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We Are a League for EVERYONE

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) are central to the League's current and future success in engaging ALL individuals, households, communities, and policy makers in creating a more perfect democracy.

Our Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy: "There shall be no barriers to full participation in the League on the basis of gender, gender identity, ethnicity, race, native or indigenous origin, age, generation, sexual orientation, culture, religion, belief system, marital status, parental status, socioeconomic status, language, accent, ability status, mental health, educational level or background, geography, nationality, work style, work experience, job role function, thinking style, personality type, physical appearance, political perspective or affiliation and/or any other characteristic that can be identified as recognizing or illustrating diversity."

A common flaw with DEI programs is they help people to identify unconscious biases, but then fail to provide actionable steps on how to address these biases. Focusing on awareness alone ignores the structural inequalities that sustain a discriminatory culture in the long run. The National Office of the League of Women Voters has given us a process for evaluating our programs and actions concerning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). This process can help us as we work toward awareness of the inequities that many of our fellow citizens have endured for years.  The first step in change is understanding. 


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Suggested Local Read Towards Gaining Understanding... 
Breaking Ground: The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe and the Unearthing of Tse-whit-zen Village

by Lynda Mapes

 

In 2003, a backhoe operator hired by the state of Washington to work on the Port Angeles waterfront discovered what a larger world would soon learn. The place chosen to dig a massive dry dock was atop one of the largest and oldest Indian village sites ever found in the region. Yet the state continued its project, disturbing hundreds of burials and unearthing more than 10,000 artifacts at Tse-whit-zen village, the heart of the long-buried homeland of the Klallam people.

 

Excitement at the archaeological find of a generation gave way to anguish as tribal members working alongside state construction workers encountered more and more human remains, including many intact burials. Finally, tribal members said the words that stopped the project: "Enough is enough."

 

Soon after, Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe chairwoman Frances Charles asked the state to walk away from more than $70 million in public money already spent on the project and find a new site. The state, in an unprecedented and controversial decision that reverberated around the nation, agreed.

 

In search of the story behind the story, Seattle Times reporter Lynda V. Mapes spent more than a year interviewing tribal members, archaeologists, historians, city and state officials, and local residents and business leaders. Her account begins with the history of Tse-whit-zen village, and the nineteenth- and twentieth-century impacts of contact, forced assimilation, and industrialization. She then engages all the voices involved in the dry dock controversy to explore how the site was chosen, and how the decisions were made first to proceed and then to abandon the project, as well as the aftermath and implications of those controversial choices.

 

This beautifully crafted and compassionate account, illustrated with nearly 100 photographs, illuminates the collective amnesia that led to the choice of the Port Angeles construction site. "You have to know your past in order to build your future," Charles says, recounting the words of tribal elders. Breaking Ground takes that teaching to heart, demonstrating that the lessons of Tse-whit-zen are teachings from which we all may benefit.

Diversity in Clallam County

At first glance, ethnically-speaking, Clallam County is not a very diverse county. According to the *2020 U.S. Census, the county’s total population of 77,155 people (up from 71,404 in 2010) were:

By Race:

  • 86.30% White
  • 13.7% a combination of other races:
    • 7.0% Hispanic or Latino;

    • 5.7% American Indian and Alaska Native alone;

    • 4.60% of two or more races;

    • 2.10% Asian alone;

    • 1.10% Black alone; and

    • .20% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone.

By Age:
  • 3.80% persons under 5 years;
  • 15.90% persons under 18 years;
  • 33% persons 65 years and over; and
  • 50.80% female persons.
Living in Poverty:
  • 11.9% of Clallam residents live in poverty
Disabled:
  • 14.70% under age 65 have a disability

Other:

  • 4.5% foreign-born persons

Housing Stats:

  • Housing units, July 1, 2023: 38,876
  • Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2019-2023: $385,600
  • Median selected monthly owner costs - with a mortgage, 2019-2023: $1,811
  • Median selected monthly owner costs -without a mortgage, 2019-2023: $602
  • Median gross rent, 2019-2023: $1,110

Income Stats:

  • Per capita income in past 12 months (in 2023 dollars), 2019-2023: $40,133
  • Median households income (in 2023 dollars), 2019-2023: $67,999

Employment Stats: 

  • All employer firms, Reference year 2022 : 2,159

  • Total employment, 2022: 18,500

The National League’s goals, and our league's as well, is to encourage and welcome diverse members of our communities into the League - not only those identified above, but those with any other characteristics, as outlined in our DEI policy, that can be identified as recognizing or illustrating diversity – and to work to ensure that we are fair, impartial, and inclusive.

*2020 Clallam County Census Quick Facts Page


Clallam County, Washington is a beautiful, rural place to live, however it faces a number of challenges:

  • Housing shortages: The county is short about 1,200 housing units.
  • Lack of affordable housing: A pressing need, especially for people living in poverty or who are employed, but have limited assets and low income.
  • Access to health care: A key issue for the county.
  • Budget deficits: The county's main sources of funding are sales and property taxes, but inflation and other factors challenge the budget.
  • Employment: Job growth in Clallam County is seasonal, and the winter months impact nonfarm employment. There is also a lack of a sufficient and or skilled labor workforce.
  • Lack of childcare.
  • Alcohol and substance abuse, mental health issues, and homelessness.

On a local level, we strive to advocate for and support programs and resources that have a positive impact on our local community, such as access to health care, and wrap-around services for those trying to overcome opioid addiction. 

Email: info@lwvcla.org

LWV Clallam County

PO Box 1092

Carlsborg, WA 98324