Shortly after members of the California legislature took a knee for eight minutes and 46 seconds at the California Capitol to protest racism and the death of George Floyd, Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) took the opportunity to call out some of her Latino colleagues.
“I have to be honest, I’m disappointed with our Latino caucus,” Gonzalez said at the event that Assemblymember Syndey Kamlager (D-Los Angeles), a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC), organized.
Gonzalez said although some of the California Legislative Latino Caucus (CLLC) members have co-authored pieces of legislation with Black Caucus members, they have not been supportive enough of policy that can make a measurable difference in the lives of Black Californians.
“As a caucus, we’ve been woefully silent on some of the issues that the Black caucus has put out there on police reform,” continued Gonzalez, who is chair of the Latino caucus.
The protest-slash-tribute took place in front of the California state Capitol’s West steps to honor the late George Floyd, who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer who pinned the unarmed Black man down during an arrest.
