Bringing affirmative action back to Washington state was the focus of this year’s annual Seattle Martin Luther King Jr. Day March.
With a theme of “Affirmative Action = Justice,” the event backed Initiative 1000, an initiative to the Legislature that would redefine affirmative action.
The initiative was created in response to Initiative 200, the ban on affirmative action in Washington state that voters approved in 1998. The goal behind I-1000 is to redefine and expand affirmative action to provide equal opportunities in education, employment and entrepreneurship for women, veterans, minorities and people with disabilities.
This was the 37th year of the march. The opening event at Garfield High School also included speakers, a job and opportunity fair and workshops about combatting racism.
Information from The Seattle Globalist archives was used in this article.
