Seattle movement facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Seattle movement |
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| Part of the Civil Rights Movement | |
Fair housing protest, Seattle, 1964
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The Seattle movement was a local part of the larger Civil Rights Movement. It happened in Seattle, Washington during the 1960s. This movement worked to end unfair treatment and segregation.
Many different groups worked together in Seattle. These included Filipino Americans, Japanese Americans, Chinese Americans, Jews, Latinos, and Native Americans. Working-class people also played a big role. From the early 1900s to the 1970s, workers' rights and civil rights were often connected. Some worker groups helped fight for racial fairness, while others did not.
Seattle's population grew a lot in the 1800s. Early Black residents started the first Black churches, businesses, and civil rights groups.
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Seattle's Fight for Civil Rights
A Segregated Past
For much of its history, Seattle was a city where people were kept apart based on their race. This was called segregation. White people were often given more power and opportunities. People of color were not allowed to have many jobs or live in certain neighborhoods. They were also kept out of schools, stores, restaurants, hotels, and even hospitals.
This unfair system in Seattle did not just affect African Americans. It also targeted Native Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, people of Mexican heritage, and sometimes Jewish people. However, African Americans often faced the worst treatment because there were fewer of them.
During World War II, many Black families moved to Seattle. They came from the South to find work in factories making war supplies. This was part of a big move called the Second Great Migration. Because of this, the number of African Americans in Seattle grew a lot. The local NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) group also grew from 75 members to 1,500 by 1945.
Working for Fair Housing
In 1956, a group in Seattle called the Civic Unity Committee started the Greater Seattle Housing Council. Their goal was to get people who wanted "open housing" to talk with real estate companies. Open housing meant that people of all races could live anywhere they wanted. At first, these talks did not go well.
The next year, Washington State passed a new law. It said that housing built with government loans could not treat people differently because of their race. In 1959, this law was challenged in court.
The fight for civil rights in Seattle became stronger in October 1961. Groups started campaigns to encourage people to buy from businesses that treated everyone fairly. The NAACP also asked for a law to make housing open to all. The Seattle City Council held a public meeting about this on December 11, 1961. But they did not pass the law. Instead, they told supporters to try to get a law passed by a public vote.
Instead of focusing on a new law right away, people tried a different approach. In summer 1962, 24 groups created the Fair Housing Listing Service (FHLS). This service helped Black families find homes outside of Seattle's main Black neighborhood, the Central District. It connected them with white homeowners who were willing to sell to minorities. By early 1965, the FHLS had helped with 50 such sales.
On December 17, 1962, a committee advised the Mayor to propose an open housing law. But the mayor and city council waited a whole year to act. This year would be very important.
The Urban League and NAACP left the Greater Seattle Housing Council. They felt it was not doing enough for housing fairness. A new group was formed, called the Central Area Civil Rights Committee (CACRC). On July 1, 1963, 400 people marched in protest. Also, 35 young people from the Central District Youth Club held Seattle's first "sit-in." They stayed in the mayor's office for almost 24 hours.
On that same day, the city council and mayor suggested creating a Seattle Human Rights Commission. This commission was started on July 17. It was allowed to write a new open housing law. But this did not stop another sit-in from happening in the council chambers on July 20.
Schools and Integration
On August 28, 1963, a big event happened in Seattle. It was the same day as Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. In Seattle, 1,000 people marched from the First AME Church to the Federal Courthouse.
Also on that day, Seattle Public Schools made history. They became the first major school system in the country to start a plan to voluntarily end segregation in schools. This meant they would try to mix students of different races. A week later, on September 3, 1963, the Seattle Human Rights Commission suggested a law against unfairness in housing sales, rentals, and loans.
The Open Housing Bill
On October 20, a march to support open housing drew 1,200 people. Five days later, the city council held a public meeting about the open housing bill. This bill was suggested by the Seattle Human Rights Commission. The council approved the bill by a vote of 7 to 2. However, they removed a special part that would have made the bill law right away. This meant voters could still challenge it.
On November 27, 1963, the council approved the bill again with the same 7-2 vote, still without the special part. On December 9, 1963, the bill was sent to the voters for a public vote on March 10, 1964.
But things did not look good. On February 12, 1964, voters in nearby Tacoma, Washington rejected a similar law by a large margin. On March 7, just three days before the vote, over 1,500 people attended a rally for open housing. They marched from different parts of the city to Westlake Plaza. But on March 10, the open housing law was defeated by voters. A person who was against open housing, J. Dorm Braman, was also elected mayor of Seattle.
Continuing the Fight
In summer 1964, important events were happening across the country. The Freedom Summer was taking place in Mississippi, and President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In Seattle, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) started a campaign called DEEDS. Their goal was for minority groups to make up 24% of new hires in downtown stores. These stores faced boycotts until January 1965. CORE also organized protests at real estate offices, but a court order stopped these protests.
Freedom March and Changes
Thirteen days after "Bloody Sunday" (March 7, 1965), when civil rights marchers in Alabama were attacked, over 600 people in Seattle held a "Freedom March." This group was even bigger than the Selma march itself. They marched from the First AME Church to the Federal Courthouse. Led by the NAACP, they demanded open housing laws and equal job chances.
The open housing movement in Seattle faced a sad loss on May 15, 1965. An airplane crash killed Sidney Gerber and city council member Wing Luke. Sidney Gerber had started Harmony Homes, which built homes for African Americans in neighborhoods that were previously all white.
Two years later, the movement gained strength again. On June 8, 1967, the Seattle Urban League started "Operation Equality." This three-year project helped minority families find housing. It also taught people about fair housing and worked with groups to list available homes. It was one of the first projects in the U.S. to get a special grant for this work.
Later that year, Sam Smith won a seat on the Seattle City Council in November. He became the first African American to serve on the council.
The Civil Rights Act of 1968
On April 11, 1968, one week after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968. This law made fair housing a national policy. Seattle had missed its chance to pass its own law before the federal government did.
Eight days later, on April 19, 1968, the Seattle City Council finally passed a fair housing law. This time, it passed with the special part that made it law right away. This meant voters could not challenge it. Sam Smith and five other council members supported this law.
Over the years, this law was made even stronger. In 1975, it became illegal to treat people unfairly based on their sex, whether they were married, their sexual orientation, or their political beliefs. In 1979, it included parents. In 1986, it added religion and disability. And in 1999, it added gender identity.
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