Black History Parade Takes Turn

Orange County's Black History Parade has been renamed the Multicultural Parade and Faire to broaden its financial support -- triggering debate in the African American community over whether the event has been culturally diluted at the expense of its soul.

Organizers say the name change also reflects the multicultural appeal of the 24-year-old parade while still highlighting the achievements and contributions of black people in America during Black History Month.

"I had to change [the name] because the people that embraced me, embraced the vision I had, that came forth with dollars" represented an ethnic rainbow, said the Rev. Willie Holmes, chairman of this year's parade and a pastor of Majesty International Center, a nondenominational church in Fullerton.

Others say, though, that turning the parade into a multicultural event devalues what had made it distinctive."It is as if the black community has become invisible," said the Rev. John McReynolds, senior pastor of Second Baptist Church in Santa Ana. African Americans' "cultural and racial distinctions have been absorbed into a cultural melting pot that has no value."

Helen Shipp, a founding member of the committee that planned the first parade in 1980, said it always invited people of other cultures to participate, but said she was initially "ticked off" by the name change.

"For all those years, it was the Black History Parade," she said. "Why change it now?"

Her attitude softened after the chairman explained the reasons for the change, she said. "There are times when you have to do certain things," she said.

Experts in cultural and ethnic affairs said the renaming of a black history parade, though unusual, reflects the state's increasing ethnic diversity.

"There are people who understandably feel that the shift from African American to multiethnic is to deflect deserved attention away from the specific experience of black people," said Richard Yarborough, an African American professor of English and African American studies at UCLA. "The counterargument is we now live in a community where black people are no longer the largest group of [people of] color."

Renaming the parade has raised eyebrows elsewhere.

"I thought the purpose of the parade is to celebrate African Americans' heritage and contributions to society," said Christine Harris, coordinator of Pasadena's Black History Parade on Feb. 21. "If they are going to change it, perhaps they should look at doing it a different month, like October, which is Cultural Diversity Month."