Out of Excuses
It’s not too late to save the Puerto Rican parade
IT’S raining on New York City’s June 11 Puerto Rican Day Parade.
Shockingly, this year’s parade organizers decided to honor Oscar López Rivera, convicted in 1981 for his part in terrorist attacks ostensibly on behalf of the cause of Puerto Rican independence. López Rivera and his comrades caused death, serious injury and property damage. Their victims were both NYPD officers and civilians.
It’s not too late for parade officials to do the right thing and find someone more worthy of the honor.
To justify honoring him, parade organizers fell back on the excuse that López Rivera didn’t personally bomb anything — he merely conspired to overthrow the US government and transported explosives. They also suggested, without evidence, that a boycott of the parade is “orchestrated” by “an ultra- right-wing” element or by “Trump/right-winger Latinos” who favor Puerto Rican statehood. What nonsense. This mess rests at the feet of the parade organizers, who decided to have a convicted felon — whose 55-year jail sentence was commuted to 35 years by President Barack Obama, but was not pardoned or exonerated as wrongfully convicted — as the symbol of Puerto Rico’s national pride in order to make a political statement about statehood. They turned a joyous event into an embarrassing spectacle.
So, where are our political leaders?
A few key officials will be absent from the festivities: Sen. Charles Schumer (conveniently out of town for the parade), Gov. Cuomo (no comment was his initial comment for his non-attendance), acting Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez — who proudly wants to be Brooklyn’s first Puerto Rican district attorney — (not attending, campaign activities in Brooklyn) and others are boycotting this major parade they would otherwise mandatorily attend.
Yet even in their nonattendance, they aren’t exactly profiles in courage. They should state unequivocally that the parade organizers acted against the best interests of the city and the Puerto Rican community. The political equivalent of “the dog ate my homework” won’t suffice this time.
Some advice to our boycotting public officials: Be courageous. Don’t boycott — march separately! Shun López Rivera and the politically motivated parade organizers. (This applies also to Mayor de Blasio and other public officials who plan to march: No arms out, embracing López Rivera.)
Alternatively, walk the parade’s sidewalks’ route — shake hands as you go — join and support the millions of Puerto Ricans who will enthusiastically line Fifth Avenue.
Controversy isn’t new to New York parades — including the Puerto Rican Day Parade — but in the past, officials took a stand when an honoree or grand marshal was an extreme or embarrassing choice.
In 1983, after the St. Patrick’s Day Parade organizers selected Michael Flannery, a supporter of the Irish Republican Army’s antiBritish violence, as the parade’s grand marshal, Cardinal Terrence Cooke refused to greet Flannery, as is traditional, when he marched past St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
Although former Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Gov. Hugh Carey boycotted the parade because of Flannery’s IRA involvement, then-Gov. Mario Cuomo (“out of respect for the history and tradition of IrishAmericans”), Mayor Ed Koch (“I urge everyone who loves the Irish to march with me”), Sen. Al D’Amato and other public officials still marched.
In 2010, the Puerto Rican Day Parade organizers’ grand marshal withdrew after it was revealed he was convicted and sentenced to three months for domestic violence in 2003. Parade organizers defused that controversy by replacing the grand marshal with singer Marc Anthony. It’s not too late to fix this. Parade organizers must remove their political blinders and take a lesson from 2010: Withdraw López Rivera as its highprofile honoree.
The Puerto Rican community deserves the same “respect” and “love” from our present public officials who have attended countless other New York City ethnic parades and feasts.
For this parade, there must be solidarity behind the call: “Everyone who loves Puerto Ricans, march” to reject this indefensible attempt to rain on the Puerto Rican Day Parade.