Dear OCR team – Below is my open letter to the Beloved Community that you all
have been so helpful in making happen. My deep gratitude to all of you, Mariko
Beloved Community,
Like you, I have felt deep anguish, anger, and disappointment over recent events.
Along with people throughout the country, I am grieving the murders of George
Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor at the hands of law enforcement and
vigilantes marauding as civilian law enforcement. Locally, we have lost Shaun Fuhr,
Ryan Smith, Che Taylor, and Charleena Lyles, among too many others to police
violence. This has been unbearable.
I truly thought that in the middle of a global pandemic and crashing economy – both
of which are disproportionately devastating Black folks – things could get no worse. I
was wrong. As I marched in protest to grieve and be in community with others, even
while breaching public health precautions, I, along with other demonstrators, were
met with tear gas and flash grenades thrown into the crowd by our City colleagues
at SPD. What I experienced in person and have seen in video footage, has been
terrifying. I have heard from other City leadership and employees that they fear for
their personal safety, not because of other protestors but because of the police.
The Seattle Office for Civil Rights has worked for 16 years to advance racial justice,
and it is devasting to see these efforts and those of City employees dedicated to
racial justice come to this moment. At SOCR, we uphold a vision of a city of
liberated people where communities historically impacted by racism, oppression,
and colonization hold power and thrive. For this to be possible, we need to address
centuries of systemic and structural racism. We cannot wait for action.
I agree with the decision to leave the federal consent decree in place and sustain
this police accountability measure. We also need to reduce our investment in law
enforcement in order to invest more in community infrastructure and solutions. Like
so many cities across this country, we have spent decades continually expanding
the role of police in our communities. We have relied on law enforcement to solve
problems rather than fully investing in community-based models of safety, support,
and prevention. We now know that this is a flawed strategy and we need to begin
reallocating resources that center communities most impacted by structural racism.
Right now, community members are calling on us to do better, to acknowledge the
harm caused by our institution, and to immediately begin building a government
that values and prioritizes Black lives. I have heard these demands and pleas from
Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), anti-racist organizers, the advisory
commissions we serve, and my own staff. As the leader of this office, it is important
to me that I lift up and amplify their voices.
I urge the City to consider other critical steps that will begin to address the
structural oppression and racism that BIPOC experience and offer my own support
in taking them:
1.

Create a ‘Budget for Black Lives.’ Reprioritize the City budget to invest in
community infrastructure within Black and Brown communities and decrease

 funding from law enforcement, while creating more transparency and opportunities
for public engagement to correct the opacity of the budget process that perpetuates
structurally racist outcomes. Explore progressive taxation and funding streams.
SOCR is excited to be working with community members on a collaborative grant
making process that will grant $1 million to groups and organizations working to
create alternatives to, and repair the harm caused by, the criminal legal system. We
should expand on these kinds of investments to include:
a. Community alternatives to the criminal legal system and community-based
responses to crises
b. Boosting housing and supportive services
c. Strengthening health and social services
d. Increasing digital equity efforts
2.

Immediately halt the use of militaristic law enforcement against demonstrators and
work to change the relationship between entities of the criminal legal system and
protestors.
a. Cease the use of flash grenades, rubber bullets, and tear gas against
community protestors and meet with community organizers to discuss safe deescalation practices at demonstrations.
b. Stop the use of military forces against civilian demonstrations as it further
escalates tensions
c. Release and do not prosecute demonstrators for exercising their right to protest
d. Hold Seattle police officers accountable for using excessive force
3. Decriminalize the City’s efforts to support those who are houseless and ensure
that moving people from encampments is only to appropriate and adequate shelter
and housing. Forced encampment removals are inhumane and disproportionately
harm BIPOC. To address these harms, shift funding away from the law enforcement
component of the Navigation Team and invest more deeply in outreach, support
services, and preventive strategies.
These are not meant as a comprehensive list of solutions to the problem of
institutional racism, but rather a starting point to begin repairing the harms caused
by centuries of white supremacist governing. I am deeply indebted to my staff,
whose support and grace has contributed to the writing of this letter.
We need resilient community coalitions and actionable commitments to move away
from the harmful practices and patterns that have been killing our Black
communities. As we seek to rebuild our city coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic,
such commitments can be put to the test. I recognize that as an institutional
department committed to advancing racial equity, we can only achieve our goals
with strong partnership and accountable relationships with anti-racist community
organizers and leaders who share our same goals.
Yours in solidarity,
Mariko