September 19, 2015  Dena Jensen

“The Perilous History of White Supremecy in Bellingham/Whatcom County”, a Perilous Press History Project by Junga Subedar, Neah Monteiro, Brooke Hagopian, is an informative and vital zine on an issue that is growing to be more critical by the moment in our region. 

Providing this contemporary and raw introduction to the past catastrophic results and currently destructive influences of white supremacy and white privilege in our community is a gift, and good timing for those of us who live in present-day Whatcom County.

Currently public figures and officials backed by corporations are mounting campaigns for mega-projects, which include for example:

• a too-big jail that is reliant on private prison companies and businesses supplying goods and services to it, and which will throw our county into debt for years, 
• those that would create a free-flow (not to mention the local storage) of toxic materials (coal, crude oil, and LNG, to name a few) through our area. 

Already race and class are being wielded as weapons by corporations and private interests in order to get what they want in Whatcom County. Acts of human rights violations, and racial discrimination by those in a position of power (especially those in our area’s executive, legislative, judicial, and enforcement agencies) that we may want to brush off as unworthy of our current focus for whatever good reasons we think we have, may result in an escalation of these acts. If we discount them now, at points in the future these actions will, almost certainly, become more aggressive and heinous and can result in the most dire of consequences to address. We must educate ourselves and examine our beliefs, assumptions, and practices so that the we do not inadvertently play a part in the stampede of manifest destiny and the total oppression of our fellow community members through this area which we prize for its life-sustaining and elevating natural features.

Currently “The Perilous History of White Supremacy in Bellingham/Whatcom County” is available at the Whatcom Peace and Justice Center.  Call to make sure copies are in stock.

Whatcom Peace and Justice Center
Phone:  360-734-0217
Location:  1220 Bay St., Bellingham, WA 98225