Amid the Friday morning heat in Denver, more than 100 Coloradans gathered around a bus stop pole that previously hosted racist signs targeting migrants and Vice President Kamala Harris.
The group filled every inch of space, crowded in a semi-circle near the bus stop on Colfax Avenue and Garfield Street — one of five locations from which police removed signs.
By 10 a.m., the sidewalk was overflowing with people pressing against each other, offering support through hands placed on backs and shoulders. The only gap in the crowd was a microphone in the center that speakers took turns with, offering support for the city and condemnations for the people who put up the signs the morning before.
“Out of many, we are one,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said, addressing the crowd accumulated on the sidewalk Friday. “We are one Denver, we are one Colorado, we are one America. … There is no place for hate in Colorado.”
Less than a day before the rally, Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis posted a photo of the signs screwed into the pole of that bus stop.
One white sign read “Blacks must sit at the back of the bus. Kamala’s migrants sit in the front.” Another yellow caution sign on the same pole warned riders of “Kamala’s illegals,” with imagery of people running supposed to signify immigrants crossing the border.
Denver Chief of Police Ron Thomas said a total of seven signs were removed from five bus stops along Colfax in the metro area — three in Denver and two in Aurora. He said all of the signs had been placed by 7:30 a.m. Thursday and that the women who had been seen carrying a stepladder near one of the signs likely were removing them.
“The signs that were posted were absolutely atrocious,” 43-year-old Denver resident MiDian Shofner said. “It was full of racism, it was full of dehumanization, and I wanted to stand in a space where we could collectively and strongly say that we don’t accept this.”
When Shofner first saw the images of the signs circulating social media and group chats of city leaders Thursday, she said she was disgusted this was so normalized.
“I say that it’s normalized because I wasn’t shocked,” Shofner said. “I wasn’t shocked that this happened, but I was disgusted. … These bus stops are used by our children to get to school. There are children that saw those signs yesterday.”
After coordinating with Denver police and transportation officials to get the signs removed Thursday morning, Denver City Councilwomen Lewis and Serena Gonzales-Gutierrez quickly moved to organize the rally, wanting to offer a place for the community to gather and push back against the racist messages.
“History, unfortunately, continues to repeat itself,” Lewis said. “We need to take a serious pause as a nation and ask if this is who we are, if this is who we want to be, or if we are going to come together to do the necessary work to eradicate this kind of hatred.”
Lewis and Gonzales-Gutierrez — alongside Colorado State House representatives Jennifer Bacon, Leslie Herod and Javier Mabrey and other community activists — spoke at the rally Friday.
“We will not go back,” Herod said to the crowd. “We will not let them divide us. This is who we are — we stand together every single day, including today and moving forward.”
Shofner said she had hoped the elected officials who spoke at the rally would offer more concrete actions that attendees could take back to their communities, but found herself disappointed.
“I’m not saying that this was not a beautiful showing of community, this was absolutely beautiful and amazing,” Shofner said. “… Having the community come together and stand is right, and we have to be able to have something to do beyond that.”
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