Northern California Women's March canceled for being 'overwhelmingly white'

There will be no Women's March rally in Eureka this January. There will be no Women's March rally in Eureka this January. Photo: Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise Photo: Kim Brent/Beaumont Enterprise Image 1 of / 38 Caption Close Northern California Women's March canceled for being 'overwhelmingly white' 1 / 38 Back to Gallery

There will be no Women's March rally in Eureka this January.

The decision to cancel the city's annual Women's March came after organizers and supporters of the movement noticed participants over the years had been "overwhelmingly white." In lieu of the march, which was originally set to take place on Jan. 19, organizers will discuss a way to broaden cultural representation going forward, the committee wrote in a statement.

"Instead of pushing forward with crucial voices absent, the organizing team will take time for more outreach," the post read. "Our goal is that planning will continue and we will be successful in creating an event that will build power and community engagement through connection between women that seek to improve the lives of all in our community."

According to census bureau data, Humboldt County is about 74 percent non-Hispanic white. Organizers did not respond to a request for interview by the time of publication.

Some community members in the Facebook group were glad the group decided to cancel the rally and excited about the attention placed on diversity. Others were livid.

"Our crowd wasn't brown enough? Wasn't queer enough? Wasn't transgender enough?" Noel Boquet wrote on Facebook.

Robyn Moreno, another member, countered: "The amount of white women snarling angrily at an attempt to further diversify the event is a huge indicator as to why this was such an important move."

Recently, the Women's March has attempted to settle a series of divisive issues surrounding diversity, accusations of anti-Semitism and allegiances with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

Women's March co-chair Tamika Mallory was criticized in February for attending the National of Islam's annual Saviours' Day event with Farrakhan, who stated that "the powerful Jews are my enemy."

Organizers canceled the Chicago's Women's March in response. The Louisiana chapter also canceled their 2019 march, citing Women's March leadership's ties to Farrakhan.