Whatcom leaders discuss ‘justice and accountability’ after Chauvin guilty verdicts
More work remains to confront systemic racism, despite the conviction of a former Minneapolis police officer for murdering George Floyd, Whatcom County officials and community activists told The Bellingham Herald.
Floyd’s May 2020 killing sparked a series of marches, rallies and other events to highlight racial inequality in Whatcom County, which is 78% white, according to 2019 U.S. Census figures.
“Today we breathe a collective sigh of relief that the verdict has brought justice to Mr. Floyd and his family and affirmed the voices of millions of people worldwide who denounced his death and the racism that led to it,” said Western Washington University President Sabah Randhawa, a native of Pakistan.
As part of efforts to address systemic racism, the Whatcom County Council took a step Tuesday, April 20, with its unanimous vote to have the Chuckanut Health Foundation create a framework for a countywide Racial Equity Commission.
County Executive Satpal Sidhu addressed an online meeting of the County Council as the panel was set to consider that measure.
“I want to remind everyone that this rare guilty verdict for the wrongful act of a police officer does not undo past wrongs,” Sidhu said in a prepared statement provided to The Herald.
“I believe we all need to do more to prevent this from happening again and again. We must bring an end to systemic inequalities, which have many of our citizens living in fear,” he said.
Sidhu, a native of India who immigrated to the U.S. from Canada, worked with community activists and elected officials to hold a series of online listening sessions on systemic racism last summer.
Shu-Ling Zhao of the Chuckanut Health Foundation was one of the activists who pushed for forming the Racial Equity Commission, along with Kristina Michele Martens.
“It’s a complicated verdict for our community,” Zhao told The Herald.
“It took a year, and there was still this moment of doubt. I wish there wasn’t that moment of doubt that justice would be upheld,” she said.
Martens, a candidate for Bellingham City Council, said the Chauvin trial reminded her how much time had passed since four white police officers were acquitted in 1992 for the beating of Black motorist Rodney King, sparking nearly a week of riots in Los Angeles.
“I was 7 years old and watching in real-time and was just terrified,” Martens told The Herald.
“These are problems that have been with us since the founding of our country. The greater community saw it up close and personal,” she said.
Bellingham Mayor Seth Fleetwood discussed “justice and accountability” in a message on the city’s Facebook page.
“Today’s guilty verdict in the George Floyd murder trial is a moment of justice and accountability in the long, shameful history of inequality and racism in our country. But significant and necessary change doesn’t begin because of this verdict alone. It begins when we come together as a nation and in our communities, identifying sources of racial inequity and addressing them,” Fleetwood said.
Bellingham Police Chief Flo Simon, who was the department’s second Black officer when she was hired in 1989, said officers in her department were “disgusted” by Floyd’s murder.
“I think the verdict was just. It was a step in the right direction,” Simon told The Herald.
Randhawa said “we know this trial is not the end” in a message to WWU students.
“It is my hope that this trial, and the activism and awareness which resulted from the murder of Mr. Floyd will bring us one step closer toward ending the systemic and deep-rooted prejudice which denies many people of color the same protection, opportunities, and hopes that white people have come to expect,” he said.
This story was originally published April 22, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
