All-White Tampa Group Out of Super Bowl Parade

Sponsors of Tampa’s annual pirate invasion and Gasparilla parade canceled plans to host the festivities in conjunction with Super Bowl XXV after a challenge to its all-white male membership.

“Recent events make it clear that our participation could increase the risk of damage to the public image and we do not wish to do anything that could embarrass our community,” said Warren Frazier, captain of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla.

He said the krewe’s board of directors voted Tuesday.

The National Football League expressed concern over the exclusive nature of the krewe and its sponsorship of the parade, and black leaders threatened an economic boycott of the Super Bowl and related events.

Frazier indicated that there were no immediate plans to add blacks or women to the group, but said the krewe intends to work with the black community toward this goal.

The private, nonprofit krewe stages its invasion each winter, with krewe members dressed as pirates coming ashore to take over the city and parade through downtown.

The event kicks off a week of festivities opened to all to commemorate notorious deeds of the legendary pirate Jose Gaspar and his cut-throat band of marauders who plundered Florida’s Gulf Coast centuries ago.

Frazier said the krewe had moved the festivities to Super Bowl weekend at the request of the Super Bowl Task Force to help land the premier football game. It was the task force, charged with planning Super Bowl events, that spawned a coalition of black organizations that threatened the boycott if membership policy wasn’t altered.

The Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce and the city’s biracial commission plan to sponsor a parade and celebration to replace Gasparilla activities.