How about a more inclusive Mummers Parade in Atlantic City?

The Mummers Parade has been a Philadelphia tradition for over 100 years and is like a one-day Mardi Gras for the City of Brotherly Love. However, the clubs that participate have been facing financial struggles and the city stopped offering prize money for winners in 2008. Philadelphia still pays for police, “crowd control, sanitation, emergency medical personnel, and related services,” according to philly.com and now the parade gets sponsorships and relies more on fundraising to put on the spectacle.

However, yesterday, some homophobic and racist acts, on wide display, overshadowed the festivities for some:

This isn’t the first time the Mummers Parade had been criticized for insensitivity. It’s also been called out for a lack of diversity. Decades ago, there was only one black string band, the Octavius V. Catto Club, but they pulled out after being given last place in 1929. Women weren’t allowed to march until 1975. There were even children in brownface this year:

Bill Anderson, a host and reporter on Fox 29, asked on Twitter:

Jeff Deeney, a writer who has lived in Philadelphia for 15 years, started tweeting about his disdain of the Mummers as the 2016 parade began:

Throughout the day, Deeney’s stream was filled with harsh criticisms:

And toward the end, he suggested the parade be moved:

The parade isn’t going to be moved or shut down. It’s a Philadelphia institution: a tourist draw, there’s a museum, etc. However, if the Mummers are seen as a disruption to many and/ or not inclusive to others, why not branch off? A little competition might be just what the Mummers parade needs to change for the better.

A Mummers Parade in Atlantic City?

Atlantic City (AC) certainly doesn’t mind a little (or even a lot) of morning drinking — many bars are already open 24 hours. An Atlantic City Mummers Parade could focus more on letting underrepresented groups like African Americans, Latinos, Asians not only participate, but lead preparations, if the desire is there. And the LGBT community would certainly be welcome: Don Guardian, the mayor of AC, is already courting the “gay tourism market,” and is openly gay himself (and Republican)!

Some Mummers groups already have performed at Boardwalk Hall in AC to give encore performances for their fundraising efforts, but not an actual parade. The biggest challenges would be the financials, but it wouldn’t be impossible.

South Jersey officials rolled out the red carpet for the Philadelphia 76ers practice facility in Camden, and contributed $82 million in grants. While I would hope money could be raised that doesn’t leave New Jersey or Atlantic County taxpayers on the hook, creative ways of financing could be drummed up by organizations like the Greater Atlantic City GLBT Alliance and other parties interested. The organization already runs the Miss’d America Pageant, a drag-queen spinoff of Miss America.

Maybe the Mummers Parade should get a spinoff of its own. It could also be on New Year’s Day, or another date— Miss’d America usually happens a week or two after Miss America. It’s clear the parade needs to be something more inclusive, an AC parade would have a flavor of its own, while acknowledging the Philadelphia-history. Atlantic and Cape May counties are culturally part of Philadelphia anyway, this wouldn’t be like doing a Mummers Parade in North Jersey.

Atlantic City is in need of finding a new identity after a string of tumultuous years rattled with casino closings, mass layoffs and the housing foreclosures that followed. A well-planned, and more welcoming parade, might be a perfect fit for the seaside resort with an amazing history and traditions of its own. AC is already looking to reinvent itself; the Mummers Parade should continue seeking to do the same.