Since the murder of George Floyd in 2020, the Civil Conversations Project has been working to create and inspire conversations on racism in America. Islanders will have a chance to participate in one of those thought-provoking discussions July 6 when Executive Director and founder Wayne Hare, and board member Thyatira Thompson host a Civil Conversations Project workshop in partnership with the San Juan Island National Historic Park Service. The event takes place at the Grange, from 5:30 – 8 p.m.

“There has been a good response,” Hare said, “I think we have been pretty skilled at meeting people where they are at.”

Occasionally bosses tell employees to attend and they don’t really want to be there, other times people self-invite, but in either case, he hopes attendees gained insight into racism in America and the myriad of ways it impacts the country.

We recognize that all of the problems the county faces are interconnected and many share a nucleus of mistrust for others, Hare wrote in a letter about CCP. “For example, climate change. Climate change needs to involve environmental justice and vice versa. White Americans breathe 17 % less pollution than they create. Black Americans breathe 56 % more. That gives a whole other perspective to the slogan ‘I can’t breathe.’”

Hare was on the board of the High Country News and wrote a series called the Civil Conversation Series. After George Floyd’s murder by Minnesota police, Civil Conversations Project was launched.

“I used to be race-neutral,” Hare’s bio states on the Civil Conversations Project, explaining he grew up in a very white town and attended a very white school in New Hampshire. He became a Marine and fought in Vietnam, and one of his most poignant memories was the celebrations of his fellow White Marines when the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King was murdered.

“One might think from my bio that I am patriotic, and I suppose I am,” Hare said, but more to the point, he sees and is proud of what this country could be, and quotes Dr. King saying “All we say to America is to be true to what you said on paper.”

Thompson, caretaker of the San Juan Preservation Trust’s Vendovi Island, became a board member of the Civil Conversations Project after receiving an email inviting him to become involved. Hare and Tompson connected, leading Thompson to eventually join the board.

“My motivation is the rich history of all Americans,” he explained, so much of which gets erased, glossed over or incorrect when it comes to people of color.

“I was told, for example, that Vendovi Island was named after a cannibal chief,” Thompson said. After doing research he discovered more to the story. Rather than being a murderer or cannibal, Ro Veindovi was a renowned warrior chief who those who lived in the delta knew not to cross him, according to the Fiji Sun. Veindovi spent the last two years of his life captive aboard an explorer’s ship.

Juneteenth is another example. Many only learned of Juneteenth when it was designated as a federal holiday in 2021. However, Juneteenth has been celebrated since 1865, when the last enslaved people in the Confederacy destroyed that racist institution. The end of slavery was the result of long years of hard work, including thousands of hours of conversation about racism and its impact on the nation.

SJI National Park Superintendent Elexis Freedy attended one of the conversations two years ago and has become close with Hare ever since. The goal for the park, Freedy explained, is to diversify the workforce and inclusion of those who have been underserved.

“We don’t talk about race and diversity as much as we could or should,” Freedy said.”I would like the park to be a supporter of this kind of dialogue. It matters to me as superintendent.”

Freedy and her staff worked with the Coast Salish Nations over the last several years to include their art and stories in a revamped American Camp exhibit.

When responding to questions about other types of racism, against indigenous peoples, for example, Hare noted that he only speaks as the Black man that he is, using the experiences he has had and seen. Hare acknowledged that people can become overwhelmed looking at overall bigotry and not know where to begin.

“If we can tackle Anti Black and Anti Native American hate, the rest will come easy,” Hare said.

There is a space limit of 75 people, and those interested should register here: https://forms.gle/hYtUJKyYFsQRHEFg8 Learn more about The Civil Conversations Project at: https://www.thecivilconversationsproject.org

It is encouraged that attendees watch the documentary “The 13th” prior to the event. Directed by Ava DuVernay, this film delves into the country’s history with racial inequality driving the high rate of incarceration. “The 13th” is available on Netflix.

“We strive for a stronger America,” Hare said. “Without racism, democracy will work better for everyone.”