The city of Arlington and Snohomish County have received a wake-up call. The burning of a cross on Pastor Jason Martin’s lawn lit a fire under a community that has, by and large, ignored the undercurrents of racism that exist in our county. By the hundreds we gathered, marched, prayed, joined hands and spoke out in support of the Martin family and against hate and bigotry.
As heartening as this was, I wonder if things will really change once the perpetrators have been punished, the signs have been put away and the TV cameras have been turned off. The fire that was lit has been extinguished, but the embers of racism still smolder, and they will flare up again unless we have the courage to address the underlying issues and tensions that led to this blatantly racist act.
When James Byrd was dragged to death in the small town of Jasper, Texas, the citizens said, “This can’t be happening here.” When Matthew Shepard was beaten and left to die outside the small town of Laramie, Wyo., the citizens said, “This can’t be happening here.” And when a cross was burned in the small town of Arlington, Wash., the citizens said, “This can’t be happening here.”
There are those who would say that this was not a true reflection of our community; that it was an aberration, a prank by teenagers who didn’t understand the full meaning of what they were doing. But the truth is that the cross burning was just the tip of the iceberg. As the days went by, it became apparent that it was not an isolated incident, but only the most blatant act in a series of racist incidents. The fact that these other incidents were unpublicized until the cross burning indicates that most of us are unwilling to recognize the racism in our midst until it explodes in our faces.
We need to look inward and ask ourselves what led to this act of racism. Was it poor parenting? Was it lack of education? Was it because we laughed at a racist joke? Was it because we ignored racial name-calling and slurs? Was it our silence about covert racism?
As a person of color a 20-year county resident, my answer to all these questions would be “yes.” All of us bear the collective responsibility for what happened, and it will take hard work and soul-searching to address the problem.
Many people and organizations in our community are confronting the issues of racism, bigotry and intolerance. For 28 years, the REACH Center in Arlington has been working to reduce racism through multicultural education throughout the United States, Canada and Australia. The Snohomish County Study Circles Project has been holding community dialogues on race since 1998. The Human Rights Coalition for Snohomish County has trained advocates to assist with targets of hate crimes. Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson has formed an advisory board on diversity, County Executive Aaron Reardon is organizing a Community Council to focus on issues including race relations, and Everett Community College President Charlie Earl has appointed an associate dean for diversity. All of these groups need our participation and support.
It is my hope that the citizens of Snohomish County will use this terrible event as an opportunity to think about what we are teaching our children, to reach out to our neighbors, and to speak and act against racism and intolerance. As someone once said, “If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.”
Barbara Yasui is the multicultural education specialist for the Marysville School District.
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