a conversation with tove warmerdam.

Swastika is banned in parade
August 08, 2007
By: Leif Nesheim

Displaying the symbol that got his car evicted from the Snoqualmie Railroad Days parade, Bruce Salamandir-Feyrecilde of Milton said he was disappointed he couldn’t be in the parade.

Bruce Salamandir-Feyrecilde’s white 1996 Mitsubishi Eclipse is adorned with black Sanskrit characters and a colorful Hindu symbol on the roof. The problem? The symbol includes a swastika. The art car was nixed from the Snoqualmie Railroad Days’ grand parade. Salamandir-Feyrecilde was incensed. “It really bothers me that while I am trying to educate people, the people who need educating the most are the ones in charge,” he said. Salamandir-Feyrecilde is Hindu. He painted his car in honor of Ganesha, the Hindu god of removing obstacles. The roof symbol, known as Ganesha Yantra, is similar in meaning to the Chinese Yin-Yang symbol, he said.

actually it’s a 1996 Mazda Protegé, but they got the important stuff right. there will be more of this article when i receive the actual newspaper that it’s printed in.

but i think it’s amusing that he said i was “incensed”… i wonder if he looked at my web site… 8)

meanwhile:

I hope it isn’t inappropriate to contact you via this site.

I heard what happened to you involving the Railroad Days parade. The story made it onto http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=965 . if the parade actually banned you because of that, I would make a very big deal out of it. The parade is part of Railroad Days, and isn’t Railroad Days something sanctioned by the city of Snoqualmie?

Personally, if something happened that were to violate my freedom of expression, I would make a big deal out of it, by contacting the news or perhaps contacting the ACLU. At the very least, they, whoever initiated the ban against your car, needs to be shamed publically, in my opinion. Maybe they’ll learn.

> Without
> seeing your entry or having a full explanation of what it had on it, we
> couldn’t make a full decision on the matter.

I gave you my URL – http://www.hybridelephant.com/ – which has pictures and an explanation of what I was going to present when I spoke with you on the phone, several days before the parade. All you had to do was look at that web site to get all the information you needed.

Not only did you apparently not look at my web site, but you said you would call me back the next day, and you didn’t. How was I to know that I would not be accepted under those circumstances?

> I understand that you mean no harm, and want to put a
> positive outlook on the symbol, but one of my committee members saw the
> symbol, in fact it was a person you spoke of in the email and thought they
> were not upset by it….they actually were VERY offended by it.

That kind of person is exactly why I originally created the car to begin with. If they don’t see that the swastika has meanings beyond what they assume, then how are they ever to learn that originally it meant exactly the opposite of what they think?

I wasn’t even given the chance to tell them that they were wrong.

> We live in
> a small community and this is a family event.

Your small community apparently has a number of families from India living in it as well, and many more people who are not from India. They were not offended at all, but understand that the swastika has more than the sinister meaning that it has obtained relatively recently.

Why should the misguided opinions of one person, who doesn’t understand, take precedence over a majority of the community who do? Why is it not preferable to educate those who don’t understand, than it is to eject me from the parade because of a few people who don’t understand?

> I understand you feel the
> Falon Gong Association is being positively recognized and you are being
> singled out. That is not the case, they actually concealed the symbol for
> the parade, and had a booth at the parade to fully explain their beliefs,
> organization, and representation of the symbol. You had one card with you.

I have postcards – http://pics.livejournal.com/przxqgl/pic/000rcfc2- which I handed out to everybody who was interested…

… AFTER the parade was over, and outside of the actual festival.

Which meant that relatively few people actually saw the car, compared to how many would have seen it if I had been allowed to be in the parade.

> I sincerely believe you mean no harm
> and the symbol is a positive symbol to you, but to others it’s offensive.

It’s only offensive to those who don’t understand. Those people need educating, not coddling.

It is offensive to me that I should be labled something which I clearly am not, by people who refuse to see anything other than their narrowminded opinions, and ejected from your parade without even getting the chance to explain myself to the community. You seem to have no problem in offending me.

Tove Warmerdam, Parade Coordinator – [email protected]

Matthew R. Larson, Mayor, City of Snoqualmie Washington – [email protected]

Bob Larson, City Administrator, City of Snoqualmie, Washington – [email protected]

Joan Pliego, Media Contact, City of Snoqualmie, Washington – [email protected]

Leif Nesheim, Editor, Snoqualmie Valley Record – [email protected]

Sonia Krishnan, Reporter, Seattle Times – [email protected]

To whom it may concern:I went to Snoqualmie recently to participate in the Snoqualmie Railroad Days parade. Originally I had planned on going because another organization had a group in the parade that I wanted to see. When I called to get directions, I mentioned to the person that talked to that I had an art car, which represents Ganesha, the Hindu God of Removing Obstacles (pictures of my car can be seen at http://snurl.com/wb4x). They suggested that I should be in the parade as well. I was unsure if they understood what an art car was, but they assured me that they were looking for unusual things to be in their parade, and they assured me that I would be welcome.

So I went, registered for the parade, got assigned a number, and parked my car in the parade lineup. I was hanging out waiting for the parade to start when I was approached by a burly Snoqualmie police officer who said that there was “an issue” with my vehicle. Apparently someone on the parade staff was concerned that somebody might be “offended” by the fact that there is a swastika on the roof and back corner panels of my car. I explained to him that the swastika and the six-pointed star is an ancient symbol that represents Ganesha, which has been used for thousands of years. The swastika and the six-pointed star – known as Ganesha Yantra – is to Hinduism what The Dao is to Buddhism: a symbol of balance. Furthermore, the swastika is an ancient symbol of love, peace and good luck that has been used by every group of people on the planet, and in that context, I was reclaiming the swastika from ignorant people who assume that the only thing it means is a reference to the nazis.

He agreed with me, and went on his way. At the same time, I started talking with some other people who were waiting in the parade lineup, including some people in the float in front of me, which was sponsored by Falun Dafa, another group which uses the swastika in the emblem for their organisation. They were appalled that there had even been any question about it, and offered to go talk to the parade staff about it, which I wholeheartedly encouraged them to do.

Then the Snoqualmie policeman came back and told me that he was not speaking as a policeman, but as a spokesperson for the parade staff, who had decided that I was going to be ejected from the parade, despite the obviously non-nazi use of the swastika, because “it is a family event” and they didn’t want anybody to be offended. He said that if I didn’t move my car out of the parade lineup, it would be towed.

I don’t see how people can learn that the swastika means anything other than what they’re wrong to think it means unless they are exposed to it in public situations that are different from what they think, and I told him that. He said he was sorry, but that if I didn’t move my car, it would be towed. He encouraged me to find a parking spot somewhere out of the parade lineup, where I could explain to people what it meant, but there was no more he could do.

Several people were watching this whole encounter, including the woman that took my registration and gave me a number for the parade. They spoke up, and said that they weren’t offended by the swastika on my car, the swastika has a far more ancient and positive meaning than the “parade staff” was putting on it, and they didn’t understand why I was being kicked out of the parade. It didn’t matter: I was summarily ejected from the parade.

The only person I talked to was the burly policeman, who wasn’t speaking as a policeman, and several other people, including the people from Falun Dafa, and random passers by. I never actually spoke with the person who made the decision to eject me from the parade. I find it interesting that, despite free speech and freedom of religion, my car, which is clearly the antithesis of naziism, would be kicked out of the parade, when the Falun Dafa float is allowed. Falun Dafa was actually awarded a proclamation on May 13, 2007 by the Mayor of Snoqualmie, Mr. Matthew R. Larson. I find it very interesting that one organization (Falun Dafa) who uses the swastika would be awarded a proclamation by the mayor of a city, while my car, which represents Ganesha, the second most widely worshipped deity in the world, should be ejected from the parade in the same city, three months later.

I ended up parking my car and handing out postcards to anybody who seemed interested. Most of the people I talked to were shocked that I was kicked out of the parade, especially since the Falun Dafa float was not, and those few that asked me if I “liked Hitler” were quite open to the idea that it was not a nazi demonstration, and listened while I informed them of the historical definition of the swastika. There were even a number of Indian families, who looked as though they were locals, who didn’t even need to be told what the car signifies. They said that they were very definitly not offended by the swastika, took pictures of my car, and encouraged me to come to more events in the area.

It really bothers me that, while I am trying to educate people, the people who need educating the most are the ones in charge, especially in the light of the fact that I was originally welcomed by the person I talked to on the phone, and in the light of freedom of religion, and free speech. I feel that it is terrifically disappointing to be welcomed, only to show up and be summarily ejected when someone decides that I and my car might be offensive to some unknown person, especially when I didn’t actually get the chance to talk directly to the person who made the decision. I hope that all of Snoqualmie is not that prejudiced, and from what I subsequently saw, all of Snoqualmie is not that prejudiced, but it’s difficult to tell when they wouldn’t allow me to be in their parade.

any suggestions? what do you think?

i went to snoqualmie today, which is about 70 miles east of here, ostensibly to see the Doc Maynard chapter of E Clampus Vitus Precision Drill Team (which i am probably going to join at their next meeting). when i called to get directions, i mentioned to the person that i had an art car, and they suggested that i should be in the parade as well. i was unsure if they understood what an art car was, but they assured me that they were looking for unusual things to be in their parade, and they assured me that i would be welcome.

so i went early this morning (on saturday, 8:30 am is early), and registered for the parade, got assigned a number, parked my car, and was hanging out waiting for the parade to start, when i was approached by a snoqualmie police officer, who said that they had “an issue” with my vehicle. apparently someone on the parade staff was concerned that somebody might be “offended” by the fact that there is a swastika on the roof and back corner panels of my car. i explained to them that the swastika is an ancient symbol of love, peace and good luck that was used by every group of people on the planet for thousands of years, and in that context, i was reclaiming the swastika from ignorant people who assume that the only thing it means is nazi.

he agreed with me, and went back to his other duties. at the same time, i started talking with some other people in the parade, including some people in the float in front of me, which was sponsored by falun gong, another group which uses the swastika in the emblem for their organisation. they were appalled that there had even been any question about it, and offered to go talk to the parade staff about it, which i wholeheartedly encouraged them to do.

while they were away, talking to people, the snoqualmie policeman came back and told me that he was not speaking as a policeman, but as a spokesperson for the parade staff, who had decided that i couldn’t be in their parade, despite the non-nazi use of the swastika, because “it is a family event” and they didn’t want anybody to be offended. he said that if i didn’t move my car out of the parade lineup, that it would be towed.

i don’t see how people can learn that the swastika means anything other than what they’re wrong to think it means unless they are exposed to it in public situations that are different from what they think, and i told him that. he said he was sorry, but that if i didn’t move my car, it would be towed. he encouraged me to find a parking spot somewhere out of the parade lineup, where i could explain to people what it meant, but there was no more he could do.

several people were watching this whole encounter, and spoke up that they weren’t offended by my car, that the swastika has a far more ancient and positive meaning than the “parade staff” was putting on it, and they didn’t understand why i was being kicked out of the parade, but it didn’t matter, and i was summarily ejected from the parade.

it turned out that one person Tove Warmerdam was the one who was offended, and she (he? i don’t know) never talked to me personally. the only person i talked to was the burly policeman who wasn’t speaking as a policeman who was insisting that i remove my car from the parade lineup.

i ended up parking my car right next to a “christian” bookstore and handing out postcards to anybody who seemed interested. most of the people were shocked that i was kicked out of the parade, especially since the falun gong float (and chinese dancers) were not, and those that asked me if i “liked hitler” were open to the idea that not only was my car the antithesis of what hitler was trying to create, but that it had been that way for thousands of years prior to hitler’s birth, and that the swastika had been used since ancient times to mean completely the opposite of what they initially thought. i also noticed that there were a number of indian families who looked as though they were locals, who didn’t even need to be told what the car signifies, who took my picture and pictures of the car, and encouraged me to come to more things in the area (the parade in north bend, just up the road from snoqualmie, is next week. i may go.)

i talked to the guy who is the editor for the snoqualmie valley record, who took a couple of pictures of me and my car, and he said he would be writing me, but it really bothers me that i am trying to educate people, and the people who need educating the most are the ones in charge.