at all. Remember, we're only - what? - three days away from the release of this.

FADEL: Right.

ARELLANO: It's not going to go.

FADEL: Well, the last question before you go in the few seconds we have left - is there recovering from the lack of trust?

ARELLANO: You're going to have to talk to a lot of people. The fact that the Democratic Party of Los Angeles County is asking them, you have to step down - U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, who was the mentor¹⁴ to Nury Martinez, saying you have to step down. Everyone's telling them. But this ruins politics, especially Latino political power, for years, if not a long time. I'm not a politician. I don't see what's going to happen. But I know they're going to try.

FADEL: LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano, thank you so much for your time.

ARELLANO: Gracias.

(SOUNDBITE OF BLOCKHEAD'S "UNSTUCK (INSTRUMENTAL)")

1 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

4 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 scathing   

adj.（言词、文章）严厉的，尖刻的；不留情的adv.严厉地，尖刻地v.伤害，损害（尤指使之枯萎）( scathe的现在分词)

参考例句：

• a scathing attack on the new management 针对新的管理层的猛烈抨击
• Her speech was a scathing indictment of the government's record on crime. 她的演讲强烈指责了政府在犯罪问题上的表现。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

10 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

11 coalitions   

结合体，同盟( coalition的名词复数 )； （两党或多党）联合政府

参考例句：

• History testifies to the ineptitude of coalitions in waging war. 历史昭示我们，多数国家联合作战，其进行甚为困难。
• All the coalitions in history have disintegrated sooner or later. 历史上任何联盟迟早都垮台了。

12 overlapping   

adj./n.交迭（的）

参考例句：

• There is no overlapping question between the two courses. 这两门课程之间不存在重叠的问题。
• A trimetrogon strip is composed of three rows of overlapping. 三镜头摄影航线为三排重迭的象片所组成。

13 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

14 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。