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COAIM BLOG CO AIM LATEST NEWS MEDIA
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September 07,1990 Mayor Federico Pena Dear Mayor Pena: On January 19 of this year I wrote to you on behalf of the American Indian Movement (AIM) of Colorado, and hundreds of other concerned American Indians, to request that you and your office take the lead in removing the racist statue that honors Christopher Columbus in Denver's Civic Center Park. As was explained in the initial letter, the honoring of Columbus, a man who was personally responsible for the slaughter and enslavement of Indian people (see enclosures), is an insult that we cannot abide. Although you and your office apparently chose to ignore our concerns (since we never received a reply from you), you should understand that the exercise of such insulting prerogatives may prove detrimental to your relations with the American Indian community. You must believe either that the political strength of AIM is minimal, or that the political repercussions of maintaining the Columbus statue will be minor. We invite you to think again. As we promised last year, the issue of the statue, as well as the larger issues of how the city treats Indians in matters of employment, housing, education, and other issues, will not fade away. As the quincentenary of Columbus' invasion draws nearer, the attention will grow even more pronounced. Earlier this year, the Rocky Mountain News reported that you stated that you will not remove the Columbus Statue (RMN, 2/6/90, p. 7). Mr. Tom Gleason of your office was quoted as saying that "Denver is a multiethnic community. Columbus was an important figure in history, and the mayor's not about to pit one group in this community against another." Unfortunately, when the city erected the statue it made a conscious decision to favor the sensitivities of one segment of this community, to the detriment of another. The question now is whether you and your office possess the moral courage to recognize the racist nature of the city's initial decision, and to reverse it by removing the statue. The city's attitude to this point has been to show less concern for the outrage of the Indian community around the maintenance of a statue to an Indian murderer, than it has with the anticipated reaction of the Italian community if the statue is removed. Allow us also to be clear on the fallacy of multiethnic conflict. Our position is not anti-Italian. It would not matter to us if Columbus had been Italian, Greek, British, or any other nationality. The fact is that he murdered and enslaved our people, began the process of the theft of this hemisphere from our nations, and is now revered as a national hero. We can no longer' tolerate the racist historical depiction of Columbus as an honorable visionary - he was not. Consequently, our position is no more anti-Italian than a Jewish position against a Hitler statue would be anti-German, or a Lithuanian position against a Stalin statue would be anti-Russian. Also, you would never permit the maintenance of a Hitler or Stalin statue to protect the feelings of some German or Russian community sensitivities, yet you feel perfectly free to contribute to the legitimacy of Columbus' role in our genocide in the interest of community harmony! Let us assure you that the harmony of the community will be in serious jeopardy as long as that statue remains ensconced with the blessings of your administration. Let us now address the actual purpose of this letter: to request that you take a positive role in the preservation of community harmony around the Columbus issue by directing your manager of the Denver Traffic Operations Bureau, Sgt. Elton Davis, to revoke the parade permit for the Columbus Day Parade for this year. The permit was issued on 20 July 199O to the Federation of Italian Americans for the parade to take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, October 9, 1990. To us, this parade represents an extreme racially-motivated insult to our people. It elevates to the level of a national hero a man who was nothing more than a self-serving, imperialistic, murderer and thief. We cannot sit by idly and accept parades to murderers while our people continue to face the effects of genocide on a daily basis. In this matter, you have the opportunity to stand with the victims of the American Holocaust, you have an opportunity to set the historical record straight, or you can side with those who blink reality and live in an Orwellian, racist fantasy. What Columbus brought in 1492 was not a glorious "encounter;" it was an invasion, and it began a physical, cultural and political slaughter that continues throughout the hemisphere today. The legacy of Columbus denies our children their humanity, it teaches them that they came from worthless and meaningless peoples and cultures. You can help to validate the beauty and contributions of their ancestors - Mr. Mayor, you can stand for the truth in this matter. We ask you to rescind the city's permit for the Columbus Day Parade. We await your prompt response. In honor of all our relatives, Glenn T. Morris, Co-Director cc: Colorado AIM members AIM Legal Defense/Offense Team Wallace Coffey and members of the Mayor's American Indian Advisory Board Rich Castro, Office of Community Affairs and Human Rights Kevin Flynn, Rocky Mountain News |
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© 2004-2005
Colorado AIM Contact us at
denveraim@coloradoaim.org or
303-832-2544 |
