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COAIM BLOG CO AIM LATEST NEWS MEDIA
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31 August 1992 Mayor Wellington Webb Dear Mayor Webb: It has been three weeks since the August 10 meeting of the American Indian Advisory Council in your office, and I am writing to reiterate my concerns about events surrounding this year's celebration of the Columbus Quincentenary in Denver. I must also admit dismay and consternation about the lack of effective action from the city concerning several issues of utmost concern to the American Indian community of Denver. During the course of the August 10 meeting, two positions were taken by you and your assistant Ms. Venita Vinson regarding the Columbus issue. First, to paraphrase you, you stated that you were unwilling to take a strong position regarding the Columbus statue in Civic Center Park, and the proposed Columbus Day Parade because you were opposed to pitting one community against another. On that point, I would simply remind you that the City of Denver, including your administration, has already pitted one community against another by allowing the erection and maintenance of a statue that glorifies Columbus in the most visible park in the city. It has also allowed the pitting of one community against another by actively and officially sanctioning, through the issuance of a permit, a racist parade that honors and celebrates Columbus. The real concern of the Colorado AIM membership is not that you are fearful of pitting one community against another, which has already happened, but that you are fearful of antagonizing the Italian-American community if you take a principled stand in opposition to their racist extravaganza on October 10. The appearance is clear: that to your office insults to the American Indian community are acceptable costs of doing business. We find this position faint-hearted and shameful, especially from a mayor we believed would be more proactive in combating the continuing effects of racism and oppression in U.S. society. The second position was that you will only assume responsibility for the actions of your administration. Fair enough, but if memory serves me right you were a resident of Denver, and a very prominent one, for the three years preceding your administration. For each of those years, we requested and actively agitated for the removal of the Columbus statue and/or stood in opposition to the Columbus Day Parade. Our entreaties were widely reported in the local media, and one assumes that you would not have been entirely oblivious to them. It is difficult to believe that you are not better informed on these issues, unless you simply believe them to be insignificant in your grander scheme of things. Your lack of attention to this matter came to the fore during the meeting when you asked, "Why are you picking on Denver?" and then revealed your ignorance of the fact that Columbus Day began here as a holiday in 1907, even though we have consistently made that point over the past three years. October 12, 1992 is the first effective opportunity that the indigenous peoples of the Americas have had to articulate our response to 500 years of colonization and genocide. We have a responsibility to use this opportunity to insure that the next 500 years will not be a continuation of the past, and that respect will be given to the principle of self-determination for indigenous peoples throughout the Americas. Our responsibility is to guarantee that the racism and historical distortion that have been used to dispossess and subjugate us will not be visited on our future generations. That is why it is imperative that in Denver, the birthplace of the Columbus Day holiday, a clear message that the oppressive relics of the past will no longer be accepted or tolerated. Your inattention is also evident regarding the negotiations with the Federation of Italian Americans - a process over six months old, that has left us where we began, and that has subjected us to abuse, insults and disrespect from the Federation. We dutifully attended and negotiated in good faith, at all sessions (March 10, May 14, May 22, June 4, and June 30, 1992) sponsored either by your subordinates or the Community Relations Service of the Justice Department. I remind you that it was not we who walked out of the negotiations, and that we have always been willing to discuss these issues more fully and completely. We should not be subject to, nor will we accept, any blame for the failure of negotiations. Neither will we make any apologies or rationalizations for a group that refuses to acknowledge its own insensitivity to the American holocaust and its own continuing racism against us as a people. We are also disappointed that you cannot see yourself clear to take an unambiguous stand against the perpetuation of the oppression against us, as embodied in the parade. We are asking you once again to rescind the parade permit for the October 10 Columbus Day Parade, on the grounds that it is a racist incitement, and a threat to the public health and safety. If you will not find the will to rescind the permit, based on some erroneous understanding of First Amendment principles, then the least we should be able to expect from you is a strongly worded statement that expresses your abhorrence of the lionization of Columbus and his horrendous deeds. We should at least be able to expect some understanding of the continuing genocide against us, and a statement which rejects the parade as a divisive tool of colonialism. If you cannot see yourself clear to make this small consideration, we will find it difficult to believe that you are genuinely serious about resolving some of the more immediate questions facing the Indian community of Denver. As I informed you on August 10, Indians were the only racial group in the U.S. to lose economic ground in the 1980's; we continue to have the highest unemployment, homelessness, and poverty, and the worst health and education in the country and the state. How can we expect serious remedial efforts in these areas if you cannot find the courage to stop a parade or remove a statue that harms us? If this is the case, the American Indian Movement of Colorado will be hard pressed to justify our continued participation in the Mayor's Advisory Council. Rest assured, however, that if we decide to withdraw we will remain active and vocal in both state and local politics. As mayor, you are at a crossroads. You have the opportunity to lead this city into a new era, to have Denver perceived as a progressive, multicultural community that solidly and soundly rejects racism. You also have the option of watching as Denver it is embarrassed, as a continuing bastion of disrespect to and oppression of indigenous peoples. The eyes of the country will be on Denver on October 10, and the public perception of your administration and of this city is, in large part, in your hands. There is no room for fence-sitting now, you are either with the racists or against them. During a recent trip to the United Nations, indigenous people from around the globe were incredulous that a country would sanction a holiday and parades to Columbus. The Maoris of Aotearoa (New Zealand) asserted that such a holiday would result in New Zealand burning from end to end. Similar responses were proffered from Aborigines of Australia and Indians from southern Indian America. We hope that you understand that what is at issue in this matter is not simply the question of one parade or one statue. What is at issue is the future of relations between American Indians and the city of Denver, the state of Colorado and the United States. What happens in Denver on October 10 may well set the tone of Indian/non-Indian relations long into the future. Hopefully, we will all address the dilemmas before us with the integrity necessary to assure us an honorable place in history. We shall see. Sincerely, Glenn T. Morris |
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