YWCA Clark County’s statement on George Floyd: We support racial equity

Eliminating racism represents a core value in YWCA's quest for equity

YWCA Clark County condemns the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, by Minneapolis Police. YWCA supports racial equity and, as such, we applaud the arrests of the four arresting officers. But those arrests fail to address the institutional, structural, and pervasive racism in the United States and in our local community.Our mission is to eliminate racism, empower women and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. We recognize that racial justice requires a community effort, and we applaud those in Clark County who advocate for racial justice through their leadership and community involvement.YWCA partners with the public schools on programs designed to prevent sexual assault and domestic violence. We were deeply disturbed and angered by the extremely insensitive remarks made via social media by former Clark County School Board Member Mark Stoker last week. Mr. Stoker's remarks—made while he was serving on the board—were in reference to protests in Seattle against Mr. Floyd's murder. He denied that his words were racist. But he resigned in the wake of rebukes from community members over his remarks.

“We cannot tolerate such insensitive behavior from elected officials"

In a statement addressing Mr. Stoker’s remarks, Jasmine Tolbert, YWCA Clark County’s Vice President of Public Policy said: “We cannot tolerate such insensitive behavior from elected officials. We hope this can be a learning opportunity for Mr. Stoker and the board of education.”

We urge Clark County residents to sign the NAACP's petition for racial justice

NAACP Vancouver is our strong community partner in our fight for racial equity. Please join us in signing their petition calling for major reforms designed to address racism in the U.S.The core reforms requested include:

• Deliberate and intentional Criminal Justice Reform that ensures the protection of Black lives, the expansion of the Home Confinement Pilot Program under the First Step Act, and a reduction in sentence for non-offenders.
• Expansive student loan relief to include a suspension of student loan payment until the economy gains strength, discharge of student loans for essential workers, and automatic cancellation of at least $20,000 in federal student loan debt for all.
• Expansion of Medicaid as a short-term measure to cover healthcare for those who are impacted by the pandemic.
• Federal funding for states to improve election administration and upgrade voting systems that comply with the CDC standard regarding COVID-19.

In addition to the signing the petition, we invite you to take action and participate in the Vancouver Car Rally for Black Lives on Saturday, June 6 at 12PM.  You can find more information about this here.