— from Kevin Carter, Gregory Kramer, and Jari Andrea Brenner —

Orcas Island is this perfect backdrop for creating and living your best life, but for some, there is an undercurrent of intolerance and, in some cases, blatant racism. What will you do to nurture your oasis?

Most of the articles about Orcas Island glow as they entice us with titles like: “Why Washington’s Orcas Island Should Be Your Next Family Getaway,” and “This Island in Washington State Will Make You Feel Like a Multimillionaire.” These articles outline the charms and beauty of Orcas Island— “magical scenery, community, and cuisine that make you feel like Oprah.” The New York Times travel editors identified Orcas Island as one of its top 52 places to visit in 2019 “for its impressive tide-to-table culinary scene and experimental wines.”

We take a different perspective. Our concern is the culture of inclusion and care of our full-time community. We reflect on Orcas Island considering its African American, Latino, and Bi-Racial people and request your comments and suggestions for positive next steps. Our purpose is to elevate our community’s values—and its joy—by initiating a conversation about empathy, relationship, and kinship.

More than a year ago, Timothy Coffey wrote a guest column in the Islands Sounder condemning bigotry. The column sparked a debate within the paper, and the Orcas Island Facebook Rant & Rave page, about an individual’s right to engage in a private conversation versus the importance of speaking up against bias, stereotypes, and racism. While the two women
mentioned in the column were in a private conversation, that private conversation took place within a public restaurant, within the Orcas Island community.

In the fifteen months since Coffey spoke up, other Orcas Island residents have experienced or witnessed acts of racial or ethnic intolerance on the island. This article is our effort to speak out about this and invite a frank, new, essential conversation in our community.

In July, Kevin Carter, an African American resident, was reminded how people of color are still novelties on the island. He also saw how a person’s privilege could make them oblivious to their prejudice. Carter was eating at the Island Skillet one morning, and an older gentleman, who said he lived on the island, said to the waitress, “Where is your accent from?” Carter could not hear her response. The gentlemen continued to say, “It sounds Hispanic. I guess I will not need to call the INS [Immigration and Naturalization Service].” And then the gentleman chuckled as if his remark was a harmless joke. The gentleman’s actions made Carter uncomfortable.

For Alison Dantzler, another African American resident, it was the experience of listening to a small group of men at Enzo’s Restaurant in Eastsound, in September, having a very loud conversation about the Black and Hispanic population in America. One of them said, “I should just move to Iowa or Idaho where there are no black people so that I won’t get mugged,” while his friend spoke about how to build “the wall effectively.”

Michell Marshall, a retired Microsoft executive, founder and CEO of Woman In the Woods Productions, and owner of the Office Cupboard, in Eastsound, has a related story; it moved her to action.

As an African American woman, Michell reflected on the predominantly homogeneous population of Orcas Island and wondered how the faces and perspectives of the island could better reflect the broader world in which we live. She founded Woman in the Woods Productions, whose mission is to promote an appreciation and understanding of racial and cultural differences through various forms of artistic expression. This initiative has received praise and gratitude from many in our community.

Is there an Orcas Island community, and if there is, what are our shared values, beliefs, and norms? Do those norms advocate remaining silent, and thus tacitly approving, or speaking up and fostering a welcoming, appreciative, and connected community? Do we care enough about these
issues to take an active role in fostering a mature, caring community?
Given these cultural incidents, we are developing a free workshop for the community. It will have four objectives:

  • To discuss what community means, when it has been challenging to maintain, and when it empowers and connects;
  • To provide the foundation of Insight Dialogue, to further interpersonal awareness;
  • To learn the foundations of Cultural Competence to aid residents to adapt successfully across cultures; and
  • To confirm the individual and collective action to foster a diverse and inclusive community on Orcas Island.

A preview of the workshop will take place on Tuesday, February 18, from 6 to 7:15 at the Orcas Island Library at 340 Madrona Street in Eastsound. We are actively seeking feedback from you. Are such workshops something you would be interested in attending? What topics or situations would you like incorporated in the workshop?

Please add your comments below or email us at orcasislanddei@gmail.com.

  • Kevin Carter is the President of Inclusion Innovates, and a Principal Strategist with The Winters Group, Inc. His specialty is diversity, inclusion, and equity (DEI) strategy development, knowledge transfer, and coaching.
  • Gregory Kramer is the Founding Teacher of Metta Foundation and has been teaching Insight Meditation since 1980. He developed the practice of Insight Dialogue and has been teaching it since 1995, offering retreats in North America, Asia, Europe, and Australia.
  • Jari Andrea Brenner has been a journalist, a technical writer, and editor, and a social worker. She holds undergraduate degrees in social work, psychology, and journalism, a graduate degree in Cultural Anthropology, and is certified in Intercultural Communications.

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