SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) For generations Marcus Whitman has been widely viewed as an iconic figure from early Pacific Northwest history, a venerated Protestant missionary who was among 13 people killed by the Cayuse tribe near modern-day Walla Walla, Washington, in 1847. But this past year has seen a continued reappraisal of Whitman, whose actions […]
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Washington community leaders see some progress in racial justice since George Floyd’s death, but far from enough By Melissa Hellmann, The Seattle Times
Published: May 30, 2021, 10:56am
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George Floyd’s murder by then Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin served as a wake-up call for many. It sparked months of civil unrest and promises by companies and lawmakers to dismantle anti-Blackness.
As Black community leaders look back over the past year, they say that not enough has changed. While they expressed hope that public perception of racism has shifted, they wondered if it would survive for the long haul.
In a state where Black people make up 4.4% of the population, some Black leaders in Washington say they have become more resolute in their communities’ liberation. In the past year they created funding opportunities for Black-led organizations, started racial equity consulting firms, and spearheaded legislation to hold law enforcement accountab
SEATTLE In a year of reckoning for police accountability, three Tacoma police officers face criminal charges in the March 2020 killing of Manuel Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man whose death sparked widespread protests and calls for justice.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who took over the case from