Olympian coverage of rally disappointing

I was disappointed to read your coverage of the “Families Belong Together” rally on Saturday. When 3,000 local citizens come out to peaceably protest their government’s horrible “zero tolerance” policy of separating families, I believe it’s incumbent on local news to cover the story in more depth than was provided.

As a newcomer to Thurston County I was honored to speak at the rally and share my experience as a first-generation Peruvian American and former Legislator who worked on immigration issues in the recent past.

Two other men of color also spoke at the rally. But like me, our words were not shared with the public in your article. Friends of all political persuasions and immigration activists noticed this also and asked me about it. Most believe The Olympian “whitewashed” the organizers’ declared intent to present immigrant voices who had first hand experience of the issue. To be fair, I know that two women of color did speak. But even then, only one of them was mentioned in the article.

To have left out the statements of four persons of color while acknowledging two white speakers clearly raises concerns about what The Olympian feels our community should know and hear about. What needs to be discussed in the public square can not be limited by any bias to report only what the dominant culture says or is concerned about.