Poet Nephtalí De León is suing the City of San Antonio again.
After an unsuccessful 2014 code compliance lawsuit, De León is now suing the City’s Department of Arts and Culture and its executive director Krystal Jones, alleging violation of his First Amendment free speech rights in terminating him from his position as San Antonio poet laureate one year ago.
The lawsuit, filed by the Washington, DC-based New Civil Liberties Alliance, alleges that Jones and the City “unjustly terminated” De León “for his supposed use of a ‘racial slur’ in a poem posted to Facebook Aug. 1, 2023, then “defamed” him in a public statement following the termination after only four months of his three-year appointment. The four-count suit also alleges breach of contract.
In a statement to the press, NCLA litigator Casey Norman said the City “has allowed cancel culture to cloud its vision.”
The suit details a five-minute meeting on Aug. 14, 2023 between Jones and De León in which the poet alleges he was informed that his use of a particular term violated the City’s ethics and that he had a choice between resigning or being terminated — he chose not to resign and was terminated that day.
A lengthy description in the 40-page lawsuit details that De León was not given an opportunity to explain his use of the term, which he has claimed is a common term in Chicano Caló, a language comparable to Spanglish that combines Mexican, Spanish, and American influences and which much of De León’s poetry employs.
As detailed in the lawsuit, Aztlan Libre Press publisher Juan Tejeda registered an objection to the use of the term, which spurred further comments including one by former San Antonio poet laureate Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson, who served in the position from 2020-2023.
An event to feature De León sponsored by local literary nonprofit Gemini Ink was canceled at the time, and the NCLA suit alleges that the terminated poet laureate lost other opportunities including an event at Palo Alto College, an appearance for the nonprofit Links Incorporated African American advocacy group, and a role as honorary parade grand marshal in the annual El Dieciseis de Septiembre parade produced by the Avenida Guadalupe Association.
The suit demands a jury trial and asks for relief including the $7,000 De León would have been paid had he fulfilled his 3-year term as poet laureate, attorney’s fees, symbolic damages of $1 for violating De León’s constitutional rights and a retraction of the City’s public statement regarding his termination.
De León could not immediately be reached for comment prior to publication.
