October 12, 2022
The Latinx Geographies Specialty Group of the American Association of Geographers denounces the anti-Black, anti-Indigenous, anti-Central American, anti-Asian, homophobic comments, the promotion of violence against children, and the active practice of collusion and political disenfranchisement made by three Los Angeles City Council members and the former Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President. The comments from these four Latinx political leaders recently made public by the Los Angeles Times, expressed perspectives that are rooted in the violent ideologies of white supremacy and patriarchy, enact material violence on communities and individuals, and have no place in our public institutions and leadership positions.
Over the weekend, a leaked audio conversation reflected the anti-Black, anti-Indigenous, anti-Asian, homophobic sentiments, and promotion of violence against children that persist behind closed doors in the Latinx community. Many of our members’ identities, like many Latinx people, intersect across the identities that were disparaged. These hurtful sentiments are not new to many of us. They reflect white supremacist ideals and intra-racial conflict inherited from the persistent legacies of settler colonial violence. The hateful comments serve as a reminder of how much more work we need to do within our communities to call out such behavior.
We denounce this racist and homophobic language and insist that Latinx peoples, particularly white and mestizx Latinx peoples, need to be vocal in our opposition of anti-Blackness, anti-Indigeneity, homophobia, and violence against children within in our communities. To ignore such comments upholds white supremacist and patriarchal violence. We have a responsibility to actively undermine these systems of oppression as they emerge in our everyday lives.
In addition to the hurt caused by that leaked conversation, we cannot overlook the structural violence that set the scene. These local leaders were actively colluding to disenfranchise Black residents in Los Angeles. They operated through a narrow framing of Latinx identity that not only ignores the intersections within our community, but also betrays the interconnected struggles between minoritized communities in Los Angeles. The disenfranchisement of Black residents is part of a legacy of racially motivated gerrymandering, a geographic political manipulation that contradicts our justice-oriented vision for Latinx Geographies.
We call for Nury Martinez, Kevin De Leon and Gil Cedillo, to follow the lead of their co-conspirator Ron Herrera and resign immediately. While stepping down will not necessarily eradicate their racist perspectives from these spaces of power, it does send a message to all public officials: We will not stand by this unacceptable behavior and we demand better from our public officials.
We stand in solidarity with our Black, Indigenous, Asian, Oaxacan, Central American kin, within and beyond the Latinx community, as well as with children subjected to domestic violence. As we move forward from this painful event, we are reminded of the deep work that needs to take place within the Latinx community to heal and cultivate a society free of oppression.
La lucha sigue,
The Latinx Geographies Specialty Group Collective
