Black History
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Original Air Date: 2/11/2010
Black History
Black History Month should not distract us from the fact that the Black experience is an integral part of the tapestry we call U.S. History. But this designated month pointedly reminds us of the struggle and pain many people endured bringing Civil Rights to all Americans. Tonight on Northwest Now we discuss the lives of African-Americans in the Pacific Northwest, past and future.
Guests
Harold Moss – Former Mayor, Tacoma
Harold was the first African American to serve as mayor of Tacoma, Washington. He was also the first to serve on the Tacoma City Council and Pierce County Council. Moss has been active in the Tacoma community since the 1950s when he was a member of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Moss served two terms as president of the branch. He also served on Tacoma’s first Human Relations Commission, currently known as the Human Rights Commission. In 1968, Moss helped create the Tacoma Urban League.
Amal Mohamed – Coordinator of Events and Special Projects, Tacoma Urban League
As the Coordinator of Events and Special Projects for the Tacoma Urban League, Amal oversees programs that are designed to address the local community’s needs. The Urban League offers programs in literacy, business, the environment, and is continually adapting its programs as the community’s needs change.
Visit the Tacoma Urban League website here.
Stats and Facts
Timeline of Civil Rights in Western Washington
1913
The NAACP Seattle branch is founded
1926
The U.S. Supreme Court validates the use of Racial Deed Restrictions, which prohibited the sale of houses to minorities in certain “white” areas. The deeds created black ghettos such as Tacoma’s Hilltop neighborhood and Seattle’s Central district. It essentially segregated cities.
1948
The U.S. Supreme court rules that Racial Deed Restrictions cannot be enforced, but an informal system regarding their use continues to stay in effect.
1954
The U.S. Supreme Court decides that “separate but equal” is unconstitutional in the Brown vs. The Board of Education case.
1964
The Civil Rights Act is passed. It prohibits discrimination in public facilities, in government, and in employment, invalidating the Jim Crow laws in the southern U.S. It became illegal to compel segregation of the races in schools, housing, or hiring.
1966
The Tacoma School Board institutes an optional enrollment program to allow students to transfer from the McCarver Junior High School to any other school in the district. This was the first real attempt by the school board to end the de facto segregation of its schools that was caused by the concentration of black students in the central Hilltop area.
1968
The Housing Rights Act is passed. It outlaws the use of Racial Deed Restrictions.
The Tacoma Urban League is founded.
A Seattle City Ordinance for open housing was passed in an attempt to stop de facto segregation in the city.
Martin Luther King is assassinated.
1969
The Mother’s Day riots take place in Hilltop.
The Tacoma Black Collective is founded in the Hilltop neighborhood. Since its founding, the Collective has met every Saturday, 52 weeks a year, to discuss African American issues and formulate plans to address the issues of their community.
1970
Tacoma became the first school district to offer voluntary desegregation without a court order.
1971
Harold Moss becomes the first African American to be elected to the Tacoma city council.
1992
The Washingotn State Commission on African American Affiairs is founded to advise the governor on issues pertaining specificically to the African American population.
1994
Harold Moss is appointed the first African American mayor of Tacoma after then-mayor Jack Hyde dies of a heart attack.
2008
Olympia passes House bill 2722, which recognizes the existence of an achievement gap in Washington’s schools and authorizes a plan to eliminate the achievement gap.
Barack Obama is the first African American to be elected President.
2009
Marilyn Strickland is the first African American to be elected to Tacoma’s mayoral office.
Send your questions or comments to NorhtwestNow@kbtc.org
