Black Lives Matter protest held in La Center

More than 50 people gathered for a Black Lives Matter protest on the bridge entering La Center Sunday, June 14. Passing motorists honked their horns as the group gathered on the side of the road holding signs supporting the movement.

Event organizer Emily Hancock was “ surprised but happy” to see the turnout as big as it was as she was only expecting about 20 to 30 people. She said she was “very excited” and “hopes to start a conversation” in the community of La Center.

“We wanted to do it in this little town and not like Vancouver or Portland because we felt that our town is not diverse at all and it’s especially important to bring this here,” she said. “Racism is very pervasive everywhere, even in small towns like this. People think that it’s not a problem here, but it’s a problem here.”

Hancock, who graduated from La Center High School in 2017, started putting the demonstration together early last week. Despite in some cases receiving threats and online backlash, she and her friend Bethany Rose felt it was important to follow through.

“We aren’t going to give up and we’re not going to stop,” Rose said.

According to Hancock’s mother, Joni, the group faced a small amount of opposition online ranging from small verbal altercations to discussion about “invoking Second Amendment rights.”

“That’s when I kind of pushed back a little bit,” Joni said, mentioning how she told police about the threats and got the protest OK’d by the department. Police officers told Joni they’d “be watching from afar” for any possible instigators.

Joni teaches social and emotional learning at La Center Elementary School. She said she came out to support her daughter but also because she felt it was “important to open up conversations in the community.”

“If we can’t open up conversations, no change will take place,” she said.

On the sidelines, Hancock and other organizers put together a support station complete with a snack table, a station for making signs and a handful of pamphlets to hand out about the cause. “If anyone wants to come have a conversation and learn, we will be here to talk and educate people and hopefully get some people to understand that this is big and racism is a huge problem,” Rose explained.

The group brought in people of many different backgrounds, including Erik Neimi, the pastor of La Center’s Highland Lutheran Church.

“This is part of practicing my faith,” Neimi said, mentioning how he wanted to show support for the students of color who come through the preschool.

“I want Divari and Tavir and other kids of color in our youth group to know that they don’t need to be afraid, that they are growing up in a world that wants to support them and see them succeed,” he said. “We all deserve that opportunity.”

Black Lives Matter protests have occurred regularly across the state, country and globe since George Floyd, a black man, was killed by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25 after an officer held his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. Four officers have been arrested in connection with the death.