SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Seattle woman claims ‘ideological conformity’ required for waterfront job

Jun 8, 2021, 11:47 AM | Updated: 11:48 am

Seattle waterfront...

A view of the Seattle waterfront from Pike Place Market in May 2021. (MyNorthwest photo)

(MyNorthwest photo)

When you visit Seattle’s new waterfront, you are going to be reminded that you’re on stolen land. One of the things that inspired a recent story by Fox News’ Dan Springer about the city’s waterfront was a piece by Elizabeth Economou for American Thinker, titled “Only the woke need apply,” in which she describes her experience applying for a job.

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Economou told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson Show she applied for a public relations job with the organization that’s running things down the waterfront: Friends of Waterfront Seattle. She says she received a formal invite from a recruiter inviting her to apply to an open position.

“So I clicked onto the link and I was really struck by how brazenly ideological the job description was,” she said. “And upon reading it, I sent her an email, I said, ‘Could you please provide examples of embedded systemic racism?'”

Part of the job description reads: “Friends of Waterfront Seattle acknowledges that historical and existing systemic racism is embedded in our city.”

“I also wanted [the recruiter] to know that I am first generation Greek American, and I’ve lived in Seattle on and off for decades and I have not seen this play out,” Economou said. “So my parents are immigrants, without college degrees. They came here legally, albeit independently.”

“I felt as if that you have to have a certain mindset in applying for this job, like you have to buy into the DEI — diversity, equity, and inclusion,” she added. “And what we’re coming to see is that DEI, what that really means is ideological conformity.”

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Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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Seattle woman claims ‘ideological conformity’ required for waterfront job