Los Angeles branches of the NAACP have issued City Councilmember Kevin de León’s performance “a failing grade” on the two-year anniversary of the release of audio where he and fellow city councilmembers exchanged racist comments about the Indigenous community and a colleague’s Black son.
An audio recording of the backroom conversation between de León and three other Latine political leaders — including two fellow councilmembers — was leaked in October 2022, sparking nationwide condemnation.
Local NAACP leaders gathered outside of City Hall Tuesday morning to reiterate calls for de León’s resignation. The councilmember is up for re-election in November and is the only participant who remained in his role following the release of the audio. Nury Martinez resigned from her role as council president, Gil Cedillo faced electoral defeat and Ron Herrera stepped down from his role as president of a prominent labor organization based in L.A.
Latricia Mitchell, president of the NAACP’s L.A. branch, said the Black community had not forgotten Kevin de León’s inaction in the face of racist commentary.
“We have given Kevin de León an ‘F,’ a failure, as a person and as a city council member,” Mitchell said during the conference. “He is guilty, just by association.”
Darrell Goode, president of the NAACP Santa Monica-Venice branch, called de León’s behavior “egregious” ahead of his bid for re-election.
“We support propositions, but we don’t support candidates,” Goode noted. “We don’t say ‘vote for this person, don’t vote for this person,’ but we can give you a grade based on what you’re doing while you’re sitting in office.”
Goode added that de León continuing to remain in a position of power reflects poorly upon the city council as a whole.
“As long as the city council stands by and lets his membership in our council persist, they then become complicit in the presentation and representation of institutionalized racism,” he said. “How can city employees and residents in the city of Los Angeles have confidence in our city protecting them from racism, when they can’t protect us from one of their own members?”
Reverend Dr. Edgar Rivera Colón, a clinical assistant professor of medical education at USC’s Keck School of Medicine, spoke at the conference as part of his role as an ordained minister for The Fellowship for Affirming Ministries.
“We know that Kevin de León may be cultural kinfolk, but he is not political kinfolk,” he said. “He has lost his way and we have to keep all our politicians accountable. We can’t just have ‘one of our own’ up there and think things are going to be okay.”
Rivera Colón said after the conference that de León’s behavior in the secretly recorded meeting showed an attitude of complacency.
“What we saw in Kevin was really him going along together, and that means you have no leadership. That means you have no ability to contradict people,” he said. “He has refused to be held accountable, and you can’t do that. You’re not there because you inherited the title.”
Stephen “Cue” Jn-Marie, pastor of The Church Without Walls located in Skid Row, said the comments made were likely representative of deep-seated racist bias.
“Whatever was in him and his colleagues, they weren’t speaking from the depths of their heart,” he said. “They were speaking just the stuff that came to the surface. The stuff beneath was even worse.”
Jn-Marie added he finds it not uncommon for people from minority backgrounds to uphold structural racism upon reaching positions of power.
“Oftentimes when folks of color get into these systems, and I’m including the folks who were on those leaked tapes, they feel like they have to all of a sudden [adapt] to the system instead of changing the system,” he said.
Speaking to Annenberg Media after the conference, Jn-Marie said many community organizers and activists have approached de León in response to the recording in the two years since it leaked.
“When you make the kind of violation that Kevin de León made to the community, then there needs to be a stepping back and a stepping down,” Jn-Marie said. “If the community wants to re-elect you after you’ve done your penance, that’s different.”
For now, Jn-Marie said that pressure on the city council to hold itself to a higher standard would not let up.
“I wish we can find something to remove the cancer that continues to hover over the city council,” he said. “We know he ain’t the only guilty one, so if you’re still on the city council, we’re watching.”