At the August 24th event “A Culture of Health & Equity: Safe Schools without CRO’s A Community Forum” co-sponsored by SCAR and Every Student Count Alliance (ESCA), a “Zoom bomber” intruded and left hateful messages on the chat. The decision for the intruder to choose a public forum that would likely include students showed the true colors of their character. Of course, the intruder knew full well that that their words were offensive and full of hate. They acted, behind their computer screen, with the intention to hurt and to instill fear. The cowardice of the intruder stood in stark contrast to the courage of our young people who spoke up at the forum and demanded a safe and equitable environment for all students in Spokane Public Schools.

As an organization created to combat racial injustices in the Spokane area, members of SCAR are cognizant of the extent of hate and racism against people of color in this region. We are also well aware that those who harbor hate will feel threatened by our collective efforts to eradicate racism from our communities. Such hateful acts would only remind us and our community partners the significance of our work and the importance of the coalitions we have built. They would simply strengthen our commitment to fight against both individual and systemic racism.

SCAR will continue to work in solidarity with our 24 partner organizations to advocate for our Spokane Platform for Change.