New York, NY, September 11, 1998…The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today called for "swift and appropriate action" against those in positions of public trust who participated in the Black to the Future float in the Broad Channel Labor Day parade.

Adam Segall, ADL New York Regional Director, issued the following statement:

There is no justification or defensible rationale for this float. The reported incident is repugnant and sickening.

Members of the New York City Police Department and Fire Department who participated in this float, even though on their own time, have betrayed a public trust and undermined confidence in their ability to serve all the citizens of New York. We call for their superiors to take swift and appropriate action.

The float, which featured nine individuals in blackface or wearing afro-style or dreadlock wigs, parodied the recent vicious and apparent racially-motivated killing of James Byrd, Jr. in Jasper, Texas.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.