A Public Letter to Joe Borelli: 37 NYC Council Candidates Condemn Your Racist Attack on the West Indian Day Parade
Honoring and Respecting New York City’s West Indian Day Parade
For press inquiries or to sign our letter as a 2021 candidate, email hi@kevinlwei.com
Councilmember Borelli:
We the undersigned are running for City Council in 2021 and seek to bring inclusive, proactive, and collaborative leadership to the City Council. We are deeply disgusted by your racist call to end the West Indian Day Parade. Every single parade, no matter which part of our wonderful diversity as Americans it celebrates, requires additional police resources and disrupts local communities. Yet you single out only one — a parade celebrating the rich traditions and culture of New York’s extensive West Indian community, which is mainly Black — to target for elimination, fabricating a preposterous and bigoted argument that brings shame to the office you hold and to our City. You need to apologize and consider whether you are fit to remain in office if you cannot understand and address your own bias for the greater good of our City and its residents.
There is no debate — Black Caribbean communities deserve respect and support from law enforcement, not just as taxpayers, but as human beings. You cite gun violence as a rationale for your not-so-veiled bigotry, but this kind of grandstanding does nothing to address the root causes of gun violence, and it is completely disingenuous to pose this as a solution.
Councilmember, you do not speak for the communities that host this event nor should you pretend to know what is best for us. Have you ever had the pleasure of attending the West Indian Day Parade to vibe to Caribbean-American music and enjoy extraordinary Caribbean-American cuisine? Do you understand its cultural significance for thousands of Caribbean New Yorkers? Why did you single out only one parade, one that is of particular significant for Caribbean New Yorkers while ignoring all others? Can you look within yourself to see the racism and implicit bias that your words represent?
There is a very real possibility that this year’s parade will need to be postponed or cancelled because of the pandemic. However, when parades are able to resume, there should be no barrier for the West Indian Day Parade to continue, celebrating the rich culture and diversity that Caribbean-Americans are contributing to New York’s as a Cultural Capital.
Councilmember, at minimum, you should rescind your statements and apologize for this discriminatory and inappropriate effort to end this important event. Equally important, you must assess whether you should remain in office in a city as diverse as ours, given your animosity toward such a broad spectrum of New Yorkers. We eagerly await your response.
Signed,
Josue Pierre
Candidate, CD40
Wilfredo Florentino
Candidate, CD42
Althea Stevens
Candidate, CD16
Marti Cummings
Candidate, CD07
Shaun Abreu
Candidate, CD07
Julia Forman
Candidate, CD26
Kim Moscaritolo
Candidate, CD05
Shahana Hanif
Candidate, CD39
Whitney Hu
Candidate, CD38
Jesse Cerrotti
Candidate, CD22
Corey Ortega
Candidate, CD07
Tricia Shimamura
Candidate, CD05
Eric Dinowitz
Candidate, CD11
Rod Townsend
Candidate, CD22
Johanna Garcia
Candidate, CD10
Felicia Singh
Candidate, CD32
Billy Freeland
Candidate, CD05
Chris Sosa
Candidate, CD05
Chris Marte
Candidate, CD01
Seth Rosen
Candidate, CD06
Kristin Richardson Jordan
Candidate, CD09
Amoy Barnes
Candidate, CD49
Amanda Farias
Candidate, CD18
Uniqua Smith
Candidate, CD16
Elisa Crespo
Candidate, CD15
Dan Cohen
Candidate, CD07
Crystal Hudson
Candidate, CD35
Brandon West
Candidate, CD39
Rita Joseph
Candidate, CD40
Shirley Paul
Candidate, CD46
Gardy Brazela
Candidate, CD46
Brian Cunningham
Candidate, CD40
Edwin Raymond
Candidate, CD40
Blake Morris
Candidate, CD40
Mercedes Narcissis
Candidate, CD46
Patrick Johnson
Candidate, CD39
Jenny Low
Candidate, CD01
