Why Black People Don’t Feel Comfortable in Seattle

Little-known history: the country of Sweden created the eugenic pseudoscience of Craniology and had a eugenics program that lasted longer than the guys we fought against in WW2, including sterilizing and euthanizing People of Color. The national and state-sponsored myth was that Sweden was the best because it was the most “racially pure” European country.

This claim was taught in schools and became government policy. Then, after WW2, Sweden switched from “we're the best because we’re the most racially pure to we’re the best because we’re the most morally superior because we are the least racist. In both instances, they got to be the best. In the 2000s, Sweden even moved to erase any reference to race. Can't be racist without race, am I right? Why am I writing about Swedish history during Black History Month? Great question.

My surname is Hooten, which derives from the Nordic name “Van Houten”, meaning “from the woods.” In case this is unclear, my name is an indication that Swedish people owned my father‘s family for generations. So when we earned our freedom, it was easiest to keep it as we searched for our relatives. So my family history is quite literally shaped by Swedish race politics.

Fast-forward to now: I live in Seattle, WA, a city “founded” by Swedes and other Nordic settlers, and famed for its Nordic roots, so much so that it has a nationally acclaimed Nordic History Museum. Seattle was a sundown city that outlawed Non-whites from owning property. And yet Seattle also boasted for years that its 98118 zip code (where I now live) was the most racially diverse in America. When I moved to Seattle, I lived in the 98119 ZIP code, which was 2% Black because it was close to my place of employment. Thankfully, I've since bought a home in South Seattle, where the Black population is 20-25%. But I had to live in the 98119 zip code because of the deplorable state of public transit, which is another outcome of Seattle’s racism.

Last year, I was appointed to the King County Equitable Development Initiative Interim Advisory Board, which works to prevent housing and cultural displacement among historically marginalized groups, including Black people in the Greater Seattle region. For this work to truly be meaningful, the city must digest some hard truths and accept the legacy of decades of racist policy choices.

In spite of our stated goals around anti-racism, I’ve come across very few people in Seattle who know about the white supremacist roots of Nordic eugenics. This isn't an accident. It's an attempt to whitewash history and prevent accountability.
Black History Month is not just about celebrating the individual acts of great Black people. History is not in the past. It shapes our lives in the present. Knowing the roots of how we got here is how we advance just and fair public policy.