Spokane Human Rights (Formerly Spokane County Human Rights Task Force)
Spokane Human Rights is a private nonprofit organization in Spokane County, Washington. It was originally founded in 2016 as the Spokane County Human Rights Task Force to address hate crimes and incidents of bigotry in the region. The group later changed its name to Spokane Human Rights, which has sometimes caused confusion with the Spokane Human Rights Commission, a city government body that it is not affiliated with. The direct name change has been under criticism and many argue that they shouldn't be able to overstep an established entity with private interest group that's members have not always acted in the interest of Human Rights and at times ignore Racial justice.
History
The Spokane County Human Rights Task Force was announced on March 8, 2016, at a press conference at the Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture.<ref name="Spokesman2016">Spokesman-Review: "Spokane County forms new task force directed at combating hate crimes" (March 8, 2016).</ref> The coalition drew inspiration from the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations, which had formed decades earlier to oppose white supremacist activity in northern Idaho.
The founding board of directors included religious, community, and government leaders such as Rev. Happy Watkins, Catholic Charities Director Rob McCann, YWCA Spokane CEO Regina Malveaux, Downtown Spokane Partnership President Mark Richard, and Hershel Zellman, a leader in Spokane’s Holocaust observance events.<ref name="Spokesman2016" /> Dean Lynch, a community activist and former Spokane City Council member, served as the group’s first chair. Former Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich also joined the board, emphasizing law enforcement’s commitment to prosecuting hate crimes.<ref name="Spokesman2016" />
The group’s creed opposes discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or socioeconomic status. Volunteers are required to affirm this statement when joining the organization.<ref name="Spokesman2016" />
Activities
The organization was created to act as an umbrella coalition against hate crimes and bigotry in Spokane County. It pledged to work with victims of hate crimes, provide community education, and serve as a regional partner with the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations.<ref name="Spokesman2016" />
Public statements at the time of its formation cited incidents such as the attempted bombing of Spokane’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day march in 2011, vandalism at Jewish and Sikh houses of worship, and anti-Muslim graffiti as examples of the threats the task force intended to address.<ref name="Spokesman2016" />
Controversial name change
The group was initially founded as the Spokane County Human Rights Task Force. After being asked to change its name, it rebranded as Spokane Human Rights. This new name has drawn criticism for being confusingly similar to the Spokane Human Rights Commission, an official body of the City of Spokane.
Unlike the city commission, Spokane Human Rights is not a government entity and has no formal connection to either Spokane city government or Spokane County government. Its activities and leadership are organized independently as a private nonprofit organization.
See also
References
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