Mayor promises changes after 'offensive' floats in Mummers parody parade

When community activists and residents began to voice their displeasure with the tastefulness of some of the floats during Middletown's Hummers Parade on New Year's Day, they didn't expect action to come so quickly.

Before any of them could voice their opinion at Monday's Middletown council meeting, Mayor Ken Branner told the standing-room-only crowd that "we are not going to tolerate this."

"This" referred to what many have called racist and offensive displays during the annual parade.

As student activists sat in the aisles holding up signs decrying racism and saying "not in our backyard" and people stood two rows deep applauding, Branner said that a committee of seven community members will be established to come up with guidelines for the parade.

Mummers parody parade slammed as racist, prompts calls for change

"There will be no permits issued for the Jan. 1, 2020 Hummers Parade until guidelines are approved by the council," Branner said. "This is where we are headed as a result of the parade last Tuesday. We are not going to tolerate this."

Among the more than 200 people attending Monday night's council meeting were a number of Latino organizations as well as the NAACP and student groups.

Javier Torrijos, chairman of the Delaware Hispanic Commission, was the first speaker of the evening and read a letter asking council to uphold and protect the rights of all its residents and affirm that the law against racism, intimidation and tolerance will prevail.

"We can't tolerate these types of parades that are extremely racist in nature against immigrants and members of groups who are the target of expressions of hatred, discrimination, oppression and exclusion," he said. 

The parade, which began as a parody of the Mummers Parade held New Year's Day in Philadelphia, more than ruffled feathers in Middletown.

At the center of the controversy was a float portraying people in cages at border detention. This sparked outrage online, as former political candidates, community activists and others questioned how such displays were permitted. 

"This went more than close to the edge. It went over the edge and it has to be called out," said state Senator Stephanie Hansen, D-Middletown, the day of the parade. "The irreverent and satirical humor is fine and it's expected every year, but I think some of the displays took a mean and nasty turn."

Delaware's Senate Democrats called out the event for crossing "a line from tongue-in-cheek irreverence to poor taste."

"It is fine — even healthy — to poke fun at politicians, ideologies, and celebrities, but satire is best when it is aimed at the prominent and powerful; jokes about children in cages and the humanitarian crisis at the border are simply 'punching down,'" the caucus posted on Facebook. "The tenor of these displays is divisive, mean-spirited, and entirely counter to our state’s values.”

The Hummers Parade started in 1971 and is known for its controversial displays of political, cultural and social issues. 

A Townsend native turned Virginia resident spearheaded the most controversial display that included a man dressed up in stained underwear. 

It was clear during the lineup that the display revolved around the border detention centers where an 8-year-old Guatemalan boy recently died of the flu, as reported by USA Today.

John Bingham, who said he and his family drove from Virginia just for the parade, hinted before the parade that the dog cages on a trailer were not all they had in store.

"It's a tradition," he said about 20 minutes before one in the man dressed up in soiled underpants curled up in a cage and was marched down the streets of Middletown. "Light-hearted fun," he called it.

A Hummers Parade regular said that every year, at least one person goes to city officials complaining about something in the parade. This year, that number grew.

"You always offend a couple of people, but nothing like what happened this year," said Michael Wipf, who has performed in more than a dozen of the events. "This has been a big firestorm."

Community advocate and former U.S. Senate candidate Kerri Evelyn Harris said last week that she and others are not calling for an end to the parade, but that "hateful and hurtful" displays shouldn't be the way to celebrate the new year.

"I don’t condone taking away a person’s right to free speech, but that doesn’t mean that I sit silently when I disagree with the content," she said. "Somebody has to take responsibility."

Harris spoke at Monday's council meeting, saying first that she applauded the council's decision to take action. She then told the council that this has been happening for years in Middletown.

"We gather here not because of one float," she said. "For many years, there have been floats and content that have hurt our communities. Middletown shouldn't be having this meeting tonight. It should be celebrating growth and prosperity."

Jordan Resh, a student at Brandeis University who sat in the aisle holding up a sign in protest, agreed.

"I wish we didn't have to be here today and people knew what was right from wrong," she said. "It shouldn't happen on our streets."

Last week, Branner said the town has no oversight of the parade other than providing police for traffic control and making sure no laws are broken.

While he said the float portraying children in cages at border detention was "pretty offensive," he said to not allow them to participate would be unconstitutional.

"There have been floats in previous years that have been offensive, but the bottom line is we don't have anything to do with the parade," he said. "You can't stop anybody from assembling and walking down the street. Freedom of speech is the other side of this and we pay close attention to that."

That all changed Monday night with his statement that he and the council do not condone many of the actions of the Hummers Parade and his promise to address the parade going forward.

Reach Jerry Smith at jsmith17@delawareonline.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JerrySmithTNJ.

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