Editing Kennewick, Washington (section)

===20th century racial discrimination===
Racial discrimination against African Americans was common in Kennewick before the [[civil rights movement]]. The city was a [[sundown town]], requiring African Americans to be out of the city after nightfall. The only place they could live in the Tri-Cities at one time was east Pasco. Even during the day, African Americans would experience harassment by the general public and police, with some police officers stopping every person of color they found in the city after dark.<ref name=Unproved>{{cite news|title=Discrimination Held Unproved |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/spokane-chronicle/97847249/ |date=May 17, 1963 |page=6 |work=[[The Spokesman-Review]] |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>  In the 1940s, [[covenant (law)|covenants]] restricted African Americans from owning property in the city. After the [[United States Supreme Court|U.S. Supreme Court]] ruled in ''[[Shelley v. Kraemer]]'' that racially restrictive covenants could not be enforced in state courts, these were replaced by informal agreements between homeowners and realtors to refuse to sell to African Americans.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bauman |first1=Robert |date=Summer 2005 |title=Jim Crow in the Tri-Cities, 1943-1950 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40491852 |journal=[[The Pacific Northwest Quarterly]] |volume=96 |issue=3 |pages=124–131 |jstor=40491852 |access-date=27 September 2021 |archive-date=March 8, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308105753/https://www.jstor.org/stable/40491852 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Kennewick's racial discrimination problems became a contributing factor behind a community college not being built there in the 1950s.<ref>{{cite news|title=Tri-City Racial Problems Shake Junior College Plans |date=December 10, 1954 |page=14 |work=The Spokesman-Review}}</ref> In 1963, regional [[NAACP]] leaders started pressuring the state government to investigate exclusionary practices and staged demonstrations in front of city hall.<ref>{{cite news|title=State Board Will Hold Meeting at Kennewick |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/spokane-chronicle/97846838/ |date=May 13, 1963 |page=6 |work=The Spokesman-Review |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Kennewick Marchers Point to City's Racial Problems |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-spokesman-review-kennewick-marchers/157976492/ |date=May 19, 1968 |page=18 |work=The Spokesman-Review |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Initial meetings led the state to determine that while no official policy banning African Americans from the city existed, racial discrimination was a significant barrier to that community living and feeling safe.<ref name=Unproved /> Despite this, the Washington State Board Against Discrimination indicted Kennewick for its sundown town status.<ref>{{cite news|title=Negro March Won't Stress Kennewick |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-spokesman-review/97846498/ |date=May 12, 1963 |page=2 |work=The Spokesman-Review |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Charge Kennewick As 'Sundown Town' |first=Joe |last=Rigert |agency=[[Associated Press]] |work=[[Port Angeles Evening News]] |location=[[Port Angeles, Washington]] |date=July 9, 1963 |page=1 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29368072/ |via=Newspapers.com |quote=A state civil rights board indicated Tuesday Kennewick has virtually barred its gates to Negroes and gained a reputation as a 'sundown town' where Negroes must leave after dark. |access-date=March 10, 2019 |archive-date=March 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210316140400/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/29368072/port-angeles-evening-news/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=TCHDiscrimination>{{cite news |title=Black Tri-Citians Reflect on Struggles, Progress |last=Pihl |first=Kristi |url=https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/article31806114.html |work=Tri-City Herald |date=February 14, 2011 |access-date=December 30, 2019 |archive-date=January 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200104043249/https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/article31806114.html |url-status=live }}</ref>