Marvin Carroll, the black man who was fired from SoFi Stadium, where he knocked over all the merchandise of a hot dog vendor and injured his young daughter, has apologized publicly.
backed by civil rights activists, who acknowledged that there is tension in the race relations of both communities in Inglewood.
“I’m here to express my concern about the situation that occurred over the weekend, and I apologize to those involved or injured,” said Carroll, 28.
Over the weekend, at the end of the concert by Dominican singer Romeo Santos at SoFi Stadium, Lesbia Morales left her daughter Marilyn in charge of the cart while she went to the bathroom.
When he returned, he found the merchandise lying on the floor. Carroll would have pushed the cart that hit the minor in front of her 8 and 7-year-old brothers.
“Yesterday my foot hurt, I could barely walk,” the girl complained,
At the corner of Prairie Avenue and Pincay Drive, Najee Ali, director of the HOPE Islamic Project, and Skipp Townsed, executive director of 2nd Call, a community-based organization that works to save lives, reduce violence, and help develop people of high risk, offenders and individuals on probation, acknowledged that there is tension between the African American and Latino communities of Inglewood.
“There was an altercation with street vendors,” Townsend said. “A lot of people don’t know what goes on behind the scenes. But when any street vendor is attacked, or any street vendor has claimed to have been attacked, there are people like me in the community looking for solutions.”
The activist said that, after getting Marvin’s phone number, he asked him: What was the altercation about and why were the children injured? .
“He told me that he had never intended to hurt the children, that this was a conversation he was having with two other people,” was the response he got, noting that some people searched for Carroll’s previous addresses “and put their life in danger.”
“I never condone hurting a peddler or doing anything [malo] Against them. But there are people in the community that you can call, come up with a solution and help the street vendor get their money back, get back what was lost, but going into their homes and doing things of that nature is not appropriate.”
In this way, Marvin agreed that he would talk about his apology with the children of Lesbia Morales.
Since the 1990s, there has been division in the Latino and African American communities, particularly when gang members killed each other.
The current situation, according to Townsend, “comes and goes, and it only takes one situation to ignite a flame for communities to come back to confront each other.”
“For this reason, it is important that we have these conversations to dialogue and that no one hurt our Latino brothers and sisters,” he said. “And not talking to each other, that later turns into violence in the streets.”
Najee Ali, told La Opinión that there are tensions in South Los Angeles, but that they can be overcome, trying to continue having unity.
“African Americans and Latinos live together in South Los Angeles, we work together and we go to school together. So we must live together in peace,” she said.
The civil rights activist considered that people of both races are competing for lack of jobs and resources in the community and resources.
“So there is always competition between Blacks and Latinos in South Los Angeles when it comes to jobs and other resources that are vital to the survival of both communities,” he added.
-But in the case of the aggression of Marvin Carroll it was not about any competition for a job, it was clarified.
“No. This was something that should never have happened. And it was unfortunate. We have also seen other street vendors in South Los Angeles beaten, harassed and robbed, and that is why we came to speak out against any violence against any Latino street vendor.”
Both Najee Ali and Skipp Townsed agreed that they would recommend Marvin Carroll enroll in anger management classes.
For his part, Roc Góchez, a member of Unión del Barrio, an organization that defends immigrants and vice president of the South Central Los Angeles Neighborhood Council, told La Opinión that relations between the two communities “is complicated.”
“We still have a lot of work to do in each attack against each other; I think there is little study and knowledge that we have more in common than the differences”, Góchez assured.
“Any aggression has no justification and we are all responsible for educating our youth, our families and our people to respect each other, because the root we have in common is that we have both been victims of racists who have discriminated against us.”
Kristi Mexia, director of communications at SoFi Stadium and Hollywood Park released the following statement to La Opinión:
“We are aware that an incident occurred outside the stadium on Saturday night and we are working with the police to investigate the matter. The person involved was employed by an outside provider and we have been informed that he has since been laid off. Maintaining a safe environment is our number one priority, and we will continue to regularly assess the staff and protocols of all of our providers to ensure an enjoyable entertainment experience.” –SoFi Stadium.
Questions to Marvin Carroll
The African-American man who allegedly attacked Latino children when he knocked over Lesbia Morales’ hot-dog cart was approached by La Opinión.
-If you say that it was not your intention to hurt anyone, what was your thought then?
“It’s an ongoing investigation, I can’t answer questions of that nature.”
What do you think about the relationship between African Americans and Latinos? Is it good, bad, regular?
“Relationships can be better, but I personally support the Latino community, even the street vendors. I love eating at the taco stands and the hot dog stand,” Carroll said.
“The fact that it is about presenting [el incidente] as a racial problem it is problematic for me; That is another problem that I have, that they think that I wanted to harm the children or that I will have problems with the Hispanic community, you know. when in reality I am a person who supports the Hispanic community”.
He added that, “in my family my children are half Hispanic. So, I want those two things to be known because I have no problem with the Hispanic community and I will never harm any child. I love children”.
What is your message to the Hispanic community about the relationship with the African-American community, here in the city of Inglewood.
“Isolated incidents can cause more friction between our communities; we can talk peacefully and find solutions to the problem we have between us. The case can be resolved by keeping the line of communication open to move forward.”
So why the aggressive reaction?
“I never interacted with those children, if you publicize the video cameras, you will see that I never interacted with the children; I was having a conversation with another man. And like I said, I apologize to those kids.”
Carroll claimed that the man with whom he argued repeatedly insulted him with the “N” word and repeatedly disrespected him.
What people are saying:
“I love those hot dogs that they sell on the street and that boy was wrong. Latinos are very decent and hard-working people.”
Robert Hill, 70 years old. Retired
“It’s not good what that boy did [Marvin Carroll] I don’t know what was on his mind. Selling on the street is the way these people make a living”.
Kenneth Drinkhard, 42 years old. Driver of a tow truck.
“Honestly, African Americans and Latinos are not very close. There is enough racial tension that could erupt at any moment; we each have our own racial bias.”
Marel Terregone, 23 years old. LAX employee.
“For me, the net that I see is that there is racism against us because they attack our ice cream vendors and ice cream vendors. I don’t think anything is going to change.”
Osmin Mazariegos, 49 years old. Construction worker.
“There are people who respect and others who don’t. I have many African American friends and I have never had a problem living with them. Everything depends on the respect of each other”.
Mayra González, 33 years old. Popeyes employee.
“I get along well with African-American people. They are good customers, they are kind and polite, and I live with many of them near my house; In addition, there are not as many shootings as there were in 1990”.
Aida Romero, 54 years old. Saleswoman on the street.