ARLINGTON – The crime was quick, as quick as the flick of a lighter. But repairing the damage from a March 24 cross burning on a black family’s lawn will take much longer for Arlington.
Those efforts took another step forward Tuesday when Mayor Margaret Larson convened a second diversity workshop. Walter Atkinson of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service based in Seattle again led the session, which lasted four hours.
Atkinson asked the group to prioritize their top five ideas out of the many it had brainstormed at the first session April 15.
Three clear themes emerged. The group needs to find ways to foster respect for all people, create a sense of belonging and encourage parents to accept being primary role models.
Four other ideas received equal support, so Atkinson picked two that were discussed Tuesday. The community should get training in:
* Cultural competency.
* Identifying hate or bias crimes, symbols and other indicators of such thought.
But Atkinson also raised a more immediate concern. Absent from the meeting were four black members of the Arlington community who had attended the first session.
Most notable among those absences was Pastor Jason Martin, whose family was targeted in the cross burning by two white 16-year-old boys. Martin could not be reached for comment, despite repeated phone calls.
Also absent was Tom Hudson, who lives in the same neighborhood as Martin. In May, Hudson had criticized community leaders for not following up sooner. He, too, could not be reached for comment.
Larson said all who attended the first meeting were notified a week before Tuesday’s follow-up meeting the same way, via the e-mail addresses they wrote on a sign-up list. She said she felt terrible about anybody that did not get the word, especially Martin.
“More than anybody, we wanted him to be here,” Larson said.
Marian Harrison, who raised one of Arlington’s first black families in the 1970s, also missed the second meeting. When reached by phone Tuesday afternoon, she said she had not checked her e-mail.
Also absent were any members of the Stillaguamish Tribe or the Hispanic community, despite a specific recommendation at the first workshop that they be included this time.
Those who missed the workshop will still have chances to participate. Larson told the group she is forming a formal city advisory committee to better define the five priorities, and, more importantly, develop a plan of action.
Harrison, when told of the priorities later, offered one suggestion for creating a sense of belonging: Get people reattached to their communities.
School districts in Lakewood and Granite Falls have been taking an inventory of their community assets such as groups, activities and clubs that help residents make those connections via the Communities That Care program. Information about the program is available by calling the Snohomish County Health and Safety Network at 425-252-2668, she said.
“There’s so many tools in the community that never get used,” Harrison said.
Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or smorris@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
