In response to recent racist attacks against a Cuban family, a march against racism organized by the city council of Reykjavík last Saturday saw a large turnout.
As many readers are probably aware by now, a Cuban father and son fled Iceland last week after the family received numerous racial threats of violence by phone, and had their house broken into twice on a single day, where they were then threatened in person. The father and son in the family have since left Iceland, the father telling the newspaper DV that he found it “unbelievable that such a thing could happen in the 21st century.” Police have released from custody the suspect they arrested, and are still investigating.
In response to the incident, city council organized the Love and Peace Parade, which extended from Hallgrímskirkja to Ingólfstorg, where speeches were held voicing support for the family and denouncing racism. Vísir reports that several thousand Icelanders took part in the march.
Best Party councilman Ágúst Már Garðarsson, who sits on the welfare committee, called the participation “magnificent and beautiful”. Ágúst told reporters that he has been in touch with the Cuban father and son, and that although unable to attend they were very grateful for the gesture.
Ágúst said he was on cloud nine, adding “it shows how spontaneous the city system is to be able to react to the event in this way, too.”