ST. LOUIS _ Black elected leaders on Friday held a second ribbon-cutting for the newly renovated Gateway Arch museum and visitor center after the first one earlier this week failed to include a single person of color.
The event was prompted by state Rep. Bruce Franks Jr. and City Treasurer Tishaura Jones, who both took to social media to criticize a photo from the Tuesday ceremony showing at least 19 people standing along the ribbon line. All of the participants were white.
"You can't have an event of this magnitude, with no black representation!" Franks wrote on Facebook. "So we will make it right."
On Friday, as people gathered in the heat to listen to speeches before the ribbon-cutting, Franks thanked those in attendance.
"This is what St. Louis really looks like," Franks said of the racially diverse crowd.
Jones called for change in the city of St. Louis _ "not polite, incremental change, but change that hurts."
Speakers from the Hispanic, Asian and Muslim communities also stepped to the podium.
The outrage that came from the first ribbon-cutting grew quickly as photos of the event made their way onto social media, including a post by Mayor Lyda Krewson on Facebook and Twitter. She shared a photo of the ribbon-cutting and said the revamped Gateway Arch park and museum "are perfect examples of what we can accomplish when we work together _ local, state and federal partners, private donors, and YOU the voters."
The city is 49 percent African-American and 43 percent white, according to Census data. St. Louis County, whose voters also are helping fund the $380 million renovation, is 23 percent African-American and 70 percent white.
Krewson's deputy mayor for racial equity, Nicole Hudson, who is African-American, was among the hundreds of people who responded to the mayor's post, saying on Facebook: "The first step is acknowledging that we have a problem. We aren't all there yet."
Krewson, in turn, responded to Hudson's post: "Yes, we have a problem! This is a blunder. I was an invited guest, and did not do the planning or inviting. That is not an excuse. I should have asked who is invited, who is coming. This situation makes everything we are trying to do harder."
Jones, who ran against Krewson for mayor last year and has been a fierce critic, wrote: "Lyda is forever saying 'shoulda coulda woulda.' No one has time for that."
As she had on social media a few days earlier, Jones on Friday pointed out that those participating in the first ribbon-cutting were facing the statue of Dred and Harriet Scott, which is situated just outside the Old Courthouse, where the couple took their legal fight for freedom from slavery 160 years ago. Friday's ribbon-cutting also used the Arch as the background and Jones wielded the oversized scissors.
Krewson, along with St. Louis Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards, who is African-American, mingled in the crowd and sat in the second row during the series of speeches. Krewson was asked by organizers to join the ribbon-cutting line, which she did. The Rev. Darryl Gray, who served as emcee of the event, stressed that it was not a do-over ceremony but the "first inclusive" ribbon-cutting.
St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger was among those who participated in the ribbon-cutting on Tuesday. On Friday, he was asked by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch to comment on the controversy and follow-up event, which he did not attend.
"The Gateway Arch Park Foundation has apologized for its mistake as the organizers of Tuesday's event," Stenger said in a statement. "It's important to point out true inclusion and diversity goes beyond a photo op. We all need to make sure we are committed to equity and opportunities for all."
The Tuesday guest list was compiled by Gateway Arch Park Foundation, which spearheaded and oversaw the Arch grounds renovation.
A foundation spokeswoman Thursday gave the Post-Dispatch various answers about the list. First, she said she could not release it, then said she didn't have it. Finally, she said that the organization would not release the list.
"We invited a lot of people, but that doesn't take away the fact that the photo moment missed the mark," said spokeswoman Samantha Fisher. "We feel very sorry about that. That shouldn't have happened for whatever reason.
"I'm not going to go into who was invited or who wasn't invited, but we didn't do enough to ensure it accurately reflected on our project."
Friday, the executive director of the foundation, Eric Moraczewski, spoke to the crowd.
"For years, we focused on making this museum the story of everyone involved in our community," Moraczewski said. "That's why we are so sorry the ribbon-cutting on Tuesday did not reflect this commitment. I'm thankful to be here today to participate in this important event."
The only prominent elected black leader who appears to have been invited to the Tuesday event was U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay. His spokesman told the Post-Dispatch that Clay was unable to attend that event because of a previously planned travel commitment with his son.
On Friday, Clay issued a written statement criticizing the organizers of the Tuesday event, saying their failure "to incorporate our community's diverse strength into the ribbon-cutting was a self-inflicted, insensitive, unacceptable failure."
Other black leaders received invitations to attend the opening, which was a public event, but they were not asked to be part of the ceremony. They included St. Louis Comptroller Darlene Green.
"She was invited to attend but not invited to be on the dais or invited to be part of the ribbon-cutting," said Green spokesman Tyson Pruitt. Lewis Reed, the president of the Board of Aldermen, did not receive an invitation to the first ceremony, said an office spokeswoman. He was at the Arch event Friday; Green was not.
Cori Bush, an activist running against Clay for Congress in the Democratic primary, said she was comfortable being on the stage because looking out into the crowd it represented those she wants to represent.
"This is our St. Louis," Bush said. "We are standing together."
