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Sons
of Italy Charges Colorado Jury Verdict Trashes the First Amendment
Press
Contact: Kylie Cafiero, (202) 547-2900 kcafiero@osia.org
 WASHINGTON, D.C. - February
1, 2005
The
Order Sons of Italy in America (OSIA) has issued
a strong protest of the Jan. 20 jury verdict
that acquitted eight political activists, who
disrupted the 2004 Columbus Day parade in Denver.
OSIA
is the nation's oldest and largest organization
for men and women of Italian heritage.
In a
statement issued through its anti-defamation
arm, the Commission for Social Justice, OSIA
called the protestors' acquittal "irresponsible"
and warned that "this miscarriage of justice
will have serious repercussions not only for
future Columbus Day parades but for the right
of Americans everywhere to exercise free speech."
Last
year, 239 activists blocked the Oct. 9 Columbus
Day parade, organized by local Italian American
organizations, including the Sons of Italy,
and ignored police orders to disband.
The protestors
were led by Glenn Morris,
chairman of the political science department
at the University of Colorado (Denver) and Ward
Churchill, a professor of
Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado
(Boulder), who were later charged with loitering
and disobeying a police order.
Morris is also
director of the American Indian Movement of
Colorado. Churchill is the author of a controversial
essay, Some People Push Back: On the Justice
of Roosting Chickens. Issued days after 9/11, in it, he calls the terrorist
attacks "justified" and describes the victims as "little Eichmanns" after the
Nazi who helped mastermind the Holocaust.
During their trial, Morris, Churchill
and six other defendants argued that celebrating Columbus Day constitutes hate
speech and that the parade was an act of "ethnic intimidation" that celebrated
the destruction of Native American culture.
In its statement, the Sons of Italy
dismissed these claims as "ridiculous." "What's next? Protesting the Fourth
of July or Thanksgiving? Clearly, these activists are
using Columbus as the straw man for their own
political and social agendas—agendas
which, apparently, do not include respecting the rights of others or the Constitution."
This
was not the first time that Native American
activists disrupted the Denver parade, reports
OSIA Colorado State President Pam Wright. "They
threw balloons filled with red paint at marchers
in the 1991 parade so the parade was cancelled
for about 8 years," she said.
The parade was
revived in 2000, thanks to legal action taken by the Sons of Italy to ensure
the organization's right to a parade permit. However, that parade also was disrupted,
resulting in the arrest of 139 people whose cases were
later dismissed.
Declaring the Denver verdict "a great
victory," the Native American activists now
are lobbying the state government to change
Columbus Day to "All Nations Day."
"Columbus
Day is already ‘all nations day'," says OSIA National President
Joseph Sciame, "because it commemorates the arrival of people of all races, religions
and cultures on these shores."
The Sons of Italy plans to oppose any measure that
would change the name of Columbus Day or interfere with Columbus Day celebrations,
according to Sciame.
Established in 1905, OSIA has more than
600,000 members and supporters and a network of 700
chapters coast to coast.
OSIA works at the community,
national and international levels to promote the heritage
and culture of an estimated 26 million Italian Americans,
the nation’s fifth largest ethnic group, according
to the U.S. Census Bureau. To learn more, visit OSIA
on the Web at www.osia.org.
The Commission for Social
Justice (CSJ) is the anti-defamation arm of OSIA.
The CSJ fights the stereotyping of Italian Americans
by the U.S. entertainment, advertising, and media industries.
It also promotes the achievements and contributions
of Italian Americans to the U.S. through research and
public education programs.
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