On Jan. 21, the Reporter received a press release from the Redmond Police Department (RPD) seeking help from the community in identifying a suspect in a harassment case.

The subject line did not provide any more information, but once I opened the email, I saw that the incident had a racist bent to it. From Rags to Riches, a local consignment store owned and run by a black family, had been targeted after a white suspect left behind items that appeared to be garments similar to those worn by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

When I read the description of the items, I had a physical reaction. Not just an uncomfortable “Oh my god, I can’t believe it” reaction. I mean an immediate physical, heart-racing, skin-crawling reaction.

Even though I was just reading words on a screen and there is not that volatile history between Asian Americans and white supremacist groups as there is with blacks in this country, I was deeply affected by the incident. If I had been reading the release on a sheet of paper instead of on my computer screen, I would have dropped the paper, not even wanting to touch it.

I can only imagine what it was like for store owner Leona Coakley-Spring and her son Shane Coakley.

Incidents like this should not happen. They shouldn’t have happened in the past and they shouldn’t be happening nowadays, in 2016.

But this seems to be the way things are today.

The world we live in currently is one where a frontrunner in our presidential race regularly spouts off bigoted, racist and sexist remarks. But instead of being met with enough disapproval and contempt to push him out of the race, Donald Trump’s comments push him further ahead in the polls. When Trump suggested banning all Muslims from entering the country — even U.S. citizens — people cheered in agreement. Meanwhile, young children across the country are being harassed and accosted for their faith and an 8-year-old Muslim American girl from Texas even began collecting her favorite items in a bag for fear of the U.S. Army coming to remove her family from their home.

The world we live in currently is one where the mayor of Roanoke, Va. cites the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II as a strategy we can draw from today to protect the country from possible terrorists as Syrian refugees are beginning to arrive in the country. Never mind that the internment is considered to be one of the most serious injustices carried out by our government and a dark mark on Franklin D. Roosevelt’s presidency — or the fact that about two-thirds of those interned were American citizens and all were being contained without any sort of trial.

And if you think this type of attitude and behavior only happens in other parts of the country because the Pacific Northwest is too liberal, open minded and welcoming, there unfortunately have been a few local incidents that indicate that maybe, things are not as progressive as we like to think here in the upper left.

In October 2015, a Seattle yoga studio came to the attention of a local conservative radio host after he learned the studio offered POC Yoga, which was specifically for people of color, once a week. The class was never advertised and had been offered for about five years with no problems. It was a space where people of color were able to practice yoga — something that already has many people feeling exposed and vulnerable — and feel safe. Once the radio host discussed POC Yoga on his show, calling the practice racist, the studio and instructor were harassed and received a number of death threats. POC Yoga was canceled as a result and other classes at the studio were put on hold because students and instructors no longer felt safe.

While POC Yoga’s classes may have been unintentionally offensive to potential white students, people’s reactions to learning about its existence just goes to show why people felt it was even necessary in the first place.

And then, of course, there is last week’s incident here in Redmond.

As someone who is neither white nor male, I have to admit that while I have a good life, a great job and people in my life who I love and love me, there are times when I have resigned myself to accepting the fact that in some people’s eyes, I will always be considered “less than.” Usually, I just look at it as their problem, but every now and then, I do feel like I have to prove myself for whatever reason.

There is a reason why the Black Lives Matter movement was started. There is a reason why the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite exists and has received so much attention.

There is a reason why I am writing another editorial about diversity on the heels of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, lamenting the lack of progress we have made as a society.

It’s because there are groups of people in this country — and around the world — who still feel marginalized and like they don’t belong.

But all is not yet lost.

Members of the U.S. military have reached out to that young Muslim American girl and her family, promising to protect her. Local communities have come together to prepare for and welcome Syrian refugees as they arrive.

And most significantly, following last week’s incident here in Redmond, RPD is taking things very seriously and working to conduct a thorough investigation. In addition, people have been doing what they can to prove to Coakley-Spring and Coakley that their family is welcome here and they are valued members of the community. From visiting their store, to offering them flowers and gifts, the greater Redmond community is proving that it really can be as open as we hope to be.

That, my friends, is progress. Baby steps, sure, but progress, nonetheless.