A survey of Olympia residents has revealed widespread discrimination, with marginalized groups like transgender individuals, people of color, and those with disabilities facing the most frequent incidents of being disrespected and denied opportunities.
The complete report is available here.
At the Olympia City Council study session on Tuesday, Dr. Ashley Gardner, Truclusion principal researcher, explained they categorized the survey questions into two categories:
Gardner defined this as acts that diminish or devalue an individual's standing in the community based on their identity or identities. It was measured as being treated with less respect, others acting afraid of the respondent, the respondents being harassed or threatened, and being seen as less smart.
The survey, commissioned by the city in 2023, found that 86.2% of respondents reported experiencing "diminishment discrimination."
In addition, the survey results showed that 16.3% of respondents said they experienced this type of discrimination due to their age; 10.8% said it was due to their race, 17.2% said it was due to their physical appearance, and 31.3% was due to their gender.
Discriminatory acts of impediment are defined as impeding an individual's access to opportunities because of their identity or identity.
The same survey revealed that 51.5% of respondents reported experiencing "impediment discrimination" when they were denied opportunities in areas like education, employment, healthcare, housing, law enforcement, and services.
Gardner said Olympians indicated this type of discrimination due to gender: 24.8% of respondents said it was due to gender; 14.9% said it was due to age; 11.5% said it was due to education or income; and 13.7% said it was due to physical appearance.
"These were not one-off experiences, most of the time. These happened multiple times, according to Olympians," Gardner noted.
According to Gardner, the survey team intentionally reached out to marginalized community members in the city.
The survey received 1,981 responses, which Gardner said is more than enough data to draw scientific statistical conclusions.
The demographic breakdown of survey respondents includes 26% with a disability, 21% identifying as a non-white, and 26-27% identifying as LGBTQ+.
According to Dane Wolfrom, Truclusion senior manager, the survey findings showed that transgender individuals faced significant discrimination across various areas of life in Olympia. He said data revealed that:
Transgender men and women were 11 times more likely than cisgender men to report being denied or provided inferior medical care.
Transgender individuals were three times more likely than cisgender men to be prevented from renting or buying a home in their desired neighborhood.
They were also three times more likely not to receive a job promotion and three times more likely to be hassled by law enforcement or private security.
Transgender respondents were five times more likely than cisgender men to be discouraged by an educator or advisor from pursuing further education.
According to Yien Folino, Truclusion managing principal, the survey also looked at the issue of colorism, which she described as discrimination against people based on the darkness of their skin tone.
The data showed that for American Indian, Alaska Native, Hispanic/Latino, and mixed-race individuals, those who strangers saw as having lighter skin tones experienced significantly less discrimination than those perceived as having darker skin.
Folino mentioned the survey findings showed that Asian Pacific Islander and Native Hawaiian individuals faced high rates of diminishment discrimination in Olympia. She said these groups of respondents were over five times more likely than white respondents to report feeling they were treated with less respect.
In addition, they were about 15 times more likely than white respondents to feel they were seen as less smart.
Folino explained that being seen as less respected and less intelligent often leads to these individuals being excluded from social spaces, receiving inferior services, and having fewer growth opportunities.
To address the discrimination revealed in the survey, Councilmember Clark Gilman expressed a desire to consider affirmative, anti-racist, and reparations-oriented actions and policies. Specifically, he stated that when shaping programs and deciding how to allocate funding, the city needs to ensure it is actively being anti-racist and thinking about how to support transgender individuals who are experiencing discrimination at much higher levels.
Councilmember Dani Madrone acknowledged that the city cannot control individual behavior, and many discrimination issues are rooted in individual behavior. However, she emphasized the city's importance in supporting and addressing these systemic problems.
Mayor Dontae Payne expressed that the discrimination data "holds up a mirror to the Olympia community." He said there is more work to be done.
Payne noted that the city's efforts to address issues like homelessness, which can contribute to feelings of discrimination, are steps in the right direction. Still, the city needs to continue pursuing larger, more impactful projects that will improve community members' experiences.
Editor's Note: We added a link to the full report after the first paragraph.
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Southsoundguy
Oh give me a break!
Friday, July 26 Report this
tommull
Of course, this is self-reporting about how a person feels as to whether they are discriminated against due to their particular identity as they imagine it. And, of course, by those who bother to respond to the survey. I saw the announcement but didn't bother to respond. I know the weakness of these very unscientific (by social science standards) surveys. I'm 72, male, white, and very working class and have "felt" looked down upon by those who "seemed" to be looking down on me. Classism? Ageism? Misanthropist? Racism? I came to the conclusion that it was the "poor white trash" chip on my shoulder! As I grew from a "Grievance" Identity to an "Honer" Identity and then to a "Dignity" Identity I learned to let that small minded stuff go. I am not what I think and feel! I am that which thinks and feels. Pursue that and don't get lost in the pettiness of childhood! =)
Friday, July 26 Report this
Snevets
Thank you for sharing this report. Mindfulness matters.
Friday, July 26 Report this
GinnyAnn
Those who've never lived with discrimination don't know the continual little barbs of not being seen, overlooked for jobs, left out of groups going for lunch together at work, not waited on in restaurants or stores, or other slights. I know what it's like to be told on the telephone that "the job is yours, just come in for the interview." Then when you show up, you're suddenly "over-qualified," or "just not the right fit for the position." Discrimination is very real and very hurtful.
Friday, July 26 Report this
ConservativeHippie
Often in articles about a poll or survey, the publisher makes sure to include a link to the published raw data. I do not see one here.
Truclusion is the only link. The business model seems to serve as a consultancy for diversity, equity, and inclusion marketing and or regulatory hurdles for corporations and organizations.
Unfortunately it seems JOLT has stepped into the realm of "content marketing" versus journalism. No raw data. No raw survey published.
Framing a community "marginalized" and then surveying the community with subjective questions about marginalization all in service to a business model serving this same community.
If they could just get a news outlet to publish their content ... JOLT ... virtuous .... brilliant!
Friday, July 26 Report this
JasonS
Collecting a group of individual perceptions and then reporting them as verified facts is misguided at best, and disingenuous at worst. I'm sure there is some validity to these reported experiences, but to call this subjective data a "mirror to the Olympia community" is simply wrong.
Friday, July 26 Report this
BillString
This was a poorly organized survey at best. I don't doubt people being discriminated against, but the data is misleading.
Friday, July 26 Report this
pbaron1902
I do not doubt discrimination occurs. The survey does not seem valid - particularly without the data - enough to paint Olympia as has been done here. Let's see the complete data.
Friday, July 26 Report this
OlyKid88
We should accept that the City Council has fully vetted this consulting firm and fully reviewed and analyzed the consulting work, data gathering, studies and outcomes to ensure the completeness and accuracy of the firm's findings and scientific rigor. The City Council is right to listen and accept their findings in pursuit of a solution for the problems identified that impact all members of our community.
Given that Olympia has been led by very progressive and liberal groups for the last 50 years, both at the City and State decision making level, it would seem that these findings don't look favorably on the results of implementing that ideology over the long term. The results are unacceptable.
The lack of diversity of those in governing roles and responsibilities, and the biases that come along with that, has negatively impacted people and relationships within our community. Well meaning and good people have volunteered, worked and joined to make decisions that have consistently led to negative unintended circumstances. To allow that to continue within the City seems counter to a well functioning community where each of us is brought together, works together, thinks together and is not divided and relegated to some specific group they may, or may not, choose to be associated with.
While this is a complicated conversation, beyond the scope of a short form response, a good first step for Olympia is to revisit our approach as a community to electing people that better reflect the entirety of our community values.
From housing, schools, small businesses, individuals and families, Olympia can do better and must do better as we take on even more complicated challenges brought on by growth and the complexities of change. The next 50 years cannot follow the same trajectory Olympia is currently been on.
Friday, July 26 Report this
FordPrefect
Wow, look at all those numbers… with such a well-executed study providing so much “data” and “evidence”.
Never realized I was a bigoted, transphobic racist but after reading this I had to check the mirror. Yup, a white straight dude with a job… how shall I ever repay the oppressed for all my sins? Guess I’ll have to keep sending tens of thousands of dollars to the government to redistribute my income to those who have time to respond to surveys.
If I decide tomorrow that I’m a woman or a pansexual fruit-bat, can I get some of those reparations? I feel oppressed and it could help pay for groceries.
Friday, July 26 Report this
wolfmanner
What a bunch of BS.
Friday, July 26 Report this
wolfmanner
If you tell anyone your voting for Trump then you really get discriminated against in this city.
Friday, July 26 Report this
Carolyn Byerly
Well, I heard this study referred to back in the spring by the Mayor and council members during one of their meetings. I wonder why it has taken so long to make the 2023 study public. Can the Mayor tell us?
The situation of discrimination is real in our community and it matters, and, yes, those in elected positions are counted on to address it in all its forms. But, please, let's have more and better information about the study -- who designed the study, what were the questions, how were participants recruited, what are the examples of discrimination that arose from the study (I presume there was a way for participants to share some of their experiences), and what specifically is being done to address it? I don't think the lack of information is simply the fault of JOLT reporting -- the city is responsible for fully informing its public when it conducts a study on such an important public issue and, additionally, for telling us what they are doing about it -- and doing this in a timely manner, not a year after the fact. It's not enough, Mayor, to simply observe that the "city needs to continue pursuing . . projects that will improve community members' experiences." Discrimination is systemic and needs a systemic approach to address it.
Saturday, July 27 Report this
HappyOlympian
A summary of a "survey" that probably lacks any statistical validity. I love the conclusion, homeless people feel discriminated against. Quit littering, stop committing petty crimes, use a crosswalk, do not wasting other people's time, take a bit of responsibility for your actions, respect other people, cease gathering in alleys downtown to smoke fentanyl and meth and I will quit judging you on your actions and not feel as though every effort we make to better your lives is not a complete waste.
Monday, July 29 Report this
KTLucas
Sorry, City of Olympia, but this fake study should be round-filed! First, I don't think it's an adequate sampling. Personally, as a Sduhúbš (Snohomish) Indian woman of dxʷlilap (Tulalip Tribes) and Pukaist of Nlaka'Pamux Nation, B.C., I don't appreciate these "consultants" stripping me and my people of our unique legal and political identity and rights by alleging 52% of us are White and that we benefit from "colorism" as so-called 'lighter than.' What a bunch of gibberish nonsense! I and my brothers have been both physically and vocally attacked in public for our identity. And these dumb yahoo consultants completely dismissed our features. Instead, they feature 52% who "identify" as American Indian and consider themselves White. Baloney. I've never met those 52%! Where were these consultants when my White husband and I went into the golf course restaurant after playing 18 holes at Tumwater Golf Course and shortly after being seated about 10 young White people entered and while passing me sneered and began shouting racial epithets at me. They called me a "dirty squaw" and "Pocahontas" and called my husband "Pocahontas's Little Man" (he was obviously considered smaller than hist 5'11 frame due to his association with me--the "Dirty Squaw!" My husband asked if I wanted to leave, but I chose not to let them drive me out. The staff profusely apologized, but said their manager refused to evict those racist assailants. So, the racial epithets continued to be hurled at me throughout the meal. After they left, several other customers expressed their shock and apologized that I had to endure that. But the reality is that said nothing in defense of me. That is one, only one incident in my entire life of being attacked for my race. Beyond that, I must emphasize that we American Indians/Alaska Natives typically have very unique features and hair, including how we traditionally wear our hair. Moreover, beyond being easily targeted by racists for our obvious race, the anger and racial epithets usually go to our unique standing legally and politically as tribal members. I am often told "Go back to the reservation Injun...Squaw, etc.). So, I strenuously object, City of Olympia, to this unprofessionally researched and written report. Stop erasing me and my people.
Thursday, August 1 Report this