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You are here: Home / What We Do / Issue Action Teams / Racial Justice / Racial Justice News

Racial Justice News

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WA legislature takes on systemic racism in insurance rates

Posted on 28. February 2021 by webmaster

Live in Columbia City, ZIP code 98118? Then your average annual car insurance premium is $928. Live in Belltown, ZIP code 98121? Lucky you, because your average annual car insurance rate is $810. What’s the difference between these two Seattle ZIP codes? The median household income in Columbia City is $53,000, while in Belltown it’s $140,000. Oh, and Columbia City is 25% African American, but less than 4% of Belltown’s residents are Black.
In Seattle, as in much of the country, ZIP codes reveal the racial composition of a community. Credit scores tend to be lower in communities of color, and Washington state insurers charge higher rates for individuals with lower scores. Read more here.

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Washington’s vaccine rollout slower for BIPOC communities

Posted on 28. February 2021 by webmaster

For example, 3.6% of those 65 and older in Washington state identify as Latino, yet only 2.5% of that population has been vaccinated. And 2.1% of  Washingtonians older than 65 are Black, but only 1.2% have been vaccinated so far. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, for her part, said she has focused on adult family homes, affordable housing buildings and pop-up clinics, with roughly 70% of the more than 4,000 individuals vaccinated by the city identifying as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color. Read more here.

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Seattle’s controversial ‘poverty defense’ proposal stalls out

Posted on 28. February 2021 by webmaster

A controversial “poverty defense” proposal, which would have expanded legal defenses for poor or mentally ill people accused of a misdemeanor, has stalled in Seattle City Hall before it ever became an official bill and has no immediate timeline for its revival.
. . .
Anita Khandelwal, director of the King County Department of Public Defense and an advocate of the proposal, said in an email: “We’re continuing to work with the community on an ordinance that would allow people to tell their full story in court and we continue to discuss this legislation with council members. It reflects an important effort to make a racially disproportionate and expensive system into one that is less harmful to our community.” Read more here.

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Hidden Barriers

Posted on 28. February 2021 by webmaster

Bias, prejudice and discrimination pervade our health care systems. Explore the issues and meet the stakeholders attempting to change that. Asian Americans are perceived as the "model minority": wealthier, better educated and healthier than other minority groups. But this preconception hides many health disparities, in some cases worse than those of any other racial group.
Listen here

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Support Moving the HEAL Act Out of the senate Chamber, 2-22-21

Posted on 22. February 2021 by Sharon Varosh

Good news! SB 5141-The HEAL Act, made it out of the Senate Ways & Means Committee last Friday! We are thrilled, but with a close 13-12 vote, there is no room for error. We must be methodical in our next steps.

Now, our focus turns to passing the HEAL Act out of the Senate chamber. This means your Senator needs to hear from you today!

Take this online action to let them know that a healthy and safe environment for everyone is unconditional. Share this Facebook post to encourage others to do so!

With the tragedy in Texas serving as the lastest example, communities of color bear the brunt of the burden borne by environmental disasters. This can lead to medical ailments, the loss of housing and income, and create lasting hardships. It doesn’t have to be this way, and the HEAL Act directs state agency staff to establish meaningful relationships with underserved communities. This will improve the preparation, prevention, and communication work our state does to shield us from environmental threats. It is crucial because we want everyone to be safe when the next wildfire, flood, or heat wave strikes.

Think of the state of our environment as a sick patient and our environmental laws as the doctor meant to provide the cure. Without the HEAL Act, that doctor won’t be able to provide a full diagnosis, prescribe the right medicines, and provide a wellness plan that matches the patient's needs and abilities. We need to HEAL our environment and not let it get any sicker.

Tell your Senator to support the HEAL Act!

We are engaged in a relentless communication effort to ensure the Senate prioritizes the HEAL Act. Stay tuned for additional actions soon!

Thank you so much,

Sameer Ranade Civic Engagement and Policy Manager Sameer@frontandcentered.org (360) 218-4642

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Investigation finds Latino ballots in WA more likely to be rejected

Posted on 22. February 2021 by webmaster

Experts and voters themselves have suggested a variety of explanations for signature rejections among Latino voters, including language barriers, education levels and implicit bias. This issue is amplified by Latino voters seeming to be less successful than other voters at “curing,” or fixing, their signature rejections, the InvestigateWest analysis found “I’m not surprised that Latin American sounding names are thrown by the wayside,” Reyes said of InvestigateWest’s analysis. She doesn’t believe her signature should be suspect. Like other kids in her Benton County school, she learned cursive long ago, and her parents even helped her practice at home. Read more here.

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WA health care often lacks language services for immigrant patients

Posted on 22. February 2021 by webmaster

Season 1, Episode 3, Video duration, 6 min 43 s

Washington mandates language-access services for patients who speak limited English, but lack of oversight means many fall through the cracks. A growing immigrant population means that these services are more crucial than ever.
Listen here.
 

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The Latest Books and Reports Covering Environmental Racism and Justice

Posted on 22. February 2021 by webmaster

The COVID-19 pandemic has confirmed again a fundamental truth about the Anthropocene: When disaster strikes, the vulnerable take the hardest punches. Communities of color have suffered much higher rates of infection, hospitalization, and mortality, both because they are disproportionately represented in frontline service positions and because their access to routine healthcare is more limited.

This pattern has long been observed in studies of environmental and climate justice, as the titles in this month's bookshelf show. Vulnerable communities of color face more and more serious exposure to environmental hazards and have more limited access to economic, social, and political remedies. Read more here.
Environmental Justice in a Moment of Danger, by Julie Sze (University of California Press 2020, 160 pages, $18.95 paperback) A Terrible Thing to Waste: Environmental Racism and Its Assault on the American Mind, by Harriet A. Washington (Little, Brown & Co. 2019/2020, 368 pages, $17.99 paperback)
Katrina: A History, 1915-2015, by Andy Horowitz (Harvard University Press 2020, 296 pages, $35.00) Climate Change from the Streets: How Conflict and Collaboration Strengthen the Environmental Justice Movement, by Michael Mendez (Yale University Press 2020, 304 pages, $30.00)
Unsustainable Inequalities: Social Justice and the Environment, by Lucas Channel (Harvard University Press 2020, 184 pages, $29.95) Revolutionary Power: An Activist's Guide to the Energy Transition, by Shalanda H. Baker (Island Press 2021, 224 pages, $32.00 paperback)
The Contamination of the Earth: A History of Pollutions in the Industrial Age, by Francois Jarrige and Thomas Le Roux (The MIT Press 2020, 480 pages, $39.95) Waste: One Woman's Fight Against America's Dirty Secret, by Catherine Coleman Flowers (New Press 2020, 224 pages, $25.99)
Superfund Underfunded: How Taxpayers Have Been Left with a Toxic Financial Burden, by Jillian Gordner (US PIRG/Environment America 2021, 174 pages, free download available here) Struggles for Climate Justice: Uneven Geographies and the Politics of Connection, by Brandon Derman (Palgrave Macmillan 2020, 261 pages, $74.99 soft cover)
The 2020 NGO and Foundation Transparency Report, by Staff of Green 2.0 (Diverse Green 2021, 101 pages, free download here) Covering Climate Equitably: A Guide for Journalists, by Erica Priggen Wright, Vanice Dunn, Katie Parrish, and Benjamin Gass (The Solutions Project with Conspire for Good and Provoc 2020, 36 pages, free download available here)

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Return Odessa Brown Children's Clinic and Carolyn Downs Community Clinic to the Black Community

Posted on 17. February 2021 by Sharon Varosh

To: Seattle Children's Board of Trustees and Carolyn Down Community Health Clinic Board of Directors We entrusted Seattle Children's and Country Doctor with health and lives of Black and Brown families and you have failed them. You have neglected to uphold the very reasons that Odessa Brown and Carolyn Downs were created by Black activists and healthcare professionals—to provide quality and respectful healthcare to Black families. Now, our most trusted and respected managers and health care providers are leaving your employment due to racist environments. The loss of these healthcare leaders and providers is a devastating blow to Black families and the Black Community across King County. More SIGN-ON to support transferring the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic and the Carolyn Downs Community Health Clinic back to the Black community. The Odessa Brown and Carolyn Downs Clinic have served Seattle’s Black community for years. After clear failures by clinic leadership to properly serve Black peoples, the Black community is calling for the return and transfer of both clinics back to Black community ownership in the spirit of agency and self-determination. Please sign-on in support of this effort here.

TAKE ACTION


 

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Hidden Barriers

Posted on 14. February 2021 by webmaster

Bias, prejudice and discrimination pervade our health care systems. Explore the issues and meet the stakeholders attempting to change that.
Unchecked stereotypes can influence medical treatment, leading to dangerous consequences for Black patients. Crosscut dives into some of the stereotypes that lead, among other things, to poorer reproductive health outcomes among Black women. Black and Indigenous women statistically face poorer outcomes with reproductive health care and die in childbirth at higher rates than other groups. Advocates say that, especially in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement, more attention needs to be paid to the treatment of patients of color. Crosscut investigates how professionals, advocates and providers are trying to reduce deadly consequences.
Watch here.

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Learn About Black History in 7 Unexpected Places

Posted on 10. February 2021 by webmaster

National parks preserve the legacies of visionaries such as Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and Booker T. Washington, as well as landmark sites in the struggle for equality, including the Brown v. Board of Education and Little Rock Central High School National Historic Sites and dozens of Civil War battlefields where soldiers fought and died to end slavery and preserve the union. Yet many other lesser-known parks share compelling and unexpected stories. Here are seven fascinating but less obvious places to learn about Black history. Read more here.

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A podcast about defunding the police and rethinking public safety

Posted on 10. February 2021 by webmaster

After George Floyd was killed by police in Minneapolis last May, anti-racism protests exploded across the nation and presented Seattle city leaders with an existential question they are still trying to answer: How might the city rethink public safety while keeping the city safe and eliminating racist practices?
For the second season of This Changes Everything, host Sara Bernard and reporter David Kroman consider this question as well, taking a close look at the challenges facing city leaders as they contemplate whether it’s possible to downsize the police force and create a new public safety regime. Over the course of six episodes, all available now, Bernard and Kroman explore the history of reform in Seattle, delve into the data and personal stories fueling the call for new solutions, and consider the options and the obstacles facing city leaders. Read more here.

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School to Prison Pipeline Action Group Needs your Help

Posted on 31. January 2021 by Sharon Varosh

The Interrupting the School or Prison Pipeline group is exploring bystander intervention training opportunities that JUUstice Washington might offer to congregations.  We are checking various options and there are a couple of training opportunities coming up in February that help this exploration. Bystander intervention training opportunities.  One is coming up on February 13th.  Some key providers include Cortney Wooten, Seattle 350, Peace Keepers, and Poor People’s Campaign. The first, on February 13, is by a training team out of DC.  They describe it as "an interactive, participatory, beginner’s workshop designed for those that may have none to little prior studies of bystander intervention."  Payment is on a sliding fee scale.  The two times listed are two sections of the same training. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScUlPNGG7coDk5dQPYW-nbntdz08_iEr2Blj4-07g5SOp4N-Q/viewform Edmonds United Methodist Church is offering a related workshop "Stepping into Allyship" workshop will be on February 9 from 6-8 pm. As we seek to create beloved community and dismantle racism, we are intentionally making the workshop free for all participants. The workshop will be led by local equity consultant and organizer, Courtney Wooten, who has collaborated with Edmonds UMC over the last three years. We hope that this offering will bless your communities as we work to together dismantle racism and white supremacy.  Registration information is available at Stepping into Allyship (google.com)  The presenter also does bystander intervention training. The Interrupting the School or Prison Pipeline (post-Summit) group is exploring potential ways to find and boost existing programs that directly interrupt the school to prison pipeline.  Two programs that we are looking into are Speaking Justice and Community Passageways.  If you already work with either of these programs or have insights about their work, please let us know by contacting John Hilke at jhilke@juustwa.org. The Interrupting the School or Prison Pipeline (post-Summit) group is monitoring and encouraging your engagement with the following legislative proposals dealing the police reforms and racial justice improvements.  We welcome additional assistance in monitoring and insights about these bills.  Please contact John Hilke at jhilke@juustwa.org, if you would like to help.   HB 1054 (Johnson) banning choke holds etc. HB 1092 (Lovick) database of police use of force HB 1089 (Ramos) compliance with I-940 on independent investigations of police violence HB 1082 (Goodman) reform process of decertification and sanctions for police misconduct HB 1088 (Lovick) standardizing reporting of police misconduct and impeaching office testimony SHB 1044 educational opportunities in prisons HB 1078/SB 5086  restoration of voting rights when persons leave prison HB 1090  ban on private prisons HB 1282/SB 5285 reduced prison terms for participating in educational programs HB 1310  statewide de-escalation standard and limits on use of force SB 5226  end debt-based suspensions of driver licenses HB 1186 youth alternative corrections SB? 5228 Antibias curriculum development SB 5229 continuing education regarding antibias practices

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New Washington Black Lives Matter Alliance lobbies for changes that go far beyond police reform

Posted on 31. January 2021 by webmaster

The marble hallways of Washington’s Capitol have long been well stocked with powerful interest groups, from businesses and industry associations, to labor unions and environmentalists. Now, as state lawmakers gather remotely for the legislative session, a new statewide advocacy group is joining the ranks: the WA Black Lives Matter Alliance. The alliance has emerged after a year of widespread social justice protests in the wake of killings by police of Black people, such as George Floyd in Minneapolis and Manuel Ellis in Tacoma. Organized in part by Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County, the alliance is looking far beyond police reform. It is now urging legislators to address equity across society. Read more here.

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Finding Humanity Podcasts

Posted on 28. January 2021 by webmaster

To unpack some of the biggest threats humanity is grappling with today, each episode will draw on the expertise and life experiences of members of The Elders: former Presidents and Prime Ministers, UN officials, Nobel Peace Laureates, freedom fighters, and human rights champions, brought together by Nelson Mandela in 2007. From leading nations out of conflict, to defending the human rights of the most vulnerable, this series will explore how we, through our shared humanity, bold advocacy, and collective action, can challenge injustice and promote ethical leadership.
Listen here.

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GROW Fellowship for Young Adults of Color - Apply by February 1, 2021

Posted on 27. January 2021 by Sharon Varosh

Apply for the GROW Fellowship by February 1!   

Young Adults are invited to apply for the upcoming GROW Fellowship, a collaboration between the UU College of Social Justice and the UUA's Thrive Program for Young Adults of Color. Building on past sessions of GROW (Grounded and Resilient Organizer Workshops), this cross-movement cohort will gather over weekly 1-hour sessions on Monday evenings, starting mid-March through mid-August. Bringing together UU organizers, activists, and change-makers, the fellows will learn community organizing skills from bold, grounded leaders, and craft strategic visions for ongoing justice work. Fellows will receive a $250 stipend. Email info@uucsj.org to apply and for more information.

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Transportation Justice is Racial Justice

Posted on 27. January 2021 by Sharon Varosh

Check out this great series, The Coolest Show, featuring the voices of many Backbone and Solutionary Rail partners who are doing essential work and connecting the dots on trucking and transportation justice. Hear from those on the frontlines of transportation injustice, and learn why solutions must center equity and justice for Black and Brown communities. As Reverend Yearwood says, "Transportation justice IS racial justice."   Subscribe to #TheCoolestShow and listen to this 4-part series: Episode 1: Electrification without Automation – Long Beach CLICK HERE to listen. Episode 2: Mobility Crossroads – Kansas City CLICK HERE to listen. Episode 3: Transportation Justice is Racial Justice – Chicago CLICK HERE to listen. Episode 4: EV for the People CLICK HERE to listen. And check out the work of our coalition partners at the Moving Forward Network and the Athena Coalition. Forward Together!

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Hazardous Homes

Posted on 17. January 2021 by webmaster

An EPA analysis obtained by APM Reports and The Intercept found that more than 9,000 federally subsidized properties — many with hundreds of apartments or townhouses — sit within a mile of Superfund sites. Those properties are in 480 cities in 49 states and territories. But even that is an undercount. The list of 9,000 properties doesn’t include several subsidized-housing complexes within a mile of Superfund sites. In most cases, the federal government has chosen not to relocate housing complexes near Superfund sites and made only piecemeal attempts to address the health threats. Housing officials often don’t inform people who move into these housing complexes that a Superfund site is nearby. Neither the EPA nor the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the two federal agencies primarily responsible for protecting residents, regularly monitor the potential health threats to residents from nearby environmental pollution. In fact, some housing complexes near Superfund sites haven’t been tested for contamination in years, according to the APM Reports and Intercept investigation. Even when testing is conducted and dangerous contamination is found, the pollution isn’t always cleaned up. As a result, thousands of residents continue to live in places that are potentially dangerous to their health. Read more here.

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What I Know About the Ocean We Need Ocean Justice

Posted on 13. January 2021 by webmaster

Here is what I know. The ocean is not separate from us or our daily concerns. It is our nourishment, protection, livelihood, and the air we breathe. It is culture, joy, and freedom. All this is at risk, and we need ocean justice. Ocean conservation is about people—more specifically, it’s about marginalized people. Sometimes it seems we’ve been duped into thinking ocean conservation is just about fish, dolphins, whales, corals, and remote tropical islands. The well-being of communities of color and of poor and working-class folks is deeply affected as the ocean’s health degrades. No different than on land, we are either excluded from accessing ocean resources or relegated to the most denuded and polluted places. Although we bear the greatest brunt of the impacts, we often had the least hand in causing them. Read more here.

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A NEW BILL AIMS TO END POLICE RAIDS LIKE THE ONE THAT KILLED BREONNA TAYLOR

Posted on 30. December 2020 by webmaster

THE POLICE KILLING of Breonna Taylor, who was fatally shot in Kentucky in March when plainclothes officers barged into her apartment in the middle of the night, has set off a series of state and local efforts to ban “no-knock” raids — the police practice of breaking into someone’s home unannounced to execute a search warrant. A bill introduced by New York state legislators on Thursday goes further than most of those efforts, seeking to not only ban the vast majority of no-knock raids, but also strictly limit other avenues for forcible entry by police. The New York bill, co-sponsored by Sens. Brian Benjamin and James Sanders Jr. and Assembly Member Daniel J. O’Donnell, seeks to limit the use of unannounced, no-knock raids to the most severe circumstances, like the pursuit of a murder suspect or incidents involving active shooters, hostage-taking, terrorism, or human trafficking. It would ban the issuance of no-knock warrants aimed exclusively at searching for drugs, currently the most common use of these heavily militarized raids. But unlike other current and draft state and local legislation, as well as three federal proposals, the New York bill would also impose a host of restrictions on what are known as “knock-and-announce” search warrants, a more common type of forcible entry that has led to dozens of deadly encounters in recent years. Read more here.

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