Do you feel that Seattle's a culturally and ethnically diverse city?

• "It [Diversity] is an essential core value for us, as a city."
• "We are becoming increasingly diverse."
• "I have a unique perspective because I work in an office that's extremely diverse."

Jo Ellen Warner
Policy Director for the City of Seattle Office of Civil Rights

• "In my opinion, Seattle isn't diverse; because I think you would need to see African-Americans in order for diversity to be present."
• "To me, diversity means providing a fair and honest depiction of the American scene as it exists, not as whites would like it to be."
• "Seattle is very diverse among Asians. It's a very isolating city. African-Americans are less healthy here, both anecdotally and physically, compared to other cities."

                Linda Kennedy
Senior Public Information Officer for the Seattle City Council

• "What I want it [Seattle] to be and what I see currently are two totally different things."
• "We [Seattle] have a high Asian, low Black, low Hispanic populations..and lots of Whites."
• "On a whole, people just tend to stick together."

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Is living in a diverse city important to you?

• "I moved here from Idaho and Seattle's diversity is a big reason why I moved here."
• "I always encounter people from different countries and places...some of the people I've met are even teaching me their languages."

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More often than not, do Seattle's citizens get along with each other and actively respect and work to understand cultural and ethical differences?

• "People don't know what their prejudices are and often times are unconscious of their stereotyping."

                Dana
Sales Clerk

• "Yes, that why there's a sense of diversity here, everyone gets along."

                Salome
Security Officer

• "Often times people discriminate unintentially."
• "Socially speaking, we [Seattle] are largely multiracial and there are a lot of places where the community comes together."
• "As an office, after the passage of Initiative 200, we purchased some bus advertisements that promote the slogan 'Discrimination still exists, report it!'"
• "In order to combat some of these problems, more people need to speak out against discrimination and racism."

                Jo Ellen Warner
Policy Director for the City of Seattle Office of Civil Rights

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Miscellaneous comments.....

• "The outgoing mayor [of Seattle] was black, the county executive is black, but it's a very strange thing because you have these people in high places...and then the rest of us. It's really a puzzle."

                Linda Kennedy
Senior Public Information Officer for the Seattle City Council

• "Within my little sphere, I do interact with diverse racial groups."
• "Generally, people are more open-minded in their speech, but their actions are totally different."

                Jana
Jeweler

• "We need more conventions like UNITY'99, in order to reflect reality; not to perpetuate stereotypes and to transform how our communities are talked about in the media and shape public policy"

                Jo Ellen Warner
Policy Director for the City of Seattle Office of Civil Rights

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