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Volume 27, Issue 10, october 14, 2004

Opinion

Celebrate pride, not genocide

mugJoel Tagert
Columnist

Make no mistake: two hundred and thirty people risking arrest for what they believe in is a powerful sight.

I had the privilege of witnessing just that on Saturday, when a large crowd of protesters sat down on Market Street to block the Columbus Day Parade.

Perhaps a hundred yards down the street, police had stopped the parade while they slowly arrested the protesters.

First up was a crowd of perhaps a hundred non-Indian supporters. To the resonant sound of drums and singing, they were led away by ones and twos into waiting police buses.

In the distance we could hear the paraders revving their engines and honking their horns impatiently. As each protester was escorted away, the crowd cheered their determination and spirit.

When, after 45 minutes, the last of the first wave had been arrested, an even larger block of American Indians stepped forward, many of them women and children. Their faces shone with happiness and resolve as they were led away.

Finally, the organizers of the event stepped forward. The crowd cheered wildly. Last of all was UCD political science professor Glenn Morris, his fist raised in victory as he walked to his arrest.

With the street now empty, the parade drove forward. The drums were drowned out by the roar of the Sons of Italy’s motorcycles, and the exhaust fumes choked out the aromatic smudge the Indians had been burning. In the face of the blaring horns we continued to chant, “Celebrate pride, not genocide!”

It’s worth noting here that I saw not a single depiction of Columbus in the parade, nor indeed any reference to his famous journey.

Instead, there were a lot of guys on motorcycles, a bunch of big trucks, a limo, a couple of Hummers, and a few thousand Italian flags. Even to these Italian Americans, it would seem Columbus Day is less about Columbus than it is about Italians.

This is unfortunate, because to most American Indians, the arrival of Columbus in the Americas marks the beginning of perhaps the worst genocide in human history.

Also, Columbus was personally a slave trader —not exactly a profession worth celebrating, and one reason members of the Greater Denver Ministerial Alliance participated in the civil disobedience.

Still, one could make some criticism of the action. For one, it didn’t actually stop the parade. Why get arrested if you don’t even achieve your aim?

The answer is that the protest was more concerned with symbolism than with direct action. The organizers had informed the police of their exact plans beforehand, and they offered no resistance to arrest, simply standing up and walking to the buses as the police gestured to them.

Clearly, this was a tactical decision. There was no doubt that the protesters could have stopped the parade in its tracks simply by locking arms and refusing to move. Instead, they offered a symbolic resistance against a symbol of genocide.

Hopefully, the mass arrests will be enough to convince the legislature to get rid of Columbus Day once and for all. Rep. Mike Cerbo, D-Denver, has said he plans to introduce legislation to that effect in the next legislative session.

If his measure passes, and still the Sons of Italy persist in their misguided parade, at least they’ll do it without state endorsement.

It would be one small step forward in righting five hundred years of wrongs.