San Francisco Mayor London Breed is apologizing for comments she made during a show earlier this month.
Breed was all smiles at an event at Manny’s in the Mission Wednesday night. She was there to talk about the positives of San Francisco.
Breed left without answering any questions from the media after clarifying statements she made on Oct. 5 on a KQED show.
“There are unfortunately a lot of people who come from a particular country. Come from Honduras and a lot of people who are dealing that drug happen to be of that ethnicity,” she said.
Breed added that she wasn’t racial profiling and that it was the truth of the matter.
The backlash wasn’t immediate until the video began circulating.
Some people were angry and accused the mayor of singling out Hondurans. While there were others who posted support for what she said.
Earlier Wednesday, Breed issued a statement and said in part:
“I want to apologize to the Latino community for what I said and how I said it. In trying to explain what is happening in the Tenderloin, I failed to accurately and comprehensively discuss what is an incredibly complex situation in our City and in Central America.”
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“I accept the apology, only because we know that she meant well,” said Hispanic Chamber of Commerce President Carlos Solorzano.
Solorzano said the chamber’s research in 2018, done in eight blocks of the Tenderloin, showed most drug sellers were juveniles from Honduras, there to make money to send back to their families.
But he added there’s a big "but," especially in today’s cultural climate.
“We also have to understand that we're not naming only one ethnicity. That is not good enough anymore," Solorzano said. "With all the turmoil that we have between the Latino community, the African American, the Asian communities, we need to work more together. So, we need to be more conscious of what we say, when we’re pointing fingers especially on that."
