A number of years ago I spent a number of years watching as rookie teachers and rookie police officers tried to figure out what people believed. For the most part, we can classify that as their attempt to determine the implicit or explicit bias of subjects with whom they had to deal as part of employment. Some of those explorations went smoothly and some were very, very rocky. Read more
Women are second class citizens in Tacoma. The public record said this was true 30 years ago and it is true today. The facts were detailed before the United States Commission on Civil Rights in July of 1980. The reasoning in cases of disparate hiring is simple: the city should hire the same proportion of women in family wage jobs as live in the City of Tacoma. Perhaps that is too simple, but any other wording makes the word, “fair,” into a political discussion of discrimination, [Discrimination is O.K. if…" We have all seen the Progressive Insurance TV ad where Flo gets incensed by the narrator’s statement that men do the hard work and earn the salary while the “little woman” sits at home. In Tacoma there are more single heads of household who are women than are men. The census shows that male single heads of household are 9.7% of all households, while female single heads of household surpass that at 25.3%. Read more
With the demand for a $15 per hour minimum wage sweeping the nation, the Tacoma City Council will have the chance to join the movement of cities taking meaningful action to address growing inequality on Tuesday, October 14th. Tacoma 15 Now – a chapter of a grassroots national movement with campaigns in more than 20 cities – will be delivering more than 1,000 signatures to the City Council’s monthly Citizen Forum. They are petitioning that Tacoma adopt a $15 minimum wage ordinance. Tacoma 15 Now spokesperson Katelyn Driskill says, "After months of talking to people in the streets and in public meetings, it’s clear that Tacomans overwhelmingly support a $15 per hour minimum wage." Read more
Anyone attending the women's forum on economic security at Tacoma Community College on Wednesday, June 18th was greeted by this spectacular View of the Equity Banner against the backdrop of The Mountain. Inside Building 11, an impressive collection of dedicated representatives from historically progressive groups told touching personal stories in their struggles to rise above second-class citizenship. Read more
Leaders from Washington’s African-American, Latino, Asian, Native American, and Middle Eastern communities gathered on Dec. 10 in Seattle, Spokane, Olympia, Tacoma and the Tri-Cities to release the new report Facing Race: 2012 Legislative Report Card on Racial Equity. Endorsed by 52 organizations throughout the state, the report assesses the performance of the Washington State legislature during the 2011 and 2012 regular sessions on issues that impact racial and economic equity. The legislature overall earned a "D," and community leaders offered specific solutions to help the legislature do better in the upcoming session. Read more
Where can organizations like Hilltop Urban Gardens in Tacoma go for operating funds to create innovative urban agricultural programs to address root causes of inequity while growing healthy young people, elders and community? Organizing for social justice is not in most funders’ mission statements. The Social Justice Fund Northwest works to fill that gap. Read more
