Just outside the King County Superior Court in Seattle, the sidewalks are drenched in human urine and covered in excrement.

The area is home to most of Seattle's homeless shelter beds and social-services organizations.

Between the worsening local crime and the filth outside the courthouse, jurors and employees say there is an "unsanitary and frightening atmosphere," the Seattle Times reports. Two jurors have been assaulted in the area and others have asked to be released from their jury duty assignments.

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"When they come to this courthouse they're afraid to come in," King County Sheriff John Urquhart said. "They're afraid to walk down Third Avenue because what they see."

Naturally, two judges asked the city to power-wash the sidewalks and clean up some of the filth around the courthouse.

But one county councilmember is reportedly opposed to washing the soiled streets, the Times reports, because it could be racially insensitive.

King County Councilmember Larry Gossett "said he didn't like the idea of power-washing the sidewalks because it brought back images of the use of hoses against civil-rights activists," according to the Times.

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Upon learning of Gossett's complaint, National Review's Katherine Timpf wrote: "Now, I'm not trying to diminish the struggles of civil-rights activists, but Gossett's concern here is nothing short of insane. I mean, seriously — who even thinks of such a thing? I see people power-washing bodily fluids off of the streets of New York City (including streets outside of courthouses) all the time, and I have not once seen any of them being called racist. ... What else are you going to do — not wash them? Because I really, really reject the idea that leaving sidewalks covered with human bodily waste is the less offensive move in this (or any) situation."

Gossett's concern captured the attention of social-media users, who posted the following comments on Facebook:

"Liberalism at it's best. Insanity which even a patient in an insane asylum could not come up with." - James Gallagher

"How have we gotten to the point where some idiot councilman can't understand why we have to hose down sidewalks covered with human waste, and how have we allowed it to go on so long? The answer of course, is - it's Seattle, and who runs that asylum?" - Ray Curtis

"So ... he's equating civil rights activists with excrement? My question is how is it legal to send untreated sewage into the storm drains? Seattle makes California look sane." - Jeff Hart

"More accurate headline: Seattle Council Incorrectly Equates Civil Rights Activists to Excrement. This guy either doesn't know anything about the civil rights movement, or he thinks very poorly of it." - Alan Wood

"Maybe Seattle should make it illegal to poop on the sidewalks. Or is that a microaggression?" - Mark Callahan

"Let them crap on his front lawn" - Don Stevenson

Colin Flaherty's book, "Don't Make the Black Kids Angry: The Hoax of Black Victimization and Those Who Enable It," documents black crime in America and exposes how the media and politicians are willing partners in what the author calls "the greatest lie of our generation."

As WND reported just Wednesday, concerns about racial insensitivity are apparently reaching absurd proportions in California as well.

California's Bay Area Rapid Transit officials are refusing to release surveillance video of assaults aboard its trains, saying to do so would "create a racial bias" and accusing the media of exploiting the images for ratings.

BART announced last week it would also no longer issue press releases about crimes on the transit system, instead submitting incidents to the website CrimeMapping.com.

"Disproportionate elevation of crimes on transit interfaces with local media in such a way to unfairly affect and characterize riders of color, leading to sweeping generalizations in media reports and a high level of racially insensitive commentary directed toward the District through our social-media channels, email and call centers," assistant general manager Kerry Hamill said.

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Recent incidents of onboard violence have attracted media attention, with reports of passengers' phones and other property being taken and some passengers being beaten. Most incidents have been linked to the Coliseum station in Oakland.

A woman had her phone snatched June 30 in a swarming attack by "about a dozen teenagers," who got off the train at the Coliseum stop. Two days before, four teens took a cellphone from a passenger they attacked at the Dublin station. On April 22, 40-60 teens boarded the train at the Coliseum station and robbed seven passengers and beat up two.

Despite BART having installed surveillance cameras on all its train cars, it is refusing to release video of these attacks – a decision criticized by BART board of directors member, Debora Allen.

Allen emailed Hamill, "I don't understand what role the color of one's skin plays in this issue [of whether to divulge information]. Can you explain?"

Hamill replied: "If we were to regularly feed the news media video of crimes on our system that involve minority suspects, particularly when they are minors, we would certainly face questions as to why we were sensationalizing relatively minor crimes and perpetuating false stereotypes in the process.

"My view is that the media's real interest in the videos of youth phone-snatching incidents isn't the desire for transparency but rather the pursuit of ratings. They know that video of these events will drive clicks to their websites and viewers to their programs because people are motivated by fear."

Hamill announced the new policy following the June 30 robbery, saying the incident resulted in a voicemail to the agency filled with "racist and incendiary language" and messages on social media that used "patently offensive language that often involved racial slurs." She further justified the news blackout by calling the robbery a "petty crime" that would make BART look "crime ridden" and "unfairly affect and characterize riders of color, leading to sweeping generalizations in media reports."

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