美国国家公共电台 NPR--Angered by racist comments, Oaxacan immigrants march to Los Angeles City Hall

Angered by racist¹ comments, Oaxacan immigrants march to Los Angeles City Hall

Transcript²

The protesters were upset over racist comments that the former president of the council made. Nurry Martinez has resigned, but protesters want the other two on the leaked audio to step down too.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Over the weekend, hundreds of protesters marched to Los Angeles City Hall. Most were Indigenous³ immigrants from the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca. They're angry over racist comments that the former president of the city council, Nury Martinez, made denigrating⁴ their community. Her offensive remarks were captured on a secretly recorded conversation that Martinez had with two other Latino council members. Martinez has since resigned. But protesters want the other two to step down as well. Here's NPR's Adrian Florido.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

ADRIAN FLORIDO, BYLINE⁵: At the front of the march, a Oaxacan brass⁶ band led the way.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

FLORIDO: More than 1,000 people marched, most of them Oaxacan immigrants or their LA-born children and grandchildren.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Non-English language spoken).

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Non-English language spoken).

FLORIDO: Out with the racists, they shouted. This is Clara Montellano.

CLARA MONTELLANO: (Non-English language spoken).

FLORIDO: "I'm here to protest the racist comments from our elected representatives," she said. "They are unacceptable." On the secretly recorded tape that set off a political implosion⁷ last week, then-Council President Nury Martinez shocked the city with how casually⁸ she used racist language to talk about Black people and Indigenous Oaxacans. She called Oaxacan short, dark and ugly. At the march, Irais Leon carried a sign that read...

IRAIS LEON: Short, dark and very beautiful (laughter).

FLORIDO: She switched to Spanish to better express herself.

LEON: (Speaking Spanish).

FLORIDO: "She called us short and ugly," Leon said. "But these short, ugly people contribute a lot to their salaries." This scandal has forced a reckoning within LA's Latino communities that many people have thought long overdue⁹. Indigenous immigrants from Latin America have long faced racism¹⁰ from other Latinos. But it's something rarely talked about. Nancy Luis, the daughter of Oaxacan immigrants, said discrimination from fellow Latinos always hurts, but more so in this case because it came from three of the most powerful Latinos in the city.

NANCY LUIS: It's, unfortunately, something we've learned to endure. It did not surprise me. But it was very, extremely hurtful and triggering to hear that at, like, a political level. But we're here to fight against that today.

FLORIDO: Karina Marcial said hearing the tape brought back painful childhood memories.

KARINA MARCIAL: I used to get people telling me, like, oh, you're so dark. Why are you so dark?

FLORIDO: Those questions from her Mexican classmates, she said, filled her with insecurity.

MARCIAL: As I grew up, I would kind of always, like, tell my classmates, oh, I'm just Mexican. But I would never want to say where my parents are from. I would feel like I'm ashamed of my parents. I'm ashamed because they're not as tall as other parents. They're not as light as other people.

FLORIDO: Marcial is no longer ashamed. When she marched to city hall, she carried a small sign that said, proud to be Indigenous.

Adrian Florido, NPR News, Los Angeles.

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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 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。

4 denigrating   

v.诋毁，诽谤( denigrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They bristled at his denigrating description of their activities. 听到他在污蔑他们的活动，他们都怒发冲冠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The KGB pigeonholed his report and reprimanded him for denigrating a brother officer. 克格勃把他的调查报告扔在一边，不闻不问，反而说他往同志脸上抹黑。 来自辞典例句

5 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。

6 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

7 implosion   

n.向内破裂，内爆

参考例句：

• The population explosion is accompanied by a population implosion.人口爆炸还伴随着人口爆聚。

8 casually   

adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地

参考例句：

• She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
• I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

9 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

10 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。