The Chamber of Commerce administers the Fourth of July Parade for Friday Harbor and San Juan Island, to the public’s great benefit.
Unfortunately, the Chamber of Commerce has apparently forgotten what the Fourth of July Parade celebrates: this country’s declaration of independence from a monarchy and the birth of a free nation. Signing the Declaration of Independence was a political act, and from the very beginning Independence Day was commemorated by parades, parties, and political speeches.
This year’s rules for participation in the Fourth of July Parade have been revised to erase the most important part of that history.
The Chamber of Commerce’s Application states it will no longer permit participation by “political parties/political action committees/partisan/social issues and candidates running for office” or any entry that the parade committee deems “in its sole judgment” to be “political, partisan/social issues, unlawful, obscene, vulgar, defamatory, offensive to local community standards or otherwise considered to be inconsistent with the standards, themes, quality, or purposes of the San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce 4th of July Parade.”
Can the Chamber of Commerce have entirely forgotten that our nation was born via a brave political act by suggesting that political speech is “inconsistent with the standards, themes, quality, or purposes of the San Juan Island Chamber of Commerce 4th of July Parade”?
Or is the Chamber implying that political speech is by its very nature “obscene, vulgar, defamatory, or offensive to local community standards”?
Such a characterization is both offensive to our history and damaging to our future. We the people choose our government. We participate in government, and we agree to be bound by government. Without government, we live in anarchy.
Although the Chamber is a private entity, the Fourth of July Parade is not a private event. It is celebrated by the public, on public roads closed by public servants, to celebrate a public holiday. The Chamber administers the Parade for the public. It is our opinion that, by adding this new policy, the Chamber has violated its public trust.
Representatives of Indivisible privately urged the Chamber to change its rules and were rebuffed. We now publicly urge the Chamber to change its rules because of the great public importance of this matter.
The candidates and the voters have essential work to do to form our next government, and the Parade has traditionally been an important forum for the dissemination of election information. Denying candidates, parties, and social organizations access to voters — and denying voters access to these voices — is unamerican.
We urge the Chamber of Commerce to amend the rule to read, “The parade
committee reserves the right to refuse an entry into the parade if it determines that the entry is unlawful, obscene, vulgar, or defamatory.” This would protect the public without compromising the most American of values — the right to free political speech — on the most American of days — Independence Day.
Indivisible San Juan Islands
