County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe called racial slur in recent meeting
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — At the San Diego County Board of Supervisor’s meeting on Aug. 26, County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe was called a racial slur by a member of the public.
Montgomery Steppe is the first Black woman elected to the Board of Supervisors in San Diego and represents District 4, which is home to neighborhoods like Spring Valley, La Mesa, portions of San Diego and more. She was also appointed Vice Chair of the Board of Supervisors on July 22.
During the recent meeting, a person in attendance called the supervisor a slur, to which Montgomery Steppe and other supervisors responded.
“Thank you to my colleagues for your comments and acknowledgement of what was said,” Montgomery Steppe said. “I think this word and the two combined words used have a very deep and traumatic meaning in history.”
After the incident, Montgomery Steppe posted on Instagram that using the slur in 2025 is part of an attempt to further discriminate and “intimidate” Black communities. She also stated the reason why insults like that are being used today is because of a recent “shift in power.”
“The N-word is deeply rooted in a history of dehumanization and the brutal legacy of slavery,” Montgomery Steppe posted on social media.
Following the meeting, State Senator Steve Padilla, who represents San Diego, condemned the incident.
“Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe is a wise, tenacious, and principled public servant,” Padilla said in a news release. “The use of a phrase so deeply rooted in oppression and malice is disgusting enough, and for it to be used it in an attempt to demean her as she does the work of the people, simply makes it more sickening.”
Montgomery Steppe said that people have the right to free speech, and that people even have the right to say, “very ignorant things like that.” However, she expressed that there is a responsibility to educate people on the history behind it.
“That word in particular has a lot of history because it goes way back to when Africans first hit the United States of America,” Montgomery Steppe added in the meeting. “We’re called that because it was tantamount to not being a human being.”
Recently, Montgomery Steppe has been pushing for law enforcement oversight and reform of the county’s juvenile justice system. Proposals she mentioned at the meeting include:
- Phasing out chemical agents out of youth detention centers
- De-emphasizing solitary confinement for youth
- Mandatory trauma-informed de-escalation training for probation officers who work with youth
- And expanding the Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board.
She said comments like this will not stop her from her advocacy.
“I am here doing my best; there is not a perfect person in this world,” Montgomery Steppe said. “But I’m doing my very best to represent people that have been unrepresented and I will continue to. That word, or anything else, will not stop me from doing what I have been called to do.”
