Dem Chair Podlodowski Comments on Racist Slurs During Seattle “Zoom Bombing”

Washington State Democratic Party Chair Tina Podlodowski issued the following statement after reports of horrible racial slurs used in a “Zoom bomb” against Seattle City Council Position 9 candidate Brianna Thomas:

“We should all condemn the racist attacks we saw made in this case by some disgusting online troll, and I look forward to others joining in on that request loudly and publicly. But the bigger picture is, we need to make our politics and our elections safe for Black women to run in and succeed. As Democrats, we have a duty to lift up and support Black women running for office and make sure that we have their backs when things like this happen. In the long term, we need to break the systemic racism that still infects too much of our politics and our society, even here in progressive Seattle, and certainly around the State of Washington. I’m so sorry this happened to Brianna, and we all need to reflect upon what we can do to help prevent this kind of thing from happening in the future. However, none of us can just say ‘wow, that’s bad’ and move on. Our politics and our democracy can and must be so much better than this. We are the ones who must draw attention to the racism faced by so many Black, Brown, and Indigenous people, especially BIPOC women, in running for office.”

The Washington State Democrats do not endorse in Seattle City Council races, but local legislative district and county party organizations do make endorsements in those elections.

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