Denver, CO – In a press conference today led by Denver City Council members Serena Gonzales Gutierrez and Shontel Lewis, Black & Brown leaders stood in solidarity to denounce the recent posting of racist, anti-immigrant signs on Colfax Avenue. The press conference took at the street corner of Garfield and Colfax, one of many sites where offensive signs were discovered and removed on August 29th.
“We understand that our liberation is bound up in one another’s. . . You cannot resolve injustice with injustice,” shared Council Member Shontel Lewis. “We will not let the tactics of white supremacy and hatred to divide our communities.”
“This is our Denver, our Denver celebrates diversity by acknowledging our beautiful and historic indigenous, Black, Latino, Chicano, Asian American, Pacific Islander, and immigrant communities. Our Denver does not stand for attempts to divide our communities,” added Council Member Serena Gonzales Gutierrez.
“The tactics we’re seeing are nothing new. Every time there’s an opportunity to throw Black and Brown people under the bus, it gets used—to divide us, to pit us against each other, even within our own immigrant community. These tensions exist, and it’s up to us to say this is not okay and to stand up against this hate,” shared Gladis Ibarra, Co-Executive Director of the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition.
Juan Carlos, an immigrant leader also spoke, “White or black, it doesn’t matter, we all are human. . . We have come here to give our families a better future. What happened yesterday is unacceptable. We all are humans.”
These signs, which targeted Black and Brown communities, represent a blatant attempt to sow division and hatred within our city. Today, Denver community members came together to reject these racist actions and reaffirm Denver’s commitment to unity, diversity, and inclusion.
The press conference included a myriad of elected officials, including Attorney General Phil Weiser and former Mayor of Denver Wellington Webb, and community leaders who spoke and sent a clear message: hate and division have no place in Denver. Speakers shared a commitment to continue to stand strong together, ensuring that every resident, regardless of race or immigration status, is treated with respect and dignity.
