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Parade Has Thorns In Its Path

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By SOLVEJ SCHOU, The Associated Press

Published: December 30, 2007

PASADENA, Calif. - There could be some discord during the Tournament of Roses Parade as demonstrators promise to raise issues during the holiday spectacle that has been going on for more than a century.
Human rights advocates plan to protest a float honoring the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and anti-war activists, including "Peace Mom" Cindy Sheehan, intend to rally for peace.

The theme of this year's New Year's Day parade is "Passport to the World's Celebrations." It will feature 46 floats, 21 marching bands and 18 equestrian units.

This won't be the first Rose parade touched by protest - in 1992, American Indians complained about the naming of a descendant of Christopher Columbus as grand marshal - but most problems have been mechanical.

"Honestly, in the past years, it's really been more about floats breaking down, delaying the parade, than other things, than protests," said Tournament of Roses President CL Keedy.

Yet some fear the protests could develop into an annual pattern that could tarnish the parade's shiny image.

"If controversy like this diminishes the positive impact of the Rose parade, it would be of concern," Pasadena Mayor Bill Bogaard said.

Chinese Americans who say they were victims of political or religious persecution in China are criticizing the $400,000 Beijing Olympics float.
Bogaard said the city cited security considerations in turning down the group's proposal for a demonstration involving a large band and several vehicles along the parade route.

"The tournament views the float as I do, as a celebration of the Olympic Games, not as a subject of criticism of the Chinese," Bogaard said. "It is my hope that as China emerges more and more into the world community it will be inclined to respect all human and civil rights."

Protest organizer John Li, a member of the California Institute of Technology chapter of Falun Gong, the spiritual movement outlawed by the Chinese government in 1999, promised that his group would be seen if not heard.

"We are going to ask the audience on the road to turn their back when the Asian float arrives, and show banners. We have to send a strong message to say no to human rights abuses in China," Li said.

The float is sanctioned by the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee but is sponsored by the Roundtable of Southern California Chinese-American Organizations and Pasadena-based label maker Avery Dennison Corp. It will feature the upcoming Olympics' five official mascots and be decorated with a combination of flowers, including carnations and daisy petals.

Sheehan, the outspoken San Francisco Bay area activist whose son was killed in Iraq, will join other groups calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney and for an end to the Iraq war, according to her sister, Dede Miller.

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