About 50 members of the Mercer Island and Eastside communities gathered Wednesday at City Hall to express solidarity following a racist incident that occurred at the minority-owned Rags to Riches consignment shop in Redmond in January.

The incident, when a white man left a KKK robe at the shop, spurred action from the Eastside Race and Leadership Coalition (ERLC) and the creation of a traveling art exhibit called “Reject the Rags of Racism and Live into the Riches of Diversity.”

The interactive exhibit encourages people to make individual pledges to combat racism in their communities. It has been to several other cities, including Redmond, Bellevue and Issaquah, where attendance has ranged from 35 to 130 people.

Attendees at Wednesday’s event were invited to write their commitment on a piece of fabric and attach it to the peace arch that forms the exhibit, physically connecting them with other participants’ commitments.

“We knew we had to create a community response to racism in our own backyard,” said Karin Duval of the ERLC.

But that is sometimes easier said than done, especially when racism isn’t as overt or violent as in the Redmond incident. And often, it is uncomfortable to address.

Racism, however subtle, “tears at the fabric of our community,” Duval said, and it’s time to “see it and stop it.”

Several Mercer Island community leaders, including Police Chief Ed Holmes, City Councilmembers Debbie Bertlin, Jeff Sanderson and Wendy Weiker, School District Superintendent Dr. Gary Plano and Chamber of Commerce President Ralph Swanson, pledged to take personal and collective steps to eliminate racism at Wednesday’s ceremony.

Bertlin said she wanted to start a community dialogue about racism in Mercer Island, and referenced her own feeling of white privilege, calling it an “invisible knapsack.”

Holmes noted that though much of the national discussion lately has focused on police, his department has taken steps to ensure everyone it interacts with is treated with dignity, respect and equity.

“Institutional racism is alive and well,” he said. “We’ve come a long way since Jim Crow… but we still have a long way to go.”

Holmes said the community is taking proactive steps and coming together in a meaningful and sincere way, and was encouraged by the reaction of community members, who surrounded someone who was treated unfairly with compassion.

Plano said that it takes a lot of courage to talk about racism. With the formation of his Diversity Advisory Committee two years ago, he had to confront some difficult truths, such as investigating if racial slurs were heard at Mercer Island bus stops or if the district suspended non-white students at a greater rate than white students.

Wayne Perryman, a minister and former Mercer Island resident who produced the documentary “Because of the Color of Their Skin,” said that his family felt tolerated, but not accepted, in the Island community, but that he would continue his commitment to follow his faith and “love everyone.”

Rags to Riches owner Leona Coakley-Spring said the Mercer Island event was “the best we’ve been to,” and commended the community for being open to promoting diversity, though it doesn’t make what happened at her shop easier to accept.

Bobby Alexander, who spoke at the event, said he was upset that a resolution has not yet been reached in this case. He also said that people should support Coakley-Spring “not because she’s black, but because she’s a member of the community.”

The display will be at Mercer Island City Hall for one week beginning April 20. All residents are encouraged to stop by and add their personal commitment to ending racism to the display.