The Seattle Parks and Recreation Department created and hosted an event in the city to the exclusion of white people, the Post Millennial reported.
Hey @SeattleParks
Isn’t this discrimination being paid for with taxpayer dollars?
So if I identify as ‘white’ I can’t attend? How about ‘Jewish’? Do we count as ‘BIPOC?’
What if someone is white and identifies as BIPOC like Rachel Dolezal? pic.twitter.com/khMJUvDtEu
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) November 7, 2021
The event was called an “Interactive Beach Walk,” to be held at Seattle’s Discovery Park.
The city partnered with “Sea Potential“—an environmentalist group for nonwhite children to partake in “healing activities and ocean justice conversations”—to promote the event.
On the Parks and Recreation Facebook page, the city described the event as a “culturally responsive” way to express one’s “experiences as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color,” before adding that the “event is open to anyone who identifies as BIPOC.”
In order to stress the inclusive nature of the event, the Parks and Rec department clarified that it was for “all ages.”
But to promote and host the event, the city ignored the Seattle Municipal Code, which prohibits events that excludes participants based on their race at city parks.
The city has run into discrimination problems in the past as it explores the limits of identity politics.
For example, last June, the city sponsored a Pride month event specifically created to celebrate the contributions of gays, lesbians and bisexuals of color.
Attendance at the Taking B(l)ack Pride event required a “$10 to $50 reparations fee” for all white members attending the event while being free for foreign or colored people.
