Letter: Spokane Is A Racist Town

Nine comments on this post so far. Add yours!

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  mloy123 on January 29 at 12:41 p.m.

  I think we need to be careful making blanket imflamatory statements about any town, as any blanket statement is almost always wrong. Your reference was from 1974, which we were as a nation much more racist and certainly much more open with our racism than we are now. I believe we have come a long way with each succeeding generation, especially since the 1960’s. You have to remember therw are groups of organized Neo-Nazis that reside in this area, simply because there are fewer minorities and more remote areas in this part of the county. But, this fact does not automatically make the entirety of the community racist simple because you have fewer minorities with these hate groups here. You would not say the whole city of Spokane is a bunch of murderers just because we recently had a murder and you remember we had a bunch of murders 37 year ago, would you?

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  NancyAP on January 29 at 12:54 p.m.

  For a racist town, I sure see a lot of mixed couples around town and lots of different races of people just getting along. Try going to a mall and sitting around observing people. You will see a lot of young couples of mixed race and moms with kids of mixed race. Sure does not sound like a hot bed of racism around here!

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  saraeanderson on January 29 at 3:28 p.m.

  Not living in Spokane, I don’t really feel qualified to answer the question (All I can say is “probably.”), but I’ve got a few thoughts about The INW and race.

  It’s extremely important not to get defensive when someone uses the word “racist.” I’ve been thinking about what we (when I say “we” I mean Whitey) can do to make our area uncomfortable for racists, and I think the first step is admitting that it doesn’t “just happen” that there aren’t many racial minorities in the area. Google Sundown Towns.

  You may not feel like you’re contributing to the problem (you probably aren’t, very much), but that doesn’t mean it’s time to just wait for the rest of the world to catch up to your enlightened attitude. That kind of complacency has resulted in regrouping white supremacists.

  I have to admit that I don’t know what to do, but I’d prefer to figure it out than to complain about being called racist. Racism isn’t just the Aryan Nation, or individual attitudes. It’s an ill that’s much larger than all of us, and we’re falling way behind the rest of our country in trying to fix it.

  One major social problem with race in this area is how people act like it’s not polite to ever mention someone’s race. It’s a silencing tactic that kept me ignorant for a very long time, and boy have I had occasion to be a dumb, racist jerk as I’ve figured it out.

  It’s scary to approach a topic that has a lot of moral gravity. The onus is on everyone to look into issues about race that are hard to make sense of, and make sense of them, knowing you risk being wrong. There’s a lot of great info out there, and the internet has made it fairly easy to get the perspectives of John and Jane Public of Color.

  To conclude, I’m happy to respond to any criticism of my novel.

  TL;DR: You don’t have to be racist to have some responsibility here.

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  drb2010 on January 29 at 5:15 p.m.

  I thought there was only one race the Human Race.

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  hhuseland on January 29 at 9:11 p.m.

  There are many overused words and phrases in our language. It is especially apparent with the current fascist type knee jerk use of the word racist. I’ve been called racist only because I dared to discuss a politically incorrect subject. I have 7 half black grandchildren. Somewhere, somehow, we have to go back a step or two and find a way to discuss racial/ethnic issues, without a snarky holier than thou A$$ accusing us of racist comments, merely because we wish to discuss the issue.

  If we are to allow those critics to blast us for an open discussion, then perhaps they ought to look closely at themselves as this is a mirror image situation, with one side blinded by their rhetoric.

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  hhuseland on January 29 at 9:15 p.m.

  Oh, and Sara, if you wrote a book that makes you articulate. It doesn’t however, make you an expert on human relations.

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  saraeanderson on January 30 at 2:25 p.m.

  Herb - Sorry for trying to share the benefit of my experience. I like writing.

  Though, I think I still get to make fun of you for using the “some of my best friends are black” thing. I’d hoped someone might be interested in thinking about the practical steps we can take to make things better. I directly challenged your “not my problem” attitude, and you chose to complain about me being chatty.

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  Kage_Mann on January 30 at 4:32 p.m.

  After reading some of the above comments, I’m convinced that people get crankier, the older they get.

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  arroyoribera on February 04 at 7:40 p.m.

  Regarding the bomb found on the route of the march to honor the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr in Spokane which I attended with some 2000 people this January 17, I offer these thought to those who believe this is somehow an anomaly or not somehow reflective a historical reality in our town:

  Spokane is a racist town. Evidence abounds. De facto segregation is its legacy. The two percent quotient abounds: two percent Black, two percent Asian, two percent Latino, two percent Native American (in fact, fewer the two percent Native American).

  Two of 17 domestic terrorist in the US from 1990 to 1996 occurred in Spokane carried out by white supremacist organizations http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/terror_96.pdf
  (Interestingly, the cover of this FBI report has a backpack on the front of it).

  If you are not aware of the work of Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center in challenging and bankrupting the white supremacist Church of Jesus Christ of Aryan Nations which was located just across the state line from Spokane in Northern Idaho, please read up on it. It was an epic struggle and points to the legacy of racism in Spokane which, of course, goes back to the US Army riding the length of the Spokane river killing Indian people’s, including those of the Indian nation (the Spokanes) whose lands and name we stole), while destroying their food store and killing their horses.

  The same day that bomb was found on the MLK day march, a cross was burned in Kellogg, Idaho. Other incidents have been reported.

  To those who want to minimize this incident or decontextualize it, I believe the history of racism and white supremacist bombings in the Spokane area clearly suggest that this was a racist incident in keeping with Spokane’s history.

  As to those like national commentator Rachel Maddox who have questioned o “where is the outrage”, be assured it is here. But it is an undeniable reality that anger and rage are today in the US clearly and effectively socially sanctioned emotions. If you are angry or express rage, you are identified as “out of control”, “dangerous”, “mentally ill”, “need to be dealt with”, etc. We have been, effectively, emotionally decapitated as a result of this socially stigmatizing of anger. Look at the videos of old women in Latin America angrily excoriating riot squads in Oaxaca and other places. Look at rage on the streets all over the world. This rage — product of righteous indignation — is visceral, true human reaction to injustice and crimes against the people. In the US, we are expected to confront and deal with the inequalities and injustices of a racist society as well as atrocities of our government and our political-economic system, both here and abroad, without rage and anger.

  Without access to one’s rage and anger, one can not experience, feel or understand one’s humanity to the extent necessary to understand one’s condition fully. And therefore one can not act and be in community nor find solidarity with this common human condition of subjugation to a global regime of racism, exploitation, terror and empire.

  Forums are nice, whether or not the Human Rights Commission (city or state) is present. Confronting racism is a larger task which requires an honesty Spokane has never really shown. A march does not a change of heart make.

  Long live the rage, anger and righteous indignation! Stop the racism!

  David Brookbank

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