There are times when the normalized systems of violence that support privilege and power become painfully visible.
In 1911, the New York Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire killed 146 garment workers and laid bare the inhumane indifference of the factory labor system. Out of this tragedy, the successful union fight for a 40-hour week arose.
In 1965, Americans were shocked out of their complacency when non-violent protesters were attacked with knight sticks and tear gas in Selma, Ala. The Voting Rights Act was signed into law five months later.
In 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot by a white police officer six times after witnesses said he’d raised his hands in surrender. When community outrage in the black community of Ferguson, Mo., was met with the tear gas and tanks of a white power structure, the whole world was watching.
These are the moments when we can see ourselves within the arc of history. These are times that demand action.
Here in Seattle, there is much that needs to change. We are a global city, where opportunity abounds for the privileged but eludes those who are left behind.
The effects of institutional racism — defined as polices, practices and procedures of institutions that have a disproportionately negative effect on racial minorities’ access to and the quality of goods, services and opportunities — can be seen here in countless ways.
This is why Real Change altered our mission statement last year to include an explicit commitment to racial justice. While inequality is widening for all of us, for people of color the disparities are more extreme.
Black, Latino and Native-Americans people are disproportionately represented in our homeless shelters by a ratio of at least 3-to-1. This disparity is greater in the younger population. While African Americans represent just 7 percent of the Seattle population, 38 percent of homeless youth and young adults are black.
Incarceration rates in King County are disproportionate as well, with black people making up 35 percent of the recent King County jail population. Rates of African-American incarceration and disenfranchisement are a scandal across the nation.
Income disparity is also racially determined. While Seattle median household income rose to an all time high of $70,200 in 2013, for black residents it fell by 13 percent to just $25,700, 35 percent below the national average.
Rising local housing costs have made life harder for many, especially for minority populations. Census figures from 2010 reveal that the urban core of Seattle has grown increasingly white, and that our diversity has been pushed toward the city’s northern, eastern and southern boundaries, as well as into the suburbs.
Most troubling of all is Seattle’s history of racially biased policing.
The infamous 2011 shooting of John T. Williams that initiated Department of Justice oversight of the Seattle Police Department was just one incident in a long history of poor police relations with communities of color. The dashboard video showed Williams peacefully crossing the street but didn’t reveal him being shot by Officer Ian Birk. Birk was never charged with a crime.
Officer Shandy Cobane was caught on video threatening to “beat the Mexican piss” out of a detained suspect and then kicking him. Soon after, the suspect was released without charge. Cobane’s actions were ruled to be a justifiable use of force.
Last summer, a Westlake Park security guard pepper sprayed an innocent African-American bystander during a pro-Palestinian protest. The guard was never fired. A Seattle police officer broke Miyekko Durden-Bosley’s eye socket after responding to a domestic violence call. No charges were filed against that officer either.
The highly publicized deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Eric Garner in New York and Tamir Rice in Cleveland are not isolated tragedies. They are the result of a white power structure that defends the indefensible and refuses to be held accountable.
They are the outcome of a theory of policing that goes big on small offenses, particularly in communities of color, and in the process turns whole neighborhoods and towns into occupied territory.
“Black lives matter” is the rallying cry of a new movement, led by youth of color who are tired of waiting. For all of these reasons, they deserve our full support.
Change can happen in many ways. There is the slow, incremental work of changing policies and systems that takes place over years and decades. The Seattle Race and Social Justice Initiative (RSJI), which has trained more than 10,000 city employees in the realities of institutional racism, is one such effort. RSJI is a national model for addressing issues of racial equity.
This work is critical, but it’s not enough.
And then there is the work of protest movements. They disrupt business as usual and bring conflict into the open. They arise from long simmering grievances, make meaning of tragedy and pain, and create moments of great possibility.
In the memorable words of historian Howard Zinn, “You can’t be neutral on a moving train.” When history is in motion, each of us has a choice. We can be a part of the change that is happening or remain irrelevantly on the sidelines.
We at Real Change know where we need to be: We’re on the train.
For more than three decades in Seattle, the Martin Luther King Jr. Day rally and march has brought us together to learn, reflect and take action for justice. This year, the 33rd annual march theme of “Fight for your rights in 2015” brings us together in the fierce urgency of now to take a timely stand.
We hope you’ll be there. Real Change and our supporters will gather just before noon on Mon., Jan. 19, at Garfield High School, 23rd and Jefferson, before the march leaves. We’ll be at the flag pole. Please join us.
Signed by the Board of Directors: Masud Bahramand, Jim Douglas, Mark Early, Anitra L. Freeman, Rebecca Kavoussi, Pamela Kliment, Jim Lauinger, Nick Maxwell, Patrick McIntyre, Danielle Nouné (President), Nick Reyes, Teresa Reeves, Chukundi Salisbury, Becky Spithill
Staff: Timothy Harris, Alan Preston, Rosette Royale, George Howland Jr., Aaron Burkhalter, Jon Williams, Tara Moss, Jerred Clouse, Evanie Parr, Kelsey Getz, Jenn Romo, Neal Lampi, Wes Browning, Rachel Gintner, Anne O’Meara, Alex Becker, Samira Shirdel
ALSO: Jess Harper, Margie Joy