TUCSON, Ariz. - The city's mayor and a newly elected councilwoman are calling for the removal of Confederate flags from the annual Tucson Rodeo Parade.
Mayor Regina Romero said in a prepared statement that the Confederate flag "has no place in the rodeo parade or elsewhere in our community.''
Romero, who is Tucson's first Latina mayor, was sworn in last December as the first woman to lead the city of about 600,000. ?Lane Santa Cruz, a Democrat elected to Romero's city council seat representing Tucson's west side, is asking the city to stop investing in the parade as long as the Confederate flag is displayed in the procession.
The event dates back to 1925 and is largest nonmotorized parade in the United States and part of the annual La Fiesta de Los Vaqueros.
