美国国家公共电台 NPR--Embattled LA City Councilwoman Nury Martinez resigns her seat after racist comments

Embattled LA City Councilwoman Nury Martinez resigns her seat after racist¹ comments

Transcript²

Just days after she was heard making racist remarks in a leaked recording³, La City Council member Nury Martinez resigned from her seat. Earlier this week she stepped down as council president.

: [POST-BROADCAST CLARIFICATION: The organization that convened⁴ community members in this piece is the Community Coalition⁵.]

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

The controversy⁶ engulfing⁷ the Los Angeles City Council has opened up long-simmering racial tensions in the city. After days of mounting pressure, the former leader of the Los Angeles City Council resigned her seat yesterday. Nury Martinez was one of the most powerful politicians in the city until she was caught on a secret recording making racist remarks during a conversation with two of her council colleagues. The scandal is upending politics in LA as demands for more resignations continue. We're joined now by NPR's Adrian Florido, who is in Los Angeles and has been covering this story.

Adrian, Nury Martinez has been facing calls to resign from the city council for days now. But until yesterday, she had resisted. What finally did it?

ADRIAN FLORIDO, BYLINE⁸: Well, the pressure, A, had just become overwhelming. And the calls for her resignation came from as high up as the White House. What Nury Martinez was heard saying on this leaked tape were just about the worst things you could say as a politician in a city like Los Angeles, where cross-racial coalitions⁹ are so important in politics. She used racist language to talk about Black people, Indigenous¹⁰ Mexican immigrants and others. And this all happened during a conversation with two council colleagues, all of them Latinos, about how to increase their political power through the city's redistricting process while diluting¹¹ the power of Black voters. So people were really outraged¹³.

MART?NEZ: And that outrage¹² was very loud in Los Angeles. Now that she has resigned, though, how are people responding?

FLORIDO: Well, they're happy, of course, but they're saying that it's not enough. Last night, I was in South Los Angeles at a meeting that community organizers called to bring Black and Latino residents together to diffuse¹⁴ tension, given that this racism¹⁵ came out of the mouths of Latino politicians. People at this meeting were celebrating Martinez's resignation and the resignation of a union leader who was also part of that conversation. But they said that they were going to keep demanding that the other two council members on that tape, Kevin de Leon and Gil Cedillo, also resign.

ALBERTO RETANA: Two down, how many more to go?

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Two.

RETANA: Two down, how many more to go?

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Two.

RETANA: OK. Y'all want Kevin de Leon out, right?

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Yes.

RETANA: You want him out?

UNIDENTIFIED PEOPLE: Yes.

MART?NEZ: All right, so, Adrian, clearly, this is not over yet. But in what other ways is this racism scandal being felt in LA?

FLORIDO: Well, in a lot of ways. LA is electing a new mayor in less than a month, and a debate between the two candidates this week focused mostly on which of the two - Congresswoman Karen Bass¹⁶ or businessman Rick Caruso - is best equipped to heal the city's racial divides. As I mentioned, a lot of community groups are working to ensure that racial tensions don't flare¹⁷ up. The state attorney general also announced yesterday that he is launching an investigation¹⁸ into the city's redistricting process, since that's what Martinez and her colleagues were discussing on this tape.

MART?NEZ: So, Adrian, I don't know if healing starts yet. But, I mean, what's next here? Because just - things are just so raw.

FLORIDO: Well, something that a lot of people here are saying is going to be required before healing can start is that these other two council members must resign, and whether they will is a big question. They, along with Martinez, have been the most high-profile Latino leaders in the city. And so if they do step down, how does that reshape Latino political power here? I'm also sensing an urgency among Latino organizers to start addressing the anti-Blackness and colorism that's common among Latinos but rarely discussed. And that's something that Black people in LA are saying they want, too.

Keyanna Celina, a Black organizer, told me yesterday that she wants more honest talk about the fact that it's not only white people who harbor anti-Black racism.

KEYANNA CELINA: And we're caught up in it, but what happens when it dies down? Are we going to go back to denying anti-Black racism?

FLORIDO: She said she hopes not, but also knows that that will require a lot of work.

MART?NEZ: That's NPR race correspondent Adrian Florido. Thanks a lot, Adrian.

FLORIDO: Thank you, A.

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 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。

4 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

7 engulfing   

adj.吞噬的v.吞没，包住( engulf的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A photographer had fused the lights,engulfing the entire house darkness. 一位摄影师把电灯的保险丝烧断了，使整栋房子陷于黑暗当中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A professional photographer had fused the lights,engulfing the entire house in darkness. 一位职业摄影师把保险丝烧断了使整所房子陷于黑暗当中。 来自辞典例句

8 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

9 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。

10 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

11 diluting   

稀释，冲淡( dilute的现在分词 )； 削弱，使降低效果

参考例句：

• A companion would have been a distraction, diluting the pathos of the moment. 要是有一个伴侣在旁就会分散我的注意，冲淡此时此刻的哀婉之情。
• Diluting agent has certain transparency for ink multi-color overprint. 冲淡剂具有必定的透明量，适分油不朱的众色叠印。

12 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

13 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

14 diffuse   

v.扩散；传播；adj.冗长的；四散的，弥漫的

参考例句：

• Direct light is better for reading than diffuse light.直射光比漫射光更有利于阅读。
• His talk was so diffuse that I missed his point.他的谈话漫无边际，我抓不住他的要点。

15 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

16 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

17 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。

18 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。