Scott Watanabe

An accord has been reached between the Spokane County Democratic Party and the plaintiffs in a civil suit filed against it in U.S. District Court stemming from racist actions on the part of some of the party’s members.

“Tibetans came to the Seattle area in the ‘60s through the University of Washington. In fact it was the Sakya family (who began the local Buddhist monastery of the same name) who were the first family to come,” said Kunzang Yuthok. “Until a coupe of years ago there were only 70 to 80 Tibetans here (in Seattle), but in 1990 we got an immigration bill passed that set aside, 1,000 visas for Tibetan immigrants from india and Nepal.”