It’s been a few days since the audio recording of Los Angeles City Council members, and the president of said Council was released launching a new citywide scandal. Calling it a scandal however might be a bit of a misnomer. For Angelenos, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. Absolutely no one was surprised, but we were still outraged all the same. And in a way, it’s not as severe as the previous racism-fueled incidents that spark riots. It is severe in the way that it actively erodes our understanding of the political behavior of those we elect to lead.
Everything that needs to be said has already been elicited by leading journalists and cultural critics. So, here I will briefly discuss some of the lessons that have been reaffirmed in the past week or so.
People get into politics to acquire power. I generally disagree with the common tenet that the purpose of politics is the pursuit of how to best govern ourselves. That may be included in the motives for some people to enter politics but it is rarely the foundation. As understood by Angelenos who monitor politics closely, becoming a city councilman is a way to gain access to policy mechanisms favorable to your socioeconomic position and to establish agendas that most likely lead to self-enrichment. time and time again we find that our city’s leaders come from business and otherwise elite backgrounds, handpicked by their close group of peers to represent them in the city chamber.
Los Angeles has not and will no time soon fully reconcile with the effect its racist past has had on the social climate. The Cosmopolitan Liberal believes that with steady amounts of progressivism, these problems don’t have to actually be faced or addressed in the public sphere. We don’t have to actually change the institutions that govern because we can always just change our attitudes. The Cosmo-Lib believes that the city is in fact segregated politically with each neighborhood vying for its own interest. The way the city council behaves is just a reflection of the elitist attitudes that really dictate the city’s social atmosphere.
This may not actually exacerbate Latino-Black tensions in the city but it will put them at the forefront for quite some time. Most people will ignore this hoping that performative ignorance might deescalate things.
My one wish for politicians is that when they do get fired, removed, or voted out that it’s for reasons related to process. If you get fired, do it because you were performing your job poorly, not because you were secretly recorded saying horribly racist things about your coworkers and your constituents. Get fired for failing to actually appropriate funds to end homelessness. Fail at forming a necessary committee. Have such lackluster attendance that you seem to peter out and be replaced. Just don’t forget that you’re always being surveilled. And don’t be racist.
Way Past Policy 