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It's Still Pretty White (Getting Better)

from Olympia - A True Story by Tom Dyer and The True Olympians

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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    3 CD box set with 40 songs about Olympia WA plus a detailed 80 page book with the history behind the songs and a plethora of great photos. With over 100 Olympa musicians. Stunning!

    Includes unlimited streaming of Olympia - A True Story via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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      $1 USD  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

I grew up in Olympia and I don’t remember anything but white kids in my classes. White teachers. White principals. I looked at my 1971 OHS annual and the 1,500 or so students were all white kids except for two Asian kids I did not know and Joe Waterhouse, an Indian lad who became a judge. My sister says there was one Black student when she attended the year before me.
In the Olympia area, Lacey is the most diverse city, in part due to its proximity to Joint Base Lewis/McChord. Dr. Thelma Jackson’s 2022 book gives a revealing picture of Black community members in Thurston County 1950-1975 and some of the challenges they faced. Probably the biggest change in Olympia was ‘70-72, when Evergreen brought in multiple Black faculty and staff. Better.
Since I’ve returned to town, I’ve learned about Rebecca Howard, a successful and respected Black woman hotel/restaurant owner in Olympia’s earliest days. Her success in tiny Olympia was most unusual at the time. And of course, as a youngster here, I never heard of her. She is mentioned in Gordon Newell’s 1975 Olympia history, Rogues, Buffoons and Statesmen. Nowadays her picture is painted on the side of The Bread Peddler building down at State and Capitol. Getting better, a step at a time.
When I recorded this song, I hoped to find some non-white folks to participate. I contacted a local gospel choir and asked them to sing. They declined; Covid. I asked if they might send a message to individual members who could sing if
they felt comfortable. They declined. I then contacted a Black Olympia hip-hop artist I know. My idea, I would delete the bridge and they could put anything they wanted in its place. They thought it was a great idea and agreed to do it. A week or two later, they called me back and declined. Their spouse felt it could put their family at risk in our current environment. I said I understood and moved on. Getting better, but still a long ways to go.

The song states “In 2020 all elected officials in Thurston County were white.” Since 2021, the City of Olympia now has two non-white Council members, Yen Huỳnh and Dontae Payne. We now have a Latina, Carolina Mejia, as County Commissioner for the first time. Nisqually elder Bob Iyall was elected to a Port Commissioner seat in the same election, “the highest elected position any Nisqually tribal member has ever held outside of the tribe itself.”
Also, as of October 7, 2021, the flag of the Squaxin Island Tribe now flies over Olympia’s City Hall and at The Evergreen State College, where they will remain on permanent display. Getting better!

How Carolina Mejia became a Thurston County Commissioner
Retrieved from www.theolympian.com/news/local/article248586620.html
Bob Iyall Becomes Nisqually Tribal Member of Highest Elected Position
Retrieved from www.yelmonline.com/stories/bob-iyall-becomes-nisquallytribal-member-of-highest-elected-position,279609
Jackson, Thelma. 2022. Blacks In Thurston County, Washington: 1950 to 1975: A Community Album. Thurston County: Northwest Institute for Leadership and Change.
Rebecca Howard: An African-American Businesswoman in Early Olympia
Retrieved from www.thurstontalk.com/2015/01/15/olympia-history/
Tribe | City of Olympia Sign Accord
Retrieved from squaxinisland.org/tribe-city-of-olympia-sign-accord

lyrics

Getting better better better
It’s still pretty white
Olympia, Washington
It’s still pretty white

Olympia’s first settlers included Black man George Bush
Bush Prairie is where the Olympia Airport is now
The People of The Water lived where downtown Olympia would be
They called it Steh-Chass
All Indians were confined to Squaxin Island in 1856
Olympia had a little Chinatown, too
Last located down on Water Street
With markets and laundries and restaurants
Mostly men, mostly Lockes.
A grandson of immigrants, Gary Locke would become Washington’s governor
In 1942, the U.S. shipped all Japanese to incarceration camps

It’s still pretty white
Olympia, Washington
It’s still pretty white

1963, Tumwater
Mr. Scott lived next door
Window washer, only Black man that I knew of in our town
Black folks from Tacoma worked for the State down in Olympia
but drove home to Tacoma every single night
Redlining and covenants kept minorities from living in town
Redlining finally made illegal 1968
Though not enforced for at least seven years
Some covenants still exist
’75 the first Vietnamese refugees arrived

It’s still pretty white
Olympia, Washington
It’s still pretty white

1970 census, 1.5% “Negro and other races”
2010 census, Olympia 82.5% white
That’s 8% higher than Lacey
And it’s 18% higher than Tacoma
In 2020, all elected officials in Thurston County were white

It’s still pretty white
Olympia, Washington
It’s still pretty white
Getting better

credits

from Olympia - A True Story, released October 14, 2022
The True Olympians

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Tom Dyer and The True Olympians Olympia, Washington

The True Olympians were formed shortly after Tom Dyer moved back to his hometown Olympia in 2006. Their focus is primarily recording, though they do play yer occasional live show. Current members: Tom - vox, guitar etc,, Gene Tveden- bass, b-vox, Joe Cason - keys, b-vox, Lisa Ceazan- vocals, and Jeff Parkhurst - drums, b-vox. Jeff is the band's 4th drummer. ... more

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