The leaked audio of three Los Angeles City Council members and the racist commentary of a local union leader created a storm in the city of California.

Martinez, the first Latin board president, resigned as leader on Monday (10) and resigned from her board seat on Thursday (12). She abdicated after a recording revealed that she called her colleague Mike Bonin’s 2-year-old son, who is black, “changuito”, Spanish to “monkey”. She also made disparaging comments about other groups, including Indigenous Mexicans from the southern state of Oaxaca, which she called “feos”, or ugly.

L.A. County Labor Federation President Ron Herrera also resigned after criticism he faced over comments in the leaked audio, according to the Los Angeles Times.

According to TheHill, “During a private October 2021 meeting, Martinez, Herrera and city council members Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León discussed a wide variety of topics. When discussing L.A. District Attorney George Gascón, Martinez can be heard saying, ‘F— that guy, he’s with the Blacks’.  The group also discussed Black political power and how to favorably redistrict so the participants of the conversation could stay in office”.

According to NBCNews “Latinos with darker skin face entrenched racism in colloquial Spanish, in which the word used to describe them is ‘negro’. It is not unusual for families to forbid their children to marry Blacks or warn them to stay out of the sun lest their complexions get too dark”.

The audio originally leaked on Reddit over the weekend before it was taken down. The Los Angeles Times first reported the tapes, according to The Hill.

“Outraged protesters marched toward Martinez’s home on Sunday and demanded she immediately resign from her post, while local, state and national leaders all condemned the remarks”, according to The Hill.

Bonin released a statement asking Martínez, Herrera and de León to resign their positions while he expressed disapproval that Cedillo had a “tacit” acceptance of the statements.

“The recording, released anonymously a year after it was made, stunned and hurt many in the Black community, which makes up a little less than 9% of the city’s roughly four million residents. Concerns inside that group, which has long counted on council seats and other city posts in heavily African American neighborhoods, have been growing in recent years as the Latino share of the population has swollen to nearly half and Hispanic politicians have started assuming more high-ranking roles”, notes the Associated Press.

Although Los Angeles is almost half Hispanic, Latinos represent less than a third of the council’s 15 districts, which has highlighted long-standing political tension and concern among Latinos that they are not represented fairly. Black people account for 9% of the city’s population and hold 20% of council seats.

The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) also called for Martinez, who is Latina, to resign, while Los Angeles Police Chief Michel Moore said it was a “dark day for our City of Los Angeles”.

“In statements to various media outlets, all three members of the board quickly apologized for the controversial discussion. Martinez later said in a resignation statement that she was ‘embarrassed’ and ‘sorry’ for what she said”, The Hill reported.