Joan Williams Snubbed by Rose Parade Broadcast

A few days before the Tournament of Roses Parade aired this year, I was super excited to hear about Joan Williams, a woman crowned Miss Crown City 1958 but who was stripped of the title because of her African American heritage.

This evening, I was saddened (and a bit angered) to hear that Williams's monumental ride on the lead float of the parade went completely unacknowledged by the broadcast.

This is ridiculous because, as most long-time viewers know, Bob Eubanks and Stephanie Edwards love to talk about everything and nothing during the parade broadcast. (I am not kidding. They are so fascinated by the sheen on someone's trombone that is as annoying as it is endearing. Which is okay if you're into that sort of thing.) But more seriously, this is a very intriguing story comprising past and present issues concerning prejudices on account of race in one fell swoop.

A sixty second summary could have been dedicated to explaining why she was riding the float, but not even that was given. Some might say, "She should be lucky that she was given an apology in the first place, and a place on the float; you should let it go." I disagree.

Appreciatively, New Year's Day is a time for reflection, celebration, and starting a new chapter, but it is rather unfortunate that a supposed platform wasn't utilized wisely to showcase a person's struggle that is representative of something that is faced - silently - by a lot of people. It was the responsibility of the broadcasters to tell her story, with respect as to why she was there in the first place. She might as well have been denied the honor altogether, without apology, without a granted appearance nearly 60 years later.

Since moving to Los Angeles proper, I have been made more aware of my "blackness", as it were. I love the people I have come to know and the places seen and experienced, but there is always some feeling involved in that no matter how at home I will feel, it will never really be my home. (I especially feel as such when running through Beverly Hills on their awesome dirt pedestrian paths, but I pseudo-digress.)

More on that later. Two steps forward, one step back is all I have to say.

What say you?