Hickenlooper's Columbus Day Parade letter

Published September 29, 2005 at midnight

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September 28, 2005

Dear Professor Glenn Morris and Mr. George Vendegnia:

In anticipation of the requests and complaints the City will undoubtedly receive from you or your organizations, I am proactively writing you both this letter.

As you know, the State of Colorado made Columbus Day an official state holiday in 1905. In 1937 President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed every October 12 as Columbus Day, and in 1971, Congress declared the second Monday in October a federal public holiday. As such, those wanting to debate the merit of this holiday would be better served by directing their concerns to the state legislature and federal government, rather than laying this annual controversy at the City of Denver's feet.

The issues surrounding the Columbus Day Parade in Denver date back at least 15 years. Since my election two years ago, I have met numerous times with representatives of the Italian community and the Native American community, trying to negotiate a resolution to this longstanding issue. Year after year, this experience is like beating one's head against the wall.

Despite the City's efforts to find a mutually agreeable resolution, both sides have claimed at one time or another that the City administration does not support them and have threatened the administration with unfounded accusations of racism. Clearly, that is no place to start a constructive dialogue.

For those on both sides of this debate that demand I take a position, let me say this as clearly as possible: As mayor and as an American, I support the First Amendment right to free speech, because I believe in it and because the law requires me to do so. I do not have the luxury of supporting free speech only when I or others approve of the content.

Parade organizers and participants have the legal right to hold their parade, even if it angers and offends people in our community who feel it celebrates a man they believe was guilty of genocide. Parade protestors have the right to lawfully express their opposition, even if it angers and offends some members of our community who believe it is a personal attack on their Italian heritage.

What no one has the right to do is inflict physical harm or break the law by disrupting the parade. Over the past few years alone, the City and County of Denver has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide parade security to ensure the safety of parade participants and protestors. Even more resources are depleted in prosecuting those who break the law during the parade, tying up our already overburdened judicial system. Together, this is an exorbitant amount of taxpayer money — money that, in the tight budget times we live, could be spent on increased neighborhood safety, programs that support youth, and a host of other services and infrastructure that our taxpayers value. Without adequate security, however, the risk always lurks that emotions could lead to physical violence, putting parade participants, protestors and the community as a whole at risk.

Frankly, I am sick and tired of this entire costly, frustrating and potentially dangerous situation that does nothing but generate ill will. I am happy to help celebrate Italian heritage. A parade that inspires such community anguish does not achieve that goal. Most spectators avoid the parade, which winds down streets that are either empty or lined primarily with protestors and police.

Last year, the City and County of Denver partnered with the City of Lakewood and Belmar to host the first annual Festival Italiano, a community event celebrating the culture, food and people of Italy — many of whom have made their home in the Denver metro area. Over 10,000 people attended the Festival Italiano in 2004, and organizers estimate that approximately 70,000 to 100,000 people attended this September. We hoped that the success of this event would provide the Italian community with a celebration to replace the Columbus Day Parade. While many in the Italian community enthusiastically embraced the idea, the parade organizers clearly have not. That is their right, but it is most unfortunate for our entire community.

Over the past few years, the City and County of Denver has provided support to the Four Directions/All Nations March that precedes the Columbus Day Parade. Sponsored by the Red Earth Women's Alliance and other community groups, the march represents a multicultural, multiracial, and intergenerational commitment to ensuring that Denver is a community that honors its diversity and rejects violence and racism. It was our hope that the success of this event would provide the Native American community with confidence that the community honors their history and struggles. But no matter how much we express our support for the ideals that the Four Directions March embodies, there are some who feel anything less than banning the parade — which is illegal for us to do — is a personal attack by the city on their heritage.

It easy to see how this has become an intractable situation over the past two decades, but that makes it no less frustrating. I remain hopeful that the Italian community and the Native American community will someday soon find common ground on which they can celebrate both of their cultures and histories without upsetting each other and without creating volatile situations that require significant taxpayer expense to safeguard. I do not think this is an unrealistic goal, but it will never happen unless people of goodwill on both sides of this issue come together to demand mutually agreeable change.

Sincerely,

John W. Hickenlooper

Mayor, City and County of Denver

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