DENVER
230 protesters arrested for blocking Columbus Day
parade
By Larry Hales
Denver
Two hundred thirty students, activists and workers took the
street here Oct. 9 to peacefully protest the celebration of
Columbus Day and the portrayal of the man behind the genocide
of Native peoples as a hero--and were arrested by a force of
600 police officers, many in full riot gear.
Altogether, some 600 people came out early on the crisp
Saturday morning. They gathered on the steps of the State
Capitol to listen to speakers from the American Indian Movement
and various other indi genous organizations, as well as leaders
from the Black and Latino communities.
Leaders from AIM and the Denver Black Ministerial Alliance
vowed to take the streets to block the Columbus Day parade, and
a call was made for other volunteers. More than 200 people
pledged to go into the streets and block the procession. They
remained resolute when told that they'd probably be
arrested.
The protesters, carrying signs that called for an end to the
worship of Columbus and colonialism, marched down to Blake and
19th streets in downtown Denver. The sacred drum of the
anti-Columbus Day event led the way, and Native people followed
closely with the drum.
As they walked into the streets, they were met by police
officers waiting with prison buses and police wagons.
All those who did not wish to be arrested were told to leave
the street. But many remained, defiant in the face of the
police with their many instruments of repression.
Most of those who remained in the streets were Native
activists. They were the last to be arrested and put into
vans.
All those arrested were released two hours later.
The Transform Columbus Day weekend, which began on Oct. 8,
started with a Four Directions March. The previous weekend
there had been forums on racism and the legacy of Columbus. It
was all an attempt to build community and to show that the
Transform Columbus Day Alli ance, began in 1989, was not formed
to be anti-Italian, but to show respect for all cultures.
Thus, it calls for an end to the national holiday for a
rapist, murderer and the man who began the slave trade in this
part of the world. Since Columbus Day was initiated in Colorado
in 1905, by Gov. Alva Adams, some of the biggest demonstrations
against the holiday have taken place here.
With the conflicts that U.S. rulers have embroiled this
country in now, the fight against historical lies grows ever
more poignant, and will by the day, as resistance to
imperialist aggression increases. The drive for wars--500 years
ago, and still todaybeen for conquest and profit, but more than
a tinge of racism and bigotry is behind it all.
Indeed, there has been a rise in anti-Arab and anti-Muslim
hatred coming from the rulers in this country and the media
they control.
It was no different when Columbus and his supporters began
their enslavement and genocide against Indigenous people in the
Americas. So as we take to the streets to protest against more
war, let us correctly remember Columbus for what he truly
was.
Reprinted from the Oct. 21, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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