Vice Mayor Blasts Choice of Rose Parade Marshal

One day after the Tournament of Roses announced its selection of a direct descendant of Christopher Columbus as the grand marshal for the Rose Parade, Pasadena Vice Mayor Rick Cole lambasted the selection as “a symbol of greed, slavery, rape and genocide.”

In selecting Cristobal Colon, the 20th heir to Columbus’ title of Admiral of the Ocean Sea, the Tournament of Roses has chosen “a white male European who claims the heredity titles won by conquest,” Cole said in a statement Wednesday.

Colon and Spanish officials said earlier in the week that the actions of 15th- and 16th-Century Spanish conquerors should be viewed in historical perspective. Cole called on the Tournament of Roses to open its structure to women and people of color. The selection reflects “the extreme myopia of an organization totally controlled by aging white men,” he said. Tournament officials said Wednesday they could not comment on Cole’s statement because they had not seen it.