SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Back when he led the state Senate, currently disgraced Los Angeles City Councilmember Kevin de León acknowledged growing up with "a chip on my shoulder," thinking "I wasn't good enough, maybe."
That chip seemed evident in the hateful, racist conversation secretly recorded among De León and two other councilmembers that shocked the city and much of America.
The chip was formed as De León was raised in poverty by a single mother who immigrated to California illegally from Guatemala. His mom cleaned wealthy people's houses in San Diego. He often tagged along on the bus with her to work. They and his two older half-sisters lived in a basement. The bathroom was up a flight of outside stairs.
