A Message to Our Community

The Haller Lake Community Club joins our neighbors in mourning George Floyd and too many others who have been senselessly killed by police brutality and racial oppression. We decry these acts and oppose all forms of racial injustice and violence. Yet, we understand that this isn't a time for words but progressive actions.

As we reflect on the events taking place in our city and country these past few months, we are compelled to acknowledge our own neighborhood's role in perpetuating the systemic racism that continues to thrive in our public institutions. The practice of redlining was extremely prevalent in the Haller Lake neighborhood and the discriminatory language remains in ink in many of our property deeds ("The deed to your Seattle-area home may contain racist language. Here's how to fix it." Seattle Times, January 7, 2019.)  The socioeconomic impacts of this practice on people of color, the income and opportunity gaps, continue to plague our Seattle neighborhoods, including our schools and community organizations.

This is who we have been, but it is not who we want to be. In the coming months, we will be developing a continuing workshop program at HLCC to share the process of filing a Restrictive Covenant Modification to address the racist language in our property deeds. Filing of a modification will not remove discriminatory language from our deeds. This is part of our history that can not and should not be erased. By filling these modifications, we show that we know our history and are committed to making positive changes that we hope can begin to heal our community. We intend this to be the first of many efforts we will take to begin aligning our actions and our activities with our social justice values. 

Our mission to connect, inform, and engage the Haller Lake community includes everyone. We exist to serve you. We welcome a healthy dialogue on ways we can serve you better.

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