NAACP partners with Issaquah schools in wake of racist incident

Following a highly-controversial incident at Issaquah High School, the Seattle King County NAACP is stepping in to help address the culture in the district.

“The goal is for real change, and we’ll see something different moving forward so acts like this, or incidents like this don’t happen again,” said Sadiqa Sakin, president of the Seattle King County NAACP.

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Education is key to crafting solutions to sensitive issues, Sakin said. The Issaquah School District came under heavy criticism after a high school student asked a boy to a dance using a highly offensive sign stating: “If I was black, I’d be picking cotton, but instead I pick you. TOLO?” A photo of the couple with the sign was posted on social media.

The girl who made the sign has publicly apologized for what she did, taking full responsibility, and saying, “the wrong image of myself was portrayed through words written on the poster.” She said racism is evil and that she has no excuse for making the sign.

But the incident prompted a social media backlash and a student walkout at Issaquah High School. Sakin said the district reached out to her organization to help craft a response to the issues in Issaquah.

Sakin said that a plan is still in development. Officials are meeting next week to discuss how to proceed. It is possible that a K-12 NAACP group is formed. They hope to have a formalized plan after that meeting, with changes being implemented next fall with an “educational pilot program.”

“The plan is to recruit 10 schools, and Issaquah is the first joining,” Sakin said. “They are joining the Seattle-King County NAACP under our educational membership … we’ll be coming in and supporting them with the programs they already have in place, making them more robust. We’ll be coming in and speaking with the faculty as well as at assemblies, with the students, as well as with some of the parents. So overall, they get a better understanding of the racial and equity training that needs to take place.”

“It has been a very positive experience and they have been more than willing to work with us to do whatever is needed to rectify the situation,” she said. “This is a good partnership, that we’re coming together to work on this. That tells me that they are really concerned and they really want change to happen. That’s awesome. That’s really awesome.”

Sakin said that the Seattle King County NAACP is reaching out to all area schools and offering any help for them to tackle issues of race and equity in their communities.

“We would love to come in and support you in whatever racial and equity training that you might have … we are open to that opportunity,” Sakin said. “Reach out to us.”

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