IREHR at Kitsap Human Rights Conference

IREHR’s Chuck Tanner took part in a panel with members of Kitsap Showing Up for Racial Justice (Kitsap SURJ) on December 6 at the 29^th Annual Conference for Human Rights hosted by the Kitsap County Council for Human Rights in Bremerton, Washington. The theme of the conference was “Policing Human Rights, our bodies, our spaces, our cultures.”

The panel was titled “Building a Welcoming Community” and discussed a campaign to encourage local governments in Kitsap County to pass Welcoming Resolutions affirming their commitment to supporting the civil and human rights of all community members. Panel members discussed the origins of the effort in a 2017 resolution proposed by the Kitsap Immigrant Assistant Center, the emergence of a community mobilization to support its passage, and the current stage of the campaign.

The event kicked off the release of THREATS TO A WELCOMING KITSAP: Xenophobia, Racism, and White Nationalism in Kitsap County, a joint report by IREHR and Kitsap SURJ. The report documents the continued need for Welcoming Resolutions in the county, including their importance in standing up against white nationalist and far right activity.