Gov. John Hickenlooper. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post file)
Gov. John Hickenlooper addressed the topic of race relations Friday in an event honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, but largely sidestepped the issues of racial tension and law enforcement following the deaths of black men in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York.
In his speech, Hickenlooper made a passing reference to the Ferguson shooting but didn’t offer any thoughts on how to address the situation.
“We see the events of Ferguson, we see the reaction to those events and wonder how do we respond?” he said at the Martin Luther King Day Social Responsibility Awards luncheon in downtown Denver. “Obviously we continue to search for leaders and to look back on our history and look with clarity and honest about where we’ve been.”
In an interview after the speech, Hickenlooper did not voice support for any police reforms or other state action to address issues highlighted by Ferguson, . He deferred to municipal leaders to work with lawmakers if they need legislation on topics such as racial profiling and special prosecutors for police shootings.
“Every time I start trying to tell the legislators what to do, it doesn’t go very well,” he said with a laugh.
Asked about the seriousness of the tensions exposed by the slayings in New York and Ferguson, Hickenlooper said “the racial issue exists all across the country.”
He recalled being “staggered” as a kid when reading about the race riots and violence in the South.
“I grew up in Philadelphia, and itap weird, when you grow up in a place and there’s no adult telling you that black people are different then you don’t even think about it,” he said. “I think we’ve made tremendous progress since then, but I don’t think we’ve delivered on Dr. King’s dream yet, where everyone is going to be judged on the merit of their character.”
In his 15-minute remarks at the luncheon, he highlighted in December for the massacre at Sandy Creek of 160 tribal members, saying “from acknowledgement to apology is the beginning of healing.” And he invoked the Arapahoe High School shooting , saying “this is exactly what Dr. King preached and wanted to encourage us to guide us to inspire us to dig down deep in those moments to try to find the very best in ourselves and look out for the very best in others.”
He also briefly criticized efforts to “discourage voter registration, to depress voter turnout, in many ways make the activity of voting more difficult,” saying that it “goes against everything Martin Luther King stood for.”
