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| The Most Ridiculous Part of the L.A. City Council President’s Apology | The Most Ridiculous Part of the L.A. City Council President’s Apology |
| (about 16 hours later) | |
| Nury Martinez, the disgraced former president of the Los Angeles City Council, said that there were “no excuses” for the racist remarks that she made in a leaked audio recording that has outraged residents of the city and appalled people far and wide. She got that much right. Referring to a fellow Council member’s Black child as a little monkey is purely and unequivocally vile. | Nury Martinez, the disgraced former president of the Los Angeles City Council, said that there were “no excuses” for the racist remarks that she made in a leaked audio recording that has outraged residents of the city and appalled people far and wide. She got that much right. Referring to a fellow Council member’s Black child as a little monkey is purely and unequivocally vile. |
| She said that she was sorry, and she should be, though I always wonder: Sorry for the hate she felt and the hurt she caused or sorry that she’s now in a world of hurt herself? | She said that she was sorry, and she should be, though I always wonder: Sorry for the hate she felt and the hurt she caused or sorry that she’s now in a world of hurt herself? |
| But Martinez, in her necessary apology, also said something ludicrous — ludicrous but telling. “As a mother,” she confessed, “I know better.” | But Martinez, in her necessary apology, also said something ludicrous — ludicrous but telling. “As a mother,” she confessed, “I know better.” |
| As a mother? | As a mother? |
| I’m not a mother. I’m not a father, either. But miraculously, I too know better. And I’m both amused and offended by the notion that having a child typically bestows on someone a greater sensitivity and a keener conscience. If that were the case, this world would be in significantly better shape than it is. It’s chockablock with parents — you can’t throw a binky without hitting one — and somehow bigotry and cruelty are doing just fine. | I’m not a mother. I’m not a father, either. But miraculously, I too know better. And I’m both amused and offended by the notion that having a child typically bestows on someone a greater sensitivity and a keener conscience. If that were the case, this world would be in significantly better shape than it is. It’s chockablock with parents — you can’t throw a binky without hitting one — and somehow bigotry and cruelty are doing just fine. |
| The statement by Martinez, who resigned from the Council on Wednesday amid a national uproar over her remarks, invoked yet another popular but debatable idea, which is that women in general and women leaders in particular aren’t as reflexively and gratuitously divisive as men. That they’re more instinctive uniters, more natural nurturers — and as such, demonstrate greater concern for the welfare of future generations. | The statement by Martinez, who resigned from the Council on Wednesday amid a national uproar over her remarks, invoked yet another popular but debatable idea, which is that women in general and women leaders in particular aren’t as reflexively and gratuitously divisive as men. That they’re more instinctive uniters, more natural nurturers — and as such, demonstrate greater concern for the welfare of future generations. |
| Martinez, after all, didn’t say “as a parent.” She specified her gender and, in doing so, promoted a gendered if women-flattering conceit. It’s a conceit that, I admit, I buy into. I indeed think that we’d be well served with more women in leadership roles, in both the public and the private sectors, and not just as a matter of representation. | Martinez, after all, didn’t say “as a parent.” She specified her gender and, in doing so, promoted a gendered if women-flattering conceit. It’s a conceit that, I admit, I buy into. I indeed think that we’d be well served with more women in leadership roles, in both the public and the private sectors, and not just as a matter of representation. |
| But I also think that our discussions about this can be softheaded and our analysis of the evidence selective. When we in the media admire a prime minister who’s a woman (Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand, Sanna Marin in Finland), we often cast her as a parable of women’s untapped potential. When we don’t (Liz Truss in Britain, Giorgia Meloni in Italy), we tend to shy away from such grand generalizations. | But I also think that our discussions about this can be softheaded and our analysis of the evidence selective. When we in the media admire a prime minister who’s a woman (Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand, Sanna Marin in Finland), we often cast her as a parable of women’s untapped potential. When we don’t (Liz Truss in Britain, Giorgia Meloni in Italy), we tend to shy away from such grand generalizations. |
| Martinez’s racist remarks occurred in a meeting last year with three men: Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, who served with her on the City Council, and Ron Herrera, who was the head of a powerful local labor organization. It’s not yet known who made and released the recording, but after The Los Angeles Times published an article about it on Sunday, Martinez stepped down as Council president — though not as a Council member — and then announced a leave of absence. That did little to quell public rage, which led to her quitting the Council altogether. Herrera also resigned from his post. There are widespread calls, including from President Biden, for Cedillo and de León to resign from theirs as well. | Martinez’s racist remarks occurred in a meeting last year with three men: Gil Cedillo and Kevin de León, who served with her on the City Council, and Ron Herrera, who was the head of a powerful local labor organization. It’s not yet known who made and released the recording, but after The Los Angeles Times published an article about it on Sunday, Martinez stepped down as Council president — though not as a Council member — and then announced a leave of absence. That did little to quell public rage, which led to her quitting the Council altogether. Herrera also resigned from his post. There are widespread calls, including from President Biden, for Cedillo and de León to resign from theirs as well. |
| The whole sordid episode speaks to the prevalence and perniciousness of racism, even among people of color — Martinez was the first Latina Council president — and even among members of the same ethnic group. In the recording, Martinez referred to Oaxacan immigrants from Mexico as “little short dark people.” | The whole sordid episode speaks to the prevalence and perniciousness of racism, even among people of color — Martinez was the first Latina Council president — and even among members of the same ethnic group. In the recording, Martinez referred to Oaxacan immigrants from Mexico as “little short dark people.” |
| As we know but too often overlook, racism comes from every corner of society, in all shapes and stripes and sizes. It comes from parents, no matter their responsibility to model ethical behavior for their children and instill decent values in them. The insinuation in Martinez’s apology that parents make some special effort to rise above prejudice and hate will be news to anyone who has watched them fight school integration or denounce gay teachers as “groomers.” | As we know but too often overlook, racism comes from every corner of society, in all shapes and stripes and sizes. It comes from parents, no matter their responsibility to model ethical behavior for their children and instill decent values in them. The insinuation in Martinez’s apology that parents make some special effort to rise above prejudice and hate will be news to anyone who has watched them fight school integration or denounce gay teachers as “groomers.” |
| And the suggestion that women are inclined to empathy edits a great many of them and big chunks of history out of the picture. | And the suggestion that women are inclined to empathy edits a great many of them and big chunks of history out of the picture. |
| “There’s no reason to expect women to be less bigoted than men,” the historian Linda Gordon said in a 2018 article in Mic by Jack Smith about her book “The Second Coming of the K.K.K.,” which notes the role of women in that hate group’s resurgence in the 1920s. The headline on the article: “Why Women Have Always Been Essential to White Supremacist Movements.” | “There’s no reason to expect women to be less bigoted than men,” the historian Linda Gordon said in a 2018 article in Mic by Jack Smith about her book “The Second Coming of the K.K.K.,” which notes the role of women in that hate group’s resurgence in the 1920s. The headline on the article: “Why Women Have Always Been Essential to White Supremacist Movements.” |
| In Air Mail this month, George Pendle wrote that Italy’s Meloni “is the most spectacular example of a recent trend in European politics in which charismatic women have taken the reins of far-right political parties and led them to increasing legitimacy. Just look at Marine Le Pen in France, Alice Weidel in Germany, Pia Kjaersgaard in Denmark or Siv Jensen in Norway.” Pendle mentioned in particular the “rather worrying obsession with what Weidel calls ‘genetic unity.’” | In Air Mail this month, George Pendle wrote that Italy’s Meloni “is the most spectacular example of a recent trend in European politics in which charismatic women have taken the reins of far-right political parties and led them to increasing legitimacy. Just look at Marine Le Pen in France, Alice Weidel in Germany, Pia Kjaersgaard in Denmark or Siv Jensen in Norway.” Pendle mentioned in particular the “rather worrying obsession with what Weidel calls ‘genetic unity.’” |
| Here in the United States, I’m rather worried by such current members of Congress as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, to name just two women prominent in the MAGA brigade. Greene, by the way, has three children, and Boebert has four, proving that mothers are as mixed a bag as the rest of us. They’re altruists and narcissists, creators and destroyers, openhearted and closed-minded, colorblind and color-conscious. | Here in the United States, I’m rather worried by such current members of Congress as Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, to name just two women prominent in the MAGA brigade. Greene, by the way, has three children, and Boebert has four, proving that mothers are as mixed a bag as the rest of us. They’re altruists and narcissists, creators and destroyers, openhearted and closed-minded, colorblind and color-conscious. |
| It’s not because she’s a mother that Martinez should know better than to hurl racist insults. It’s because she’s human. | It’s not because she’s a mother that Martinez should know better than to hurl racist insults. It’s because she’s human. |
| In an excellent argument in The Sydney Morning Herald in favor of long books, David Free noted how many news publications have “started warning us how many minutes” it will take to get through a given article. “The implication is clear: Reading is a luxury we can barely afford,” he wrote. “The sooner a writer gets out of our hair, the better. But if we don’t want writers in our hair, they’ll never get into our heads.” (Thanks to Lester Fernandez of Sydney for drawing my attention to this.) | |
| In The Philadelphia Inquirer, David Murphy wrote: “Playoff baseball is like watching a loved one defuse a bomb. It is not something that you enjoy. It is something that you endure. Every pitch is a tick on a timer that is counting down to some unknown number, every swing a snip at a tangle of multicolored wires, any one of which is liable to make the season explode.” (Michael Schuster, West Chester, Pa., and Bernie Cosell, Pearisburg, Va.) | |
| In an article in The Wall Street Journal whose headline began “The Devil Wears Costco,” Jamie Waters defined Beelzebub’s threads: “These are not flimsy knockoffs of high-end designs bought to wear once in pursuit of a fad. Rather, they are dependable, unadorned staples that fill gaps in outfits, like sartorial grout.” (Sally Ishizaka, Carlisle, Mass.) | |
| In The Globe and Mail of Toronto, the movie critic Barry Hertz gave a cold shoulder to “Amsterdam,” written and directed by David O. Russell: “I would attempt to detail the mechanics of the narrative further, but they are alternately forgettable and frustrating, as if Russell was writing Coen Bros. fan-fiction in crayon.” (Barbara Love, Kingston, Ontario) | |
| In The Boston Globe, Renée Graham quipped: “Herschel Walker could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and perform an abortion, and he wouldn’t lose any Republican voters.” (Jon Vargosko, Arlington, Mass.) | |
| In The Dispatch, Jonah Goldberg wrote: “Given that Walker has so many demons and skeletons in his closet — he’s like a one-man haunted house — it seems a safe bet the story is true.” (Gary Lanham, Signal Mountain, Tenn.) | |
| In New York magazine, Rebecca Traister added to the aptly oversize body of great descriptions of John Fetterman’s physique by writing that he “appeared to be built of all the XXL parts at the Guy Factory.” (This one’s my own pick.) | |
| In The Washington Post, Sean Wilentz marveled at Donald Trump’s peculiar tenacity: “Zombielike, he swaggers and struts and cons on the world’s largest stage, much as he did when gossip columnists fawned over him as The Donald; and he will continue his night of the living dead, with menacing success, until someone finally drives a metaphorical stake through his metaphorical heart.” (Janet Collier, Portland, Ore., and Cynthia Croasdaile, Portland, Ore.) | |
| In The Times, Pete Wells described the discordant addition of a Martha Stewart restaurant to the Strip in Las Vegas: “On this avenue of cultural pileups, the Bedford by Martha Stewart is an earth-toned oasis of calm. It is a cribbage board in a video-game arcade, a glass of ginger ale at a tiki bar.” (Diana Vasilakis, Southern Shores, N.C., and Judy Aita, West Pittston, Pa.) | |
| Sarah Vowell sized up Gary Buchanan, a Montanan running for the House as an independent: “He created the still ubiquitous ‘Made in Montana’ label to promote homegrown products, a marketing ploy I fall for every time I face life’s jelly and jam dilemmas,” she wrote. (Jo Wollschlaeger, Portland, Ore.) | |
| Michelle Goldberg recalled that she once likened being on Twitter to “staying too late at a bad party full of people who hate you. I now think this was too generous to Twitter. I mean, even the worst parties end.” (J.E. Carney, Batavia, N.Y.) | |
| And Charles Blow doubted Ginni Thomas’s claim that she never discussed her election conspiracy theories with her husband, Clarence: “Is the Thomas household just silent, filled only with the hum of grievance and betrayal?” (Tom Martin, Las Vegas) | |
| To nominate favorite bits of recent writing from The Times or other publications to be mentioned in “For the Love of Sentences,” please email me here, put “Sentences” in the subject line and include your name and place of residence. | |
| I was initially surprised that no one submitted best-sentence nominations from Jazmine Hughes’s recent profile of Whoopi Goldberg in The Times Magazine: I’d had such fun reading it. But in rereading it, I realized that the deft pacing and construction of whole paragraphs and passages are what make it shine — that and all the great details. If you missed it, don’t. | |
| Against my better judgment, I recently added another streaming service to my subscriptions — in this case, Peacock. There’s where the first season of the British mystery-thriller “The Capture” resides, and that’s how I tripped across it. I wolfed down its six episodes in two very happy sittings. A clever examination of the ethically murky places where surveillance and digital video manipulation are leading us, it’s leaner and more fleetly paced than so much other streaming content these days. And until the final episode, when it tries for a few too many fillips and quarter-twists, it’s expertly plotted. Holliday Grainger gives a mesmerizing performance as a British detective whose idealism is being acid-washed away, and her scenes with an icy, scary supervisor (Lia Williams, who played Wallis Simpson in “The Crown”) are what you might get from a mash-up of “The Devil Wears Prada” and “Homeland.” A second season of “The Capture” aired on BBC 1 this year and will come to Peacock next month. I’ll be there. | |
| Before I reconnected with Andrew Sullivan last week for an episode of his podcast, I’d forgotten how long we had known each other, how many ways our paths had crossed and how much they had had in common. Our conversation turned repeatedly from my most recent book, “The Beauty of Dusk,” to a host of other topics related to the experiences of two gay men who remember the unwelcoming world of decades ago, the dawn and the worst of the AIDS crisis and the entire arc of the successful fight for marriage equality. Our conversation was sprawling and intimate, and if you’re interested, you can listen here. | |
| “I need your attention,” the flight attendant said to the two of us. She deserved it. We were in exit-row seats. | |
| She asked us if we were aware of that. She wanted words, not nods. | |
| “Yes,” the other passenger said. | |
| I echoed him. | |
| And were we prepared to assist if necessary? | |
| The other passenger: “Yes.” | |
| Me: “Can’t wait.” Then I kicked myself — inwardly. What if I’d imagined the playfulness that I’d heard in the flight attendant’s voice? What if I’d read her wrong? | |
| But she smiled. Laughed. “You,” she said, teasingly. “You’re going to be my hero when the time comes.” | |
| “Your knight in shining armor,” I confirmed. “Minus the steed and the lance.” | |
| It was a short flight, New Jersey to North Carolina, in a small plane. She and I didn’t interact much after that. But she did wheel the service cart past my aisle and asked about a beverage. | |
| “Coffee, please,” I said. | |
| “Sugar? Cream?” she asked. | |
| “Nothing. Black.” | |
| “You’re easy.” | |
| “I’m not going to be offended by that.” | |
| She smiled and laughed again. “We get along,” she said. | |
| We did. And it sort of made my day — that I could so easily delight her. That she could so easily delight me. That in the context of air travel, which is a joyless context, we could find some merriment. Forge some glee. | |
| An article in The Times last month by Catherine Pearson highlighted new research that shows that “small gestures matter even more than we may think.” The cynic in me wanted to roll my eyes at that, but the whole of me knew it to be true — and knew it to be a kind of salvation. A simple moment of fleeting connection, of serendipitous complicity, can completely change your emotional weather. We had sunshine, that flight attendant and I. The memory warms me. |