Racism in Tacoma runs deeper than Confederate caps

In the early days after the 2016 election, I was shopping at Albertsons when a man came down the aisle with a curious smirk on his face and a Confederate cap on his head. Donald Trump’s election had emboldened him to this display of racism.

It didn’t surprise me. Pierce County and Tacoma, like everywhere in the country, have a problem with racism.

Over the years, most of my Black friends or members of their families have experienced racism here in Tacoma. Notably they say it has come in large part from one institution: the police.

My Black PLU professor’s son was thrown to the ground, handcuffed and a gun barrel placed to his temple. All because he “fit the description” of a thief the police were looking for. In other words, he was a young Black man in Tacoma.

Another friend, working night shift at The News Tribune, was pulled over more than once driving to or from work. There was never a tail light out, expired tabs or erratic driving. He was driving at night while Black.

One Black grandmother told me she lives every single day in fear for her children and grandchildren in light of racist policing.

And the list goes on.

Almost all my Black friends say they have experienced police intimidation, while not a single white person I know has had any such trouble, including me and my family.

That doesn’t mean white folk are unaffected by racism in the institutions that serve our communities. Hate, violence, and police killings traumatize and cause anxiety in all of us, black or white.

I feel the tension. It unsettles me. It robs me of peace.

So I have made the decision to support systemic police reform in Tacoma and Pierce County. Banning chokeholds doesn’t seem nearly enough. In fact, it seems a pathetic offering.

I support a completely new police culture and new police leadership with a vision of justice for all.

In addition, I support screening potential officers for racist and violent tendencies and bullying personalities.

I support hiring new or experienced officers with interest in community policing and skills in conflict resolution. It has been done in other cities to great success. Time to do it here.

It is already clear that there is resistance to this. So the fourth estate, our journalistic institutions, will have to keep shining a light on the issue.

Our only newspaper, The News Tribune, could facilitate this by adding journalists and Editorial Board members who are people of color. That is another thing long past due for such a multicultural city as ours.

Let the man in the Confederate cap wear his racism on his head and smirk. He holds no office or position of authority. He has no voice in the community dialogue. He’s not being paid by our tax dollars.

But those who wear a police uniform must be different. We hire them to be there for every citizen. They can no longer betray the civic contract. And our communal voices, our journalists, must hold them accountable.

Such changes, along with nonracist white people speaking up more regularly, and the on-going activism of the Black Lives Matter movement, could be the beginning of a new, less stressful, less violent community in which we can all thrive.

The people— all the people — of Tacoma and Pierce County deserve that. Even the guy in the Confederate cap, though he may not know it.

Claudia Finseth is a freelance writer living in Tacoma and a former News Tribune reader columnist. Reach her at dragonflypond@gmail.com

This story was originally published June 25, 2020 at 3:00 PM.