I am very puzzled by Joe Yarkin’s issues with the Vashon Island School District’s recently adopted racial equity policy (“School district policy needs work, has potential to cause issues,” Nov. 22). Yes, it appears pretty ambiguous, and he says “that one can see this going in many bad directions.” Conversely, one can also see this going in many good directions.

Joe states that “embedded in the policy are the assumptions that white supremacy and corruption are inherent to our institutions and that we live in a racist nation from its founding days.” Just consider the institution of slavery, the odious Jim Crow laws following the Emancipation Proclamation, and the voter suppression movement in the United States today to confirm that, yes, our society does indeed favor white people.

“Dystopian world view of racial identity politics”… Huh? Dystopian is defined “as bad as can be; characterized by human misery.” Perhaps the Jim Crow era could be defined as dystopian, but I think today’s racial tenor is considerably less than that.

I recommend a couple of good books with excellent discussions concerning race in today’s world. I had never thought much about my “white privilege” until I read Debby Irving’s “Waking Up White,” which now has me constantly considering my unfair advantages in a white person’s world. Beverly Tatum’s “Why Are all the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” is a good follow up. And perusing the bibliographies in these works will yield many further discussions regarding the insidious policies rife in today’s society that seriously affect what is supposed to be a level playing field.

I applaud the school district in its efforts to increase racial equity awareness; it seems that addressing this issue with our young people is a good place to start.

— Katie Bunnell