Racist statue in Puyallup ignites calls for action from city by community group
A Puyallup community group has renewed its push for a citywide racial equity and diversity commission after finding a racist statue on private property.
The Two-Way Racial Healing Project is an organization that pursues equity and racial inclusion in Puyallup. It was spearheaded by Davida Sharpe-Haygood after the Black Lives Matter protests last year. The organization’s Facebook group includes 2,300 members.
One member posted in the Facebook group about a statue displayed outside a home in downtown Puyallup on Feb. 3. The statue perched on the roof of a house depicted a Black man eating watermelon.
Two-Way Racial Healing Project members were upset and angry. Sharpe-Haygood told The Puyallup Herald she is deeply concerned.
“If my neighbor is putting statues up, and I’m getting psychological attacks, it becomes a community sickness,” said Sharpe-Haygood, comparing the effects of racism to that of the pandemic. “I feel the residual affects of COVID even though it hasn’t hit my home.”
The City of Puyallup issued a statement regarding the incident Monday. It said the city has no legal authority to remove the “racially-motivated figurine” because of the constitutional protection of free speech on private property.
“While we must respect a person’s important constitutional rights, we would hope that any resident who holds racist beliefs or exhibits racist actions will have their hearts and minds changed because this is where true change begins,” the statement said.
Sharpe-Haygood began calling for a community racial diversity and equity commission in August.
She contends such a commission could be a place where nonviolent incidents of racial discrimination could be reported, serve as a advisory board to the City Council and city staff, and provide recommendations to address issues of racial diversity and promote diversity programs.
The proposed commission would also help with existing events like Meeker Days and create activities for racial inclusion, such as a diversity film series or diversity book talks at the library.
The city did not respond to The Puyallup Herald’s requests for comment on the commission proposal, but City Council members mentioned the proposal at the Feb. 9 council meeting.
Puyallup diversity efforts
Deputy mayor John Palmer said the council is considering a commission, but the idea must be more developed before it can move forward.
“It’s not falling on deaf ears,” he said at the council meeting. “If a couple of us bring it forward, there needs to be more work done on that.”
Mayor Julie Door said the council condemns the figurine outright, and the city is having conversations about equity and diversity.
“I know that there is work going on to try and figure out a way forward,” she said at the meeting.
The City Council passed a proclamation in November that rejects racial or cultural harassment, discrimination or intolerance.
“We believe our strength as a community depends on the nature of our relationships with one another and our ability to listen to and seek understanding from one another,” the proclamation said.
The city’s statement also listed initiatives taken within the last year to address diversity:
The city’s 2021-22 strategic plan calls for the Puyallup Police Department to “foster police-community partnerships” such as “conduct outreach to community groups that include people of color.”
The city will “provide regular trainings for employees to increase their knowledge and skills in the areas of diversity, inclusion and bias reduction.”
The Puyallup Municipal Court will continue to “utilize and develop innovative criminal justice options,” like the Community Court program.
‘Uncomfortable questions’
Some feel those initiatives aren’t enough, and it is beyond time for Puyallup to implement the commission.
Tiffani Young, a member of Two-Way Racial Healing Project and resident of downtown Puyallup for 11 years, said she wants more action than diversity training.
“My whole thing is you can give someone all the diversity training you want, but you have to take those words and put them into action and include people who have been affected by these issues,” Young told The Puyallup Herald. “You have to ask them the uncomfortable questions that should be asked.”
Sharpe-Haygood said someone in a truck stopped by her son walking home from school, flipped him off and called him the “n-word.” When the truck peeled off, the exhaust crackle made her son think it was a gunshot, she said.
“He doesn’t walk to school anymore,” she said.
Sharpe-Haygood believes the commission is necessary because the Puyallup community shouldn’t bear all the responsibility to hold people accountable.
“Why does all the burden have to be on us as citizens? We need backing and support from the city. We need them to show some responsibility,” she said. “It’s frustrating. It feels disappointing. It feels like my goal is to bring us together, and it feels like I get dismissed and discounted.”
Others in the community said there needs to be more discussion about the commission before advocating for it.
Mike De Alwis, owner of Bourbon Street Bar and Grill, said there was an incident over the summer that stunned him. A woman who lived nearby called him, his son and an employee the “n-word.”
His son and a cook were cleaning up the back of the building, and the woman told them she wanted the “n-words” out of there, De Alwis told The Puyallup Herald.
“I was quite upset when I heard about it,” he said.
De Alwis, who is from Sri Lanka, came out and asked her what right she had to speak to them that way.
“Then she said, ‘You people can’t afford to buy property. You rent it,’” De Alwis said.
De Alwis said he never expected to be treated that way in Puyallup.
“I talk to more people in Puyallup than most. Even though we experienced a racial issue over the summer at the restaurant, I do not think it was directed to problems of racism in Puyallup,” De Alwis said. “People are people all over the world. As long as they respect others, we can’t change hearts and minds.”
He wants more information about the proposed commission before he stands behind it.
“I have to think about it to be convinced,” De Alwis said. “I’m not saying everyone is loving, caring and kissing each other, but when you get these organizations pushed, that’s when things escalate, also.”
Tacoma example
Sharpe-Haygood pointed to Tacoma’s Office of Equity and Human Rights as the ideal path for a racial diversity and equity commission.
Nick Bayard is Tacoma’s assistant chief equity officer in the Office of Equity and Human Rights. He said the office’s staff fluctuates between nine and 12 employees and is under the oversight of the city manager.
Any complaints of systemic discrimination on housing or employment can be filed with the office, and investigators will present a case to the Human Rights Commission, Bayard said. The Human Rights Commission then studies the case and provides a determination.
Two other volunteer commissions work closely with the office: the Commission on Immigrant and Refugee Affairs and the Commission on Disabilities.
“If there is a case found, there’s typically some penalty or settlement as a result of that discrimination,” Bayard said.
This story was originally published February 12, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
