Whatcom leaders hold first listening session on racism. This is what they heard
At Whatcom County’s first community “listening session” Tuesday evening designed to address systemic racism and racial injustice and inequality experienced by people of color, more than a dozen speakers addressed a wide variety of topics.
Throughout the two-hour session on July 28, speakers addressed issues such as defunding the police and law enforcement’s relationship with the community, homelessness, poverty, the need for rental assistance and anticipated evictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, domestic violence and youth programs. Roughly half of the 18 participants who spoke were white.
The Tuesday night listening session is the first of four scheduled community meetings. The meetings were planned after a June 15 march to defund police in which protesters entered Bellingham City Hall and later blocked off three blocks worth of downtown streets which ultimately led to two impromptu meetings with Bellingham Mayor Seth Fleetwood. Nationwide and local protests against systemic racism and police brutality began in late May after George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Bellingham and Whatcom County officials hosted the session, and it was sponsored and attended by area elected and appointed leaders from Bellingham, Whatcom County, Lummi Nation and Western Washington University.
At the beginning of the listening session Tuesday, moderator Moonwater, who is the executive director of the Whatcom Dispute Resolution Center, gave a land acknowledgment to the Lummi Nation and Nooksack tribes. Moonwater asked the participants to be patient if there were technological issues, asked white participants to consider yielding their time to people of color who wanted to speak, and acknowledged that holding a forum on this topic in this format, which was done to slow the spread of the coronavirus, felt uncomfortable, but still provided an opportunity to discuss important issues.
Moonwater said there were Black-, indigenous- and people of color-led groups that were unable or unwilling to participate in the listening session because of the structure of the meeting. Moonwater said there are efforts being taken to address some of those barriers. The board of the Whatcom Human Rights Task Force also published an open letter to Fleetwood and Whatcom County Executive Satpal Sidhu, in which they discussed some of the issues with the format.
Some officials, including Whatcom County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Richey, Bellingham Police Chief David Doll and Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo were asked not to attend after requests were made from several groups and out of respect for community members and partners.
At the start of the meeting, Fleetwood said he understands there is skepticism and cynicism people may have as many promises for change on systemic racism and injustice have been made before, but said he and city leaders are committed to change.
“We’ve put this together. It hasn’t come together perfectly, this is uncharted territory for many of us. We’re well-intentioned and doing our best, but we’re certainly willing to learn from tonight and do better and try and be as inclusive as we can as an organization going forward,” Fleetwood said. “The purpose tonight is to provide the public with opportunities to share their experiences, to form commitments to effective change, to create a public record of people’s ideas and experiences and to elevate the importance of these issues and ensure accountability for addressing them.”
“I firmly believe collectively that we can make our community better and a welcoming place and a respectable place for everybody, and today is a small step in that direction,” Sidhu added.
WWU President Sabah Randhawa said the university exists in the broader context of the community and that the people at the university live and work and have interactions throughout Bellingham and Whatcom County. Randhawa said the university can only attract and retain a diverse student body if the city and county are a safe, inviting and inclusive living environment for everyone.
The meeting also had American Sign Language, Spanish and Punjabi translators. At one point, there were more than 70 people on the city’s Zoom call and more than 170 people watching the city’s Youtube channel, where the listening session was live-streamed. It was also available to watch on BTV Television and local Comcast channels.
The speakers
The first speaker, Kai Rapaport, said that the community can’t continue business as usual. Rapaport asked that Bellingham police be defunded and that that money go toward things such as addressing homelessness, a mental health mobile response similar to the CAHOOTS program in Oregon, supporting domestic violence victims and cultural spaces for Black, indigenous and other people of color.
Keith Raymond said that living as a Black man in Bellingham for the last 12 years hasn’t been easy. He said there are a lot of issues that need to be addressed, especially in the poorer neighborhoods, but that he was disheartened that no one was talking about the children.
Raymond said in the conversations surrounding changes, opportunities for poor families and children were being left out. Raymond said there’s not a community center in Bellingham or Whatcom County that allows children from different backgrounds to meet and come together.
“Police need to be treating people better … but I think the real lapse is the youth and nobody is talking about that. Nobody is giving the time to these kids to help create better human beings so that we don’t have problems like systemic racism or police brutality because they’ve grown up in a system where they’ve seen different things and been around different people and have been offered opportunities they may not have had,” Raymond said. Racism is “inherently in these communities and what parents are teaching these kids. There needs to be some type of way to start to create some type of understanding. Listening is good, but action is better.”
Rosalinda Guillen, executive director of Community to Community Development, said she was thankful for what Black people and the Black Lives Matter movement have sacrificed and that they have demanded a space for themselves to speak and be heard. Guillen, who is Mexican-American, said Whatcom County is a highly militarized county. She said in addition to the sheriff’s office and local police departments, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection all have a presence here, as Whatcom sits on the border with Canada. She said people of color living here recognize this presence.
Guillen said Whatcom County needs to stop allowing law enforcement to be part of governing the county and its cities, and instead focus on community policing that works for all people. She said Whatcom needs to take a fundamental look at how we interact with law enforcement in all its forms across the county.
“There are ways to fix it that will be better for the community. We have the power to do it if you work with us to make that happen. It’s possible, I know it is. We must take a moment to make it happen,” Guillen said.
Guillen, as well as many others, also discussed the homelessness and evictions that will likely result from the COVID-19 pandemic. She said the Hispanic population is disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic and that there needs to be support post-economic recovery for people of color who will still be dealing with the effects of the pandemic.
Guillen’s sentiments were echoed by many others, including one person who said that many renters are looking at Gov. Jay Inslee’s eviction moratorium’s end date as a deadline in which they likely become homeless. Julian Swanson said being unemployed due to the pandemic, the debt is racking up from unpaid bills, and that renters, like Swanson, are worried that the moratorium will be lifted before jobs come back and an economic recovery happens. Swanson asked that Fleetwood and Sidhu direct local law enforcement to not enforce evictions once the moratorium is lifted, and instead put a policy in place that gives renters until three months after the pandemic ends and there are zero COVID-19 cases in the county.
Other speakers, such as Kristina Michele and Alexander Heaton, asked elected officials to do more and to act rather than just listen. Michele said as a Black woman she sees problems every day that need to be fixed, but it’s Fleetwood’s job as the elected official, not hers, to fix them. Heaton said that the issues discussed during the first listening session were intersectional, but that the demands made from people of color and other community members are serious and elected officials need to address and commit to the demands, not just listen to the people making them.
Officials’ reactions
Fleetwood on Wednesday said he was glad they created a space for people to speak and for community leaders to listen.
“We look forward to hearing from others how they thought last night’s meeting went. We will use feedback to consider changes to the series to help these meetings be more accessible, inclusive and effective vehicles for change,” Fleetwood said. “As we listen and learn, and at times feel discomfort, we must work with our community to do the important work of translating protest into action.”
Sidhu said Wednesday he thought the listening session went well and that there were a wide variety of views expressed by people. Sidhu said some people chose to speak about personal issues, but that others spoke about community issues and long-term issues such as police reform.
Sidhu said systemic racism is “something which has taken decades to get established as our system. It will take a little time, and is not something that one executive or one mayor in one term can come and shake it up and change. I’m not saying nothing can be done, all I’m saying is people have to have patience and that a lot of things are not in the hands of only the mayor or the executive.”
Sidhu said after being on the County Council for five years, and now being the executive, he understands the complications and things that need to be overcome within the legislative system when it comes to making changes that people of color and others are asking for. He said it’s not an excuse, but are things that need to be overcome. Sidhu said he believes change needs to happen and he’s committed to it.
Sidhu said leaders will be holding a meeting within the next several days to discuss any changes made to the upcoming listening sessions. He said he hopes to hear from more people and more diverse groups in the upcoming sessions.
“My takeaway is that we want people to feel comfortable and safe to come and express (themselves). That is really our first aim in this thing,” Sidhu said. “I think personal stories are important and we want to hear those, but that should not be the only thing we do is just hear people’s personal stories.”
Upcoming sessions
To watch or listen only, the meetings will be live on BTV television, Comcast channels 10 and 321, and on the city’s YouTube channel.
Future meetings are scheduled for:
▪ Aug. 10: 6-8 p.m., register to comment at cob.org/listen0810, meeting ID 997 6322 7294, password 123. Meeting ID and passwords for phoning in is 997 6322 7294, password 123.
▪ Aug. 15: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., register to comment at cob.org/listen0815, meeting ID 962 2738 1401, password 123. Meeting ID and passwords for phoning in is 962 2738 1401, password 123.
▪ Aug. 18: 5-7 p.m., register to comment at cob.org/listen0818, meeting ID 977 0880 4687, password 123. Meeting ID and passwords for phoning in is 977 0880 4687, password 123.
