Former Carson Mayor Albert Robles Denounce Racial Slur
By Anuoluwapo Bamiro, SBBJ Writer
Former Carson Mayor Albert Robles stood in front of Compton City Hall, flanked by four leaders of the Latino community on Aug. 24 to denounce former Compton City Council Member Michelle Chambers for a derogatory racial slur four years ago.
Chambers engaged in a heated exchanged with her then council colleague Isaac Galvan in a closed door council meeting allegedly describing Galvan’s young son with the most offensive word against Latinos, “wetback” during the Covid Pandemic at Compton City Hall July 13, 2021.
Armored with that derogatory comment that is hurtful to all within the Hispanic culture, Robles held a press conference urging Latino voters and elected officials who have supported Chambers candidacy for the 35th District State Senate Seat to withdraw their support.
Robles, who as Chair of the CA Friends of the Latino Caucus spoke out at January 28, 2013 press conference on Latino on Black hate crime in Compton, claimed a double standard in the matter of Chambers contrasted what transpired with the Los Angeles City Council that peeled raw emotions and spurned national dialog and protest.
“This is a situation which has been ignored for much too long. A couple of years ago just before the last election there was a controversy that literally rocked Southern California and the country when there was a recording leaked of a private conversations where elected Council Members for the City of Los Angeles and others were caught (on tape) using derogatory racial slurs with respect to the African American community,” Robles said.
That infamous private recording happened during September 2021, but a few months before that conversation was recorded there was an incident during a Compton City Council Meeting that essentially went without much exposure.
Michelle Chambers
Robles assigned the only difference was the racial slur was against the Latino community.
“The tone was just as offensive if not worse,” he added at the confab that lasted just 10 minutes 16 seconds.
“That conversation was recorded. That conversation was at a public city council meeting here at Compton city hall and there an elected official Councilwoman Michelle Chambers used a derogatory racial slur to refer to Latinos,” he continued.
Chambers allegedly referred to the only elected Latino councilmember in Compton at the time Galvan’s son as “a ugly wetback.”
The incident ignited a City of Compton internal investigation that while not exonerating Chambers did not hold her accountable for the allegation could prove costly in the District 35 State Senate that will be decided during the November election.
According to the final investigative report, a via zoom city Council meeting was held on July 13, 2021. There was a closed session and two open sessions. There was a verbal altercation between Councilmember Chambers and Councilmember Galvan during the closed session. Towards the end of the second open session during council comments, Councilmember Galvan accused Councilmember Chambers of calling his child an ugly wetback during the closed session.
The report concluded Councilmember Galvan made an inappropriate comment to Councilmember Chambers, but there was no evidence to support Councilmember Galvan’s accusation that Councilmember Chambers referred to his son as an “ugly wetback.”
However, the closed session as per policy was not recorded so the only evidence of the allegations would have to come from the participants which was not verified in the final report.
Chambers did not complete her term as Compton Council Member, deciding to quit and Galvan left public office in ignominy.
Four individuals who were interviewed under oath during the course of the investigation were Mayor Emma Sharif, Councilmember Chambers, Councilmember Jonathan Bowers, and City Attorney Damon Brown.
At least one person who was at the meeting requested anonymity because it was a private official proceeding, and confirmed that Chambers used the racial slur to the South Bay Black Journal.
The other individual who was interviewed under oath did not make the clear distinction of the words used because of the heated profanity-laced exchange between Chambers and Galvan then but has since told people he heard the racial slur by Chambers. That person is Bowers.
“As a public official, council member, first responder, nurse, caregiver. If you are making derogatory comments regarding a person’s race, creed, color, religion or sex you shouldn’t be allowed to sit in that seat. We as public servants are here to serve all people regardless,” said Bowers in a statement issued to South Bay Black Journal.
See the full report: https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:VA6C2:ea01094f-d40d-470c-b848-8e4283171be6
Robles hailed the announcement as a campaign to call attention to Chambers who is running for a state senate office.
“Just like then it was an upcoming election when the recording was released, now two years later there is an upcoming election and that’s why we are trying to get attention called to it. We see that there is some media her, but the L.A. Times which did a phenomenal job reporting the last incident has not touched this issue at all. No one has made a comment about it. Not one time have they referred to it, and as a Latino and as a person that was born in Mexico I am deeply, deeply offended by that,” Robles assured.
Robles contends that he knows there are many people in the Black community that are also deeply offended by Chambers alleged racial slur.
He referenced Chambers’ own words during the meeting against her when the candidate demanded of her colleagues to declare she did not use the racial slur, but none would do so.
“As an attorney for 20 years we look for evidence, so more corroborating evidence is once she’s confronted and asked whether or not she ever apologized to the Latino community for using that derogatory term and her response was I’m not from here, I don’t even know what that word means.”
Robles explained that he ran for the 35th District Senate Seat in a effort to prevent Chambers from serving in office again because of the racial slur, after he said she could not be held accountable in Compton after she left office early. He finished a distant fourth in the race while Chambers advanced to the run-off, but his campaign against her isn’t done yet.
See the entire press conference: https://youtu.be/oSLToP3RsuI?si=_FYGejgU1A9NVwEF
