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diggGlendale, protestors tell 2 sides of bowl game march
Did the city of Glendale play dirty ball or did Somos America march organizers fumble?
Did the city of Glendale play dirty ball or did Somos America march organizers fumble?
Charges, countercharges and denials fill the air. At stake are reputations, credibility, and if plans to derail the 2008 Super Bowl advance, perhaps hundreds of millions in revenue for Arizona's hospitality industry.
The scene on Jan. 8 in Glendale was reminiscent of civil rights struggles of the past: more than 500 people - mostly Latinos - defying local authorities to voice their protests.
If there were any doubt what they were protesting, placards proclaimed it: "Arizona is racist," and "I still have a dream. Support the DREAM Act."
Proposition 300, passed by Arizona voters in November, bars students and other adults living here without immigration documents from receiving state funds to attend college or private schools.
Although the demonstration was peaceful, media coverage spoiled Glendale officials' glee over hosting the Bowl Series Championship and airing millions of dollars worth of free advertising to a national TV audience.
Glendale officials said the demonstration was illegal - held without a permit -- and police issued citations to eight march organizers that day. Glendale says organizers failed to file an application within the required 14-day window.
"There had been almost daily conversations with the group," says Julie Frisoni, Glendale communications director. "We outlined what needed to be done and the timelines. The main reason they were denied the permit was the time issue."
Somos America coordinators tell another version. They first met with Glendale City Manager Ed Beasley on Dec. 14, and despite his promises to provide more information about filing requirements, didn't hear back until Dec. 22 at noon. They were told they had until 5 p.m. that day to file.
"There was no way we could collect the necessary papers together and convene our committee in that time," says an organizer. They point out that they have always cooperated with municipal authorities when staging a large march.
Alfredo Gutierrez was one of the community organizers cited. Gutierrez says Beasley "made it impossible for the students to obtain a permit."
Jarrett Maupin, another marcher who received a citation, is harsher in his view of what Glendale's motives might have been: "They didn't want a bunch of Latinos to march in their city and disrupt the bowl game, or threaten a chance for the Super Bowl to be held in their city."
Threatening the Super Bowl is exactly what Jarrett says he is organizing now. He adds that he wants to draw attention to the growing "racist" mood in Arizona.
And he's taking the fight to the national level. Maupin says he is enlisting the aid of national and local Latino leaders, and Black leaders like the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, to put pressure on the national Super Bowl committee and pro football players to take away the Super Bowl scheduled in Glendale in 2008.
Frisoni says an anti-Super Bowl campaign will hurt all Arizonans.
"I would say that for an outside group that did not follow the correct procedure, to threaten a Super Bowl that benefits the whole state would be a shame."
