Politics, Race:
Omari Tahir's Mayoral Candidacy Statement

The following text comes from the 2001 King County voter's pamphlet. It is from a candidate for mayor, Omari Tahir, generally referred to in "European American settler media" as "Omari Tahir-Garret." My comments follow the text, providing background for non-Seattlites. This guy has no chance of winning. —JoT

Greetings,

I'm Omari Tahir. Many of you have read about or seen me in the European American settler media. I'm an international socio-economic cultural scientist specializing in the creation of non-violent just and equitable future for all children. I am a Seattle born and raised freedom fighter of Native American and African heritage.

Having lived in Asia, Africa and Europe, I have found that the European settler colonialism was and is established and maintained with guns and government mob violence.

The use of terrorism and genocide to marginalize Native Americans, Africans and other people of color here in North America and South Africa must be peaceably corrected in order to create a just and equitable future. International law and the United Nations have established this violent European settler colonialism.

Seattle and America needs to establish a "TRUTH COMMISSION" as was done in South Africa. This must be followed by establishing a form of governing based on ethnic "POWER SHARING" and not European settler majority rule.

As mayor I will:

1) See that New Football stadium is named the "KRISTOPHER KIME MEMORIAL STADIUM" so this young hero is never forgotten.

2) Reduce city staff by 25% and put savings into youth and public safety programs that work such as the Nordic Heritage Museum, El Centro, Day Break Star and African American Heritage Museum and Cultural Center. You fight crime with culture and not jails and more unproductive police.

3) Fight for the doubling of teachers salaries so they are comparable to private industry and police with only high school diplomas? Teachers are responsible for educating our future. We must make "CAREER BASED EDUCATION" the center of our education policy and stop "racially profiling" Black and White students. Neighborhood schools work best.

4) Hire new police chief that will ensure safety on Seattle streets and de-politicize police department. Police are to "serve and protect" everyone not just the makers and shakers.

5) Stop the ethnic cleansing of African Americans out of the Central Area (GENTRIFICATION).

6) Develop community forums to solve community problems. Communities must not be dominated by downtown developers and speculators.

7) Build monorail and re-vote light rail.

JoT's Gloss

"read about or seen me": He made the news when he allegedly clobbered the mayor of Seattle with his bullhorn, breaking the mayor's face (8 July 2001). His trial ended in a hung jury, with two jurors refusing to convict on eye-witness testimony because they didn't trust cops (who were among the eye witnesses but not all of them). back

"guns and government mob violence": Probably referring to Seattle police killing a black man, Aaron Roberts, (31 May 2001) and to their disproportionately killing black men in general. back

"KRISTOPHER KIME": The white man who was killed by a black thug during a Mardi Gras street party (27 February 2001). At the last night of Mardi Gras in downtown Seattle, the party turned into a melee, with 70 people injured. Most of the violence seems to have been perpetrated by blacks, many of them gang members, and one of them quoted as looking forward to beating up whites. Tahir refers to Kime as a "hero" because he was killed while trying to help a woman who'd been knocked to the pavement. back

"Nordic Heritage Museum": The curator here told my wife that there was nothing fun for kids to do at the museum because the museum is not about having fun. Now that's Nordic heritage, all right. back

"African American Heritage Museum": Tahir has been trying to get funding for this project since 1985. back

"teachers salaries": Teacher pay in Washington public schools is so low that recruiters come from other states to hire away teachers and prospective teachers. back

"racially profiling Black and White students": Black kids get expelled from Seattle schools more often than white and Asian kids. back

"Neighborhood schools": In assigning students to popular schools, the Seattle school district uses race as a tie-breaker (with higher priority than distance from home) as a means of reducing de facto segregation. back

"Police are to 'serve and protect' everyone": Possibly referring to police not breaking up the Mardi Gras party when they should have, to the police being heavy-handed with WTO protesters, and probably to general dissatisfaction with the police among the liberal activist community in Seattle. back

"Central Area": previously Seattle's black neighborhood, now desegregating. back

"monorail": a favored scheme for easing traffic congestion without doing cars any favors. back

—JoT
September 2001, June 2002

Background data from the Seattle Times web archive

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