Mayor Garcetti vs the Black Community

Last October, Mayor Eric Garcetti held a city council meeting at Holman United Methodist Church in South Los Angeles. Garcetti hoped to strengthen his connection with the black community through public forum, but was interrupted by outraged members of Black Lives Matter. As Garcetti spoke, members turned their back and ignored his comments. The activists disregarded Garcetti's claims because they believed he had no real interest in improving black society.

Melina Abdullah, professor of Pan African Studies at Cal State Los Angeles and community organizer for Black Lives Matter, was outraged by Garcetti's council meeting. Abdullah realized Garcetti reached out to the community as a publicity stunt, and shared the following words with La Times. Abdullah said, "The mayor has neglected, disrespected, and abused the black community for far too long. We are here today because this is real for us. This is not a political game. This is not about your reelection. This is about our lives."

Hazel Jester, long time South Los Angeles resident, shared a similar viewpoint to Abdullah. Jester said, "I've been here long before Garcetti came to office, so I've seen this political scam before. Suddenly he cares about the black community, but why now? Where has he been the past few months?"

The activist disruption stemmed from a broken promise between Garcetti and the organization. Co-founder of Black Lives Matter, Patrice Cullors, told LA Times that the two parties agreed upon a two-hour meeting, but Garcetti never followed through. Garcetti never informed the organization of the council meeting, so they decided to break the meeting up.

Pamela Cervantez, a 26 year old grad student from South Los Angeles, witnessed the organization prevent Garcetti from leaving in his car. Cervantez said, "Garcetti tried pushing through the crowd, but couldn't get pass the large group. People from the crowd started to help block him too, ultimately feeding the fire.

During this year’s election, President Trump acted in a similar fashion in hopes of reelection. After numerous speeches about creating a wall in order to prevent immigration, Trump attempted to win over the Hispanic population as soon as elections rolled around. Trump’s attempts were completely ridiculous as he attempted to gain the trust of a group of people he’d previously promised to exile. Trump did things like post pictures of himself eating Taco Bell with a few Hispanic construction workers, as if that would convince the public that he’d change his beliefs on the Hispanic people.

Garcetti and Trump aren’t the only two candidates to try and reach out to a group of people during elections however. This is a reoccurring situation in politics. Officials only want to help the marginalized when they’re depending on his/her vote to be reelected.