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If you’re thinking about heading to Daytona Beach, Florida for the Fourth of July weekend festivities, T.C. Copeland, president of the event promotions firm Black College Reunion Entertainment, wants you to hold that thought.
Copeland, the primary force behind the Black College Reunion, which brings thousands of revelers to the city each spring, has called for a boycott of Daytona International Speedway during the Coke Zero 400 Weekend at Daytona International Speedway, slated for July 2-4, because of practices by city officials that he says are designed to discourage events that cater primarily to black audiences.
<span style="font-weight: bold">In a copy of a transcript of a city task force meeting obtained by BlackAmericaWeb.com, there was discussion of ways to discourage, if not end the event</span>.<span style="font-style: italic"> Opponents contend the Black College Reunion attracts lewd and disruptive behavior, attracting people who are more interested in related partying than in reunion activities. <span style="font-weight: bold">Other cities, they maintained, had successfully discouraged similar events</span>.</span>
At its peak, the Black College Reunion attracted 100,000 visitors annually, as well as a heavy police presence. Once heavily associated with Spring Break, Daytona Beach has sought to change what it considered to be a rowdy image, changing local ordinances. That, combined with the increasing popularity of other locations elsewhere in Florida and in Mexico, has pretty much ended Daytona Beach’s place as a preeminent Spring Break destination.
The city’s efforts have been copied by other municipalities, such as Myrtle Beach, S.C., which passed a series of ordinances, including a helmet law and regulations limiting the number of parking spaces and vendors, to discourage a heavy turnout during this year’s Harley Davidson and Black Biker Weeks.
In the late 1990s, the NAACP filed a lawsuit against Daytona Beach officials over a traffic plan for crowd management, which had never been employed for other large events, arguing it was clearly targeted against the Black College Reunion. A lawsuit also was filed against the Adams Mark Hotel, which imposed a series of restrictions, including requiring hotel guests in town for the reunion be at least 21 and a prohibition against bringing alcohol into the hotel. A federal judge ordered the city to drop the traffic plan and the Adams Mark reached a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, which was later appealed and the suit thrown out on a technicality.
<span style="font-style: italic">“Even when you catch them with their hand in the cookie jar they don’t concede any ground,” </span>Copeland told BlackAmericaWeb.com, adding that the city continues to discourage the event by charging higher fees to his firm for use of the city’s Bandshell for events than those charged to such events as the National Cheerleaders Competition and the Spring Break National Car Show, which cater to a largely white audience.
“When you couple this with the recommendation of the city’s task force, it’s pretty simple to see that there’s a disparity in the application of rights and privileges of black event organizers,” Copeland said.
And it’s not just his firm that is being hurt by the city’s efforts, he added.
“It was a $230 million event that helped small vendors and businessmen. It created jobs,” Copeland said. “This is not just about a bunch of kids having a darned party at the beach. I’m about creating events and opportunities to feed their families.”
He also said the event needs to broaden its appeal, and last year, he proposed changing the name of event to Jam Blast to make it attractive to non-black participants as well.
“All people should be able to do what they want to do. We should have some sort of unity conference and work out some of these issues,” Copeland said.
“We need light shed on the issue to deal with this in the court of public opinion,” Copeland said. “Lawsuits are not effective. Economic boycotts and protests make the issue felt.”
<span style="font-style: italic">Date: Thursday, June 18, 2009, 2:46 pm
By: Jackie Jones, BlackAmericaWeb.com </span>
Copeland, the primary force behind the Black College Reunion, which brings thousands of revelers to the city each spring, has called for a boycott of Daytona International Speedway during the Coke Zero 400 Weekend at Daytona International Speedway, slated for July 2-4, because of practices by city officials that he says are designed to discourage events that cater primarily to black audiences.
<span style="font-weight: bold">In a copy of a transcript of a city task force meeting obtained by BlackAmericaWeb.com, there was discussion of ways to discourage, if not end the event</span>.<span style="font-style: italic"> Opponents contend the Black College Reunion attracts lewd and disruptive behavior, attracting people who are more interested in related partying than in reunion activities. <span style="font-weight: bold">Other cities, they maintained, had successfully discouraged similar events</span>.</span>
At its peak, the Black College Reunion attracted 100,000 visitors annually, as well as a heavy police presence. Once heavily associated with Spring Break, Daytona Beach has sought to change what it considered to be a rowdy image, changing local ordinances. That, combined with the increasing popularity of other locations elsewhere in Florida and in Mexico, has pretty much ended Daytona Beach’s place as a preeminent Spring Break destination.
The city’s efforts have been copied by other municipalities, such as Myrtle Beach, S.C., which passed a series of ordinances, including a helmet law and regulations limiting the number of parking spaces and vendors, to discourage a heavy turnout during this year’s Harley Davidson and Black Biker Weeks.
In the late 1990s, the NAACP filed a lawsuit against Daytona Beach officials over a traffic plan for crowd management, which had never been employed for other large events, arguing it was clearly targeted against the Black College Reunion. A lawsuit also was filed against the Adams Mark Hotel, which imposed a series of restrictions, including requiring hotel guests in town for the reunion be at least 21 and a prohibition against bringing alcohol into the hotel. A federal judge ordered the city to drop the traffic plan and the Adams Mark reached a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department, which was later appealed and the suit thrown out on a technicality.
<span style="font-style: italic">“Even when you catch them with their hand in the cookie jar they don’t concede any ground,” </span>Copeland told BlackAmericaWeb.com, adding that the city continues to discourage the event by charging higher fees to his firm for use of the city’s Bandshell for events than those charged to such events as the National Cheerleaders Competition and the Spring Break National Car Show, which cater to a largely white audience.
“When you couple this with the recommendation of the city’s task force, it’s pretty simple to see that there’s a disparity in the application of rights and privileges of black event organizers,” Copeland said.
And it’s not just his firm that is being hurt by the city’s efforts, he added.
“It was a $230 million event that helped small vendors and businessmen. It created jobs,” Copeland said. “This is not just about a bunch of kids having a darned party at the beach. I’m about creating events and opportunities to feed their families.”
He also said the event needs to broaden its appeal, and last year, he proposed changing the name of event to Jam Blast to make it attractive to non-black participants as well.
“All people should be able to do what they want to do. We should have some sort of unity conference and work out some of these issues,” Copeland said.
“We need light shed on the issue to deal with this in the court of public opinion,” Copeland said. “Lawsuits are not effective. Economic boycotts and protests make the issue felt.”
<span style="font-style: italic">Date: Thursday, June 18, 2009, 2:46 pm
By: Jackie Jones, BlackAmericaWeb.com </span>
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