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HomeNewsMore than 100 rally downtown to fight racism

More than 100 rally downtown to fight racism

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By Tracy Simmons

Chalk work downtown Spokane/Tracy Simmons - SpokaneFAVS
Chalk work downtown Spokane/Tracy Simmons – SpokaneFAVS

In response to racist hate mail sent to Rachel Dolezal, the newly installed president of the Spokane NAACP, about 150 people rallied outside her office Friday afternoon, linked arms and said no to bigotry in Spokane.

The event, called Arms of Compassion, was co-organized by the Rev. Todd Eklof, minister of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane.

“Hate expression in our community will not stand,” he said. “So Arms of Compassion is our opportunity as a community to come together and surround those impacted by this hate.”

He said the threat to Dolezal needs to recognized and remembered so that it won’t happen again.

Attendees formed a protective half circle around the front of the Community Building, where the NAACP office is housed, and together sang songs about standing together.

The Rev. Paul Rodkey of Bethany Presbyterian Church, said the 20 pages of hate mail that Dolezal received can’t go unchallenged, which is why he came to the rally.

“As a community we have to learn to live together in the sandbox,” he said, adding that hate towards any group is not OK. “We have to stop saying one position is the only valid position.”

More than 100 people gathered for Arms of Compassion around Spokane's NAACP on March 6/Tracy Simmons
More than 100 people gathered for Arms of Compassion around Spokane’s NAACP on March 6/Tracy Simmons

Spokane resident Carol LandaMcvicker said residents coming together through Arms of Compassion is a way to remind Spokanites that there is still a lot of work to do.

“We like to think that Spokane is a welcoming community, but things like this happen and it makes us realize there is still a lot of hate,” she said.

She said when friends come to visit her from out of town, they are sometimes fearful because the area has a reputation of being racist. She said the hate that exists is the minority and does not represent all of Spokane, which is why the community needs to rally and come together.

Dolezal spoke briefly at the event and said her family and the NAACP will pass through this, and will be stronger.

Tracy Simmons
Tracy Simmons
Tracy Simmons is an award-winning journalist specializing in religion reporting and digital entrepreneurship. In her approximate 20 years on the religion beat, Simmons has tucked a notepad in her pocket and found some of her favorite stories aboard cargo ships in New Jersey, on a police chase in Albuquerque, in dusty Texas church bell towers, on the streets of New York and in tent cities in Haiti. Simmons has worked as a multimedia journalist for newspapers across New Mexico, Texas, Connecticut and Washington. She is the executive director of FāVS.News, a digital journalism start-up covering religion news and commentary in Spokane, Washington. She also writes for The Spokesman-Review and national publications. She is a Scholarly Assistant Professor of Journalism at Washington State University.

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Toestubber
Toestubber
8 years ago

This is hilarious!

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