This Saturday at Churchill Downs, Greg Harbut and Ray Daniels will represent the first African-American ownership to take part in the Kentucky Derby in 13 years. However, leading up to this year's historic, delayed-by-pandemic edition of the Run for the Roses, Harbut has been contacted by civil rights activists about scratching his first Derby horse, Necker Island; a symbol to show he stands with Louisville, Ky.'s African-American community.
“I do agree that Black Lives Matter, and that there should be justice for Breonna Taylor,” Harbut told the Paulick Report last week.
Breonna Taylor's death at the hands of Louisville police back in March was one of the events that turned the city unto one of the country's hot spots for protesters seeking racial justice. Activists have urged Churchill officials to cancel the Kentucky Derby, but their pleas went unanswered as Churchill chose to go ahead with the event, albeit without fans in the stands. As such, several groups are planning protests on Kentucky Derby day: No Justice No Peace Louisville, Black Lives Matter Louisville, the Until Freedom group, and the NFAC, among others.
Those planned protests are getting national media attention as Derby Day draws ever-closer, from local and national news outlets, in the form of both news stories and editorials.
Harbut empathizes with the protesters, but he won't pass up a chance to stand in the grandstand to which his grandfather was unjustly denied access more than 50 years ago.
In 1962, Tom Harbut was the breeder and co-owner of Kentucky Derby contender Touch Bar, but his name didn't appear in the program and he wasn't allowed to watch the race from the grandstand; it was whites-only. (Touch Bar finished 11th that year)
“My grandfather bred the horse and owned part of him and, at the time, his role in what is one of the most prestigious races in the world was not acknowledged,” Harbut told the New York Times this week. “This is part of my family's legacy, and it is a chance to remind people on a big stage — the biggest stage — that horse racing history here begins with African-Americans.”
Fifteen of the first 28 Kentucky Derbies were won by African-American jockeys, beginning with Oliver Lewis in 1875 (Aristides), and six of the first 17 Kentucky Derby winners were conditioned by African-American trainers. That all changed in the mid-1900s, and it took 79 years for another African-American jockey to appear in the Kentucky Derby (from Henry King in 1921 to Marlon St. Julien in 2000).
As award-winning sports journalist Eric Crawford wrote for Louisville's wdrb.com, “This isn't yesterday. This is today. An entire race of people was wiped from involvement in the upper levels of the industry — and they have not returned. For a long time, the memory of those who did succeed in the Derby was forgotten. White-washed.”
Harbut hopes the visual of African-American ownership on racing's biggest stage will help draw more African-Americans back into the sport, but protesters and civil rights activists are hoping for a different image on this historic Kentucky Derby day. While calls to cancel the race have been unsuccessful, the protests planned for Saturday afternoon could continue to bring national attention to issues of social justice.
“The lack of fans has the potential to dull, just a little, the impact of these protests,” wrote Sam Fels for Deadspin. “The visual of protesters merely asking for racial equality juxtaposed with those adorned in Kentucky Derby hats sipping on juleps or meat-headed fratboys headed for the infield would have made for a striking illustration. It also would have been a likelier flashpoint between protestors and police, because it is unlikely that protesters would be allowed anywhere near attendees or the track. There would have been no way NBC could ignore what would have ensued.”
Churchill Downs acknowledged calls to cancel the Derby in a statement released Thursday, which is printed in full below.
“We know there are some who disagree with our decision to run the Kentucky Derby this year,” the statement read in part. “We respect that point of view but made our decision in the belief that traditions can remind us of what binds us together as Americans, even as we seek to acknowledge and repair the terrible pain that rends us apart.”
Meanwhile, the Louisville Metro Police Force will have an all-work day on duty to ensure that the Kentucky Derby event proceeds as planned on Saturday.
“To say the Kentucky Derby is a time of unity when it is the symbol of segregation in our city shows your lack of knowledge about reality,” a frustrated Jecorey Arthur, a local musician and Louisville Metro councilman-elect, told the Courier-Journal. “It's 2020, and if you look at the past 20 years of our inclusion or exclusion when it comes to Derby, we are still very much in the 1920s, still very much in the Jim Crow era.
“There's potential (for unity), but we can't get to that point until you acknowledge the injustice.”
Churchill's statement also acknowledged that “We are not doing enough, quickly enough,” and intimated that it plans to take “real, concrete action to address institutional roadblocks to progress,” but failed to lay out specifics.
“The effects of decisions 120 years ago still work to exclude Blacks from this industry that they once found great success in,” Crawford continued. “The sooner many of us not only acknowledge these injustices but recognize the current effects they have, the sooner we step toward a lasting solution.
“But it's going to take all of us. And many are going to have to crawl out of entrenched positions and walk forward for anything meaningful to happen.”
Churchill Downs released the following statement on Thursday, two days before the 2020 Kentucky Derby:
The Kentucky Derby has been run every year for the past 145 years. It is a great American tradition that has survived depressions, wars, pandemics and myriad changes in our country, large and small.
The first Derby was run just ten years after the end of the Civil War and the end of slavery in America. Over ninety years later, during the 1967 Derby, protesters took to the streets around Churchill Downs, demanding equality and change.
Today, more than fifty years after that, our fellow Kentuckians and fellow Americans are still asking to be heard; for all of us to understand the ongoing inequality that exists, and finally to adopt meaningful change.
We are not doing enough, quickly enough. That is true in our country, in our city and in our sport.
We know there are some who disagree with our decision to run the Kentucky Derby this year. We respect that point of view but made our decision in the belief that traditions can remind us of what binds us together as Americans, even as we seek to acknowledge and repair the terrible pain that rends us apart.
Our sport shares a disconcerting history that led to the exclusion of Black jockey participation through the years. The legacy of the Kentucky Derby begins with the incredible success of Black jockeys. We feel it is imperative to acknowledge the painful truths that led to their exclusion. Churchill Downs strongly believes in preserving and sharing the stories of the Black jockeys who are a critical part of this tradition. This is not a new commitment, but we continue to seek ways to share these stories and honor these athletes.
Our goal has always been that the Kentucky Derby and the way it is observed throughout the city should be inclusive of the entire Louisville community. However, we hear the calls to do more and we have challenged ourselves to do so. We hear the voices that tell us we have not successfully created an environment in which everyone feels welcome or included. That is not acceptable and we need to do more to ensure that our best intentions become a reality. We need to do more, now, to ensure that every member of our community is a part of our traditions. Churchill Downs is committed to engaging in the hard conversations in our city, our sport and within our own organization. We are committed to taking real, concrete action to address institutional roadblocks to progress and playing our part in advancing the changes America so desperately needs.
We recognize that people in our community and across our nation are hurting right now. The atmosphere of the Kentucky Derby will be different this year as we respond to those calls for change. This will be a Derby unlike any other. As it should be.
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