Multiple float lieutenants and thousands of riders (constituting a
majority of the total number of krewe members) of the gargantuan, all-female
Mardi Gras krewe, the Mystic Krewe of Nyx, resigned in protest early this week.
They did so over what they allege is racial insensitivity on
the part of their captain and founder Julie Lea. Local news station 4WWL reported on the news.
Amid the nationwide protests, Lea posted on the Krewe of
Nyx's social media pages: "Our souls are the same color" and "#AllLivesMatter."
While these statements might seem innocuous, Krewe of Nyx lieutenants and
riders saw Lea's statements as, at best, missing the point, and, at worst, racist
apologia.
Still granting her the benefit of the doubt, concerned
lieutenants met with their captain via a Zoom call. Two things allegedly
happened at this meeting, which prompted the resignations en masse. One, the
group attempted to compose a statement revising Lea's original social media
posts by including the phrase "Black Lives Matter," which Lea refused to
include. Two, the captain refused to elevate African American members to the krewe
board, saying that she's "had some before," and "it didn't work out."
After this run-in, outraged krewe members threatened to
resign en masse, unless Lea stepped down from her position of captain. Lea
refused. More than two dozen lieutenants and hundreds of riders then followed
through on their threat. The lieutenants handed in their formal resignations on
Monday.
One former krewe member, Stephanie Kreamer, said, "I think it [the resignations] shows that some ideals are important enough, and Black Lives Matter is important enough to us that this is what had to be done."
Photo by Miguel Discart.
