Race relations-systemic racism in policing, justice, employment, housing, and education
[Racism isn’t American. Talking about and fighting racism is.]
Are American racial truths a threat to Trump?
“I didn’t know.” Those were the first words my friend, a white guy named Dave, spoke to me the day after the first episode of “Roots,” which depicted the capture and enslave... read more
Yes - I was hired because I was Black. But that is not the only reason.
In a 10-part series, Michelle Singletary gets personal about misconceptions involving race. Here, she examines the notion that affirmative action gives unqualified Black people an unfair advantage. ... read more
.jpg)
Is Holocaust Denial a form of Anti-Semitism and Hate Speech?
Facebook bans Holocaust denial, distortion posts
Facebook is banning posts that deny or distort the Holocaust and will start directing people to authoritative sources if they search for information about the Nazi genocide. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg... read more
Editors letter - Politics
Historian Henry Adams one defined politics as the “systematic organization of hatreds.” Is was true in the Civil War era, and just as true today. In 2020, who you hate, is who you are.&... read more
What does the phrase, Law and Order mean to you?
You may not have consciously considered this before, but to me, “Law and Order” means, people will know the law and obey it so we are safe as possible from conflict with our fellow human beings a... read more
Beating of Roderick Waslker by sheriffs deputy Georgia
A sheriff’s deputy in Georgia has been fired after video circulated on social media showing him pinning and beating a Black man after a traffic stop, the authorities said on Sunday. The sheriff&rsq... read more
After video shows Wisconsin police shooting a Black man multiple times
National Guard is called to Kenosha
KENOSHA, Wis. — Wisconsin’s governor on Monday called in the National Guard to help quell unrest after police shot an unarmed Black man in the latest incident this summer to stir cries of injusti... read more
Four years in a row police nationwide fatally shoot nearly 1,000 people
In almost every case, a police shooting is an individual, unrelated event that can
Fatal shootings by police are the rare outcomes of the millions of encounters between police officers and the public. Despite the unpredictable events that lead to the shootings, in each of the past four yea... read more
A possible America begins with anti-racist training
Racism is not American. Talking about and fighting racism is.
On Sept. 4, President Donald Trump pledged to identify and cancel all anti-racist training contracts for federal government agencies, calling them “divisive, un-American propaganda trainings,&rdqu... read more
Seattle-area families of color are talking about improving remote education.
Here are some of their ideas.
Education Lab is a Seattle Times project that spotlights promising approaches to persistent challenges in public education. It is produced in partnership with the Solutions Journalism Network and is fun... read more
City to pay $12M to Breonna Taylor family
Reform Police
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The city of Louisville agreed to pay $12 million to the family of Breonna Taylor and reform police practices as part of a settlement announced Tuesday, months after Taylor’s sla... read more
Cleveland Officer Who Killed Tamir Rice Is Hired by an Ohio Police Department
A former Cleveland patrol officer who fatally shot Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy whose death in 2014 intensified national outrage over the killing of unarmed black men and boys, has been hired by a poli... read more
To understand structural racism, look to our schools.
Education Lab - Local News
Education Lab is a Seattle Times project that spotlights promising approaches to persistent challenges in public education. It is produced in partnership with the Solutions Journalism Network and is funded b... read more
Seattle residential real estate industry is talking about race and wrestling with some history
The companywide email from CEO Mike Grady struck a sour chord with many at Coldwell Banker Bain, the Bellevue-based residential real estate brokerage. Bain executives “fully support peaceful demons... read more
Black homeowners face discrimination in appraisals
Companies that value homes for sale or refinancing are bound by law not to discriminate. Black Homeowners say it happens anyway.
Abena and Alex Horton wanted to take advantage of low home-refinance rates brought on by the coronavirus crisis. So in June, they took the first step in that process, welcoming a home appraiser into the... read more
Fired but still a cop
How Washington States decertification process leaves troubled officers with their guns
In the span of two months, he slammed a driver to the ground using an unsanctioned takedown, allegedly called a Black suspect a “monkey,” and pepper-sprayed a suspect who was strapped down to a h... read more
Auburn officer charged with murder has history of using force, be it dog, fist or gun
Records filed in federal court by attorneys for a man who was run down and seriously injured by an Auburn police officer in 2018 show the officer used force dozens of times during arrests in addition to kill... read more
I am a Black Police Officer. Here is How to Change the System.
Yes, defund the police. But then re-fund them, better.
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — When I entered the police force in Virginia in 1987, I was one of the few Black officers in my department. On my first day on patrol, I was paired with an experienced white officer.... read more
This project is trying to reverse gentrification by bringing people back to the Seattle Central District
When Andrese Collins bumps into people he grew up with in the Central District, the conversation always starts the same way: “Where you’d go?” Most of his childhood acquaintances have m... read more
Lakewood officer who fatally shot driver in May was involved in 2013 shooting that led to record wrongful-death verdict
Said Joquin & Leonard Thomas
A Lakewood police officer who shot and killed a motorist during a traffic stop May 1 was also involved in the deadly shooting of a despondent Fife father in front of his 4-year-old son in 2013, resulting in... read more
Governor creates $40 million relief fund for undocumented immigrants
After months of talks with immigrant advocates, Gov. Jay Inslee is setting up a $40 million relief fund for people who can’t access federal stimulus programs because of their immigration status. Th... read more
SPD Deputy Chief Adrian Diaz vows to move department forward in wake of Carmen Best
After 16-year-old Fernando Esqueda was fatally shot in a drive-by shooting in April 2005, then-Seattle police Officer Adrian Diaz was assigned to work with young people and help develop youth programs at the... read more
The Latino community calls for action amid high COVID-19 rates
When restaurants reopened last month, waiter Tino López faced a difficult decision: to stay home and forgo a paycheck or risk exposure to the novel coronavirus by returning to work. López was r... read more
Racial Inequity of Coronavirus
Teresa and Marvin Bradley can’t say for sure how they got the coronavirus. Maybe Ms. Bradley, a Michigan nurse, brought it from her hospital. Maybe it came from a visiting relative. Maybe it was someth... read more
How we are covering structural racism and systemic change in education
How you can get involved in educational changes
Education Lab: Seattle Times July 19, 2020 Education Lab is a Seattle Times project that spotlights promising approaches to persistent challenges in public education. It is produced in partnership with t... read more
Black Lives Matter accuses Seattle police of ambushing demonstrators;
say police are in contempt of court over weekend clashes
Attorneys for Black Lives Matter-Seattle King County have asked a federal judge to hold the Seattle Police Department in contempt of an injunction prohibiting the indiscriminate use of tear gas, pepper spray... read more
The police have long been a reliable source for some
But it is time to reexamine that trust
I can’t stop thinking about Manuel Ellis. I keep wondering if it weren’t for the global uprising for racial justice in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police, whether... read more
Portland: Trump sends in federal forces
(We try to avoid political stuff, but this is the outcome of Black Lives Matter protests and deserves to be here.) President Trump's deployment of federal agents to Portland and, soon, Chicago and be... read more
New study documents systemic racism in Seattle restaurants
What happens if a white server and a person of color with the same qualifications apply for jobs at 100 different upscale Seattle restaurants? Using pairs of actors to conduct same-day tests, a new study by... read more
How a history of racism, police brutality and a pandemic led to an extraordinary moment
Aaron Dixon has seen a lot in his 71 years. The leader of Seattle’s Black Panther Party in the height of the turbulent 1960s, Dixon lived through the uprisings after the murder of the Rev. Dr. Martin L... read more
Police attacks on journalists are attacks on us all
Opinion: Then they came for the journalists. In Minneapolis. In Detroit. In Los Angeles. In Cincinnati. In Asbury Park. In Des Moines. In Albuquerque. In Indianapolis. In Louisville. In Seattle. In D... read more
Justices rule LGBT people protected from job discrimination
WASHINGTON (AP) — The (US) Supreme Court ruled Monday that a landmark civil rights law protects gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination in employment, a resounding victory for LGBT righ... read more
Investigate Tacoma police in Manuel Ellis death
Editorials
Tacoma and Pierce County authorities have a lot to answer for regarding the in-custody death of Manuel Ellis. This extends even beyond the need for rigorous investigation of every officer at the scene where... read more
For Black community organizers in Seattle, Juneteenth 2020 a celebration and a call to action
In recent days, TraeAnna Holiday, among others, has been busier than ever, organizing a Juneteenth rally and march in Seattle in just two weeks. Juneteenth, which commemorates the end of slavery in the U... read more
Keep up the fight:
Help pass the Justice in Policing Act
In the weeks following the killing of George Floyd, communities across Washington and throughout the country have stood up and powerfully spoken out — protesting, demanding accountability and fighting... read more
If Seattle police budget is cut in half, as protesters want, what should happen next?
The Future of Policing: As protesters across the country demand sweeping changes to law enforcement, The Seattle Times begins an examination of what that future could look like and the hurdles ahead. Today,... read more
Race in America: policing, kneeling
Letters to the Editor, Northwest Voices, Opinion
Change policy culture “How police unions became such powerful opponents of change” [June 6, Nation), misses options to change police culture before officer contact with a union. The polic... read more
Stop fighting!
Atlanta sobriety test quickly turned deadly
ATLANTA (AP) — One minute, Rayshard Brooks was chatting cooperatively with Atlanta police, saying he’d had a couple of drinks to celebrate his daughter’s birthday and agreeing to a breath t... read more
Telemedicine is here to stay
It’s hard to imagine that the devastating pandemic we’re living through could possibly have a silver lining, but I think I’ve found one: telemedicine. Traditionally, health care has bee... read more
Where are our Washington State Counselors of Color?
Where are Counseling Washington's black, brown, yellow Washington Licensed Counselors/Therapists--Seattle, Tacoma, Yakima, Spokane?
Please let me explain. I am Floyd Else, the owner, and webmaster of Counseling Washington (www.counselingwashington.com). Looking around the listed counselors, why are our minority race, multicul... read more
White suburbia awakens in different shade of protest
White silence is violence (protest sign)
The Black Lives Matter marches in towns like Bremerton, Bainbridge Island, Port Orchard, Poulsbo and Silverdale might seem small fry compared to the massive protests that have ignited in cities like Seattle.... read more
Confessions of a white baby boomer on race relations
Opinion: June 12, 2020 “Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy were my heroes growing up in New York in the 1960s. My parents had taught me and my brother to embrace racial justice and tr... read more
Ahmaud Arbery
3 men indicted on murder charges in killing of Ahmaud Arbery
The fatal shooting of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia has stoked a national uproar over race relations. No arrests were made for two months until video of the shooting surfaced. 3 men indicted on murder charges... read more
Percentage of Black residents in Seattle is at its lowest point in 50 years
For Seattle, the 2010s were transformative, and not just in terms of population growth. As the cost of living skyrocketed and gentrification spread across the city, many neighborhoods were fundamentally chan... read more
Tucson police in turmoil after death of Latino man
The police chief of Tucson, Arizona, abruptly offered to resign on Wednesday while releasing a video in which a 27-year-old Latino man, Carlos Ingram Lopez, died in police custody two months ago. The vid... read more
I do not want any help from your kind
Being a doctor while Black
Throughout my medical training, there were situations of patient’s refusing treatment based on the color of my skin, even in emergencies. One night, in Charlottesville, Virginia, the buzzing of the... read more
A monstrous breach of the First Amendment
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of people peaceably to a... read more
What does Black Lives Matter mean to an old white guy?
If you hear Black Lives Matter, and you think, All Lives Matter, You are just not getting the message.
An Opinion piece By Floyd Else, MA, LMHC (ret.) NCC, MAC, Counseling Washington Webmaster. The massive "Black Lives Matter" protests are protests against systemic rac... read more
Fox News runs digitally altered images in coverage of Seattle
Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone
Fox News published digitally altered and misleading photos on stories about Seattle’s Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) in what photojournalism experts called a clear violation of ethical standards f... read more
What Seattle-area cops say about the future of policing
The Future of Policing: As protesters across the country demand sweeping changes to law enforcement, The Seattle Times begins an examination of what that future could look like and the hurdles ahead. Today,... read more
What is the Black Lives Matter Global Network?
"Black Lives Matter began as a call to action in response to state-sanctioned violence and anti-Black racism. Our intention from the very beginning was to connect Black people from all over the world who have a shared desire for justice to act together in their communities. The impetus for that commitment was, and still is, the rampant and deliberate violence inflicted on us by the state."
The Black Lives Matter Global Network--what we believe.
