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Bloomsday race organizers say they removed the billboard in response to the complaints
The word “race” on a billboard advertising an annual 12K run in Spokane, Washington recently sparked criticism about racism from a Gonzaga University professor.
Organizers of the annual Bloomsday race removed the “Our City, Our Race” billboard on Monday in response to Professor Jenaro Abraham’s and others’ complaints, KHQ NonstopLocal reports.
“We recognize that language can be interpreted in different ways. With that in mind, we’ve decided to update the billboard as the celebration of the 50th Running of Bloomsday campaign continues,” organizers wrote in a statement this week.
The annual race began 50 years ago, and typically draws thousands to the city. This year’s is scheduled for May 3, according to the event website.
Abraham said people online lobbed “racial slurs” at him for complaining about the billboard. One told him that he “should be deported back to Puerto Rico,” he told KHQ.
“I think a lot of communities of color in this region will see it as something that threatens their own existence here,” he told the local news outlet. Abraham teaches political science at Gonzaga, a private Jesuit university in Spokane.
Lisa Gardner, president of the NAACP of Spokane, made a similar comment to the Spokesman Review, saying the issue is with “intent versus impact.”
“The message behind the ‘Our City, Our Race’ billboard and the way the word ‘race’ landed felt exclusionary. Intent doesn’t outweigh impact, and in a growing, diverse community, words matter,” Gardner wrote.
She thanked the event organizers for responding promptly by removing the ad.
Bloomsday spokesperson Bethany Lueck told the newspaper the organization is working on a new design for the billboard.
“The message was intended to reflect the community spirit of Bloomsday,” Lueck stated. “For 50 years, Bloomsday has brought people together to take part in a shared, positive experience.”
The Spokesman Review described the “Our City, Our Race” billboard as “an unintentional double entendre.” But regardless of intentions, Abraham said the message was still harmful.
“If the message itself is innocuous, if it doesn’t matter, if it’s just referring to a foot race, why would it be so harmful to change the message?” Abraham said. “Why does it stir so much trouble? Because it represents something deeper in society.”
Abraham “was raised in the U.S. but identifies most with his Puerto Rican heritage,” The Gonzaga Bulletin reported in 2022. He also told the student newspaper that he considers teaching “a form of activism.”
In February, he gave a talk to the Communist Party USA Eastern Washington chapter, speaking about the Communist Manifesto’s “relevance today as we work to build a strong labor movement to combat the rise of fascism and late-stage capitalism.”
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