On Monday, members of the African American community held a rally to support African American owned business that they claim have been discriminated against on the Seattle Tunnel Project.
According to Eddie Rye, Jr., the rally was designed to shed light on the lack of enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and the alleged discriminatory practices that have taken place on the project.
“It’s time for us to let the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) and the Seattle Tunnel Partners know in a very demonstrative way that their lack of enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the continuing racist practices are unacceptable,” said Rye.
The timing of the protest, according to organizers, coincided with the presence of investigators from the Federal Highway Administration Office of Civil Rights who were in town to review the alleged discriminatory practices on the Seattle Tunnel Project.
In a release prior to the protest, organizers said that they were going to “visibly show support for [their] contractors and demand that the USDOT Civil Rights Office and the WSDOT hold the Seattle Tunnel Partners accountable.”
