When Minden town manager JD Frisby recently agreed to change their nightly siren to 5pm instead of 6pm he showed a willingness to compromise. 

Given the racist history of Minden as a sundown town with a law against Washoe Tribe members after sundown, the next step should be a full apology to the Washoe. 

Starting in the early 1900s the town prohibited the Washoe from being in Minden after sunset until 1974. After that they continued to ring their sundown siren at 6pm despite years of requests from the Washoe. 

The recent siren switch from 6pm to 5pm does not erase decades of mistreatment and marginalization in Minden and the Lake Tahoe area. 

We cannot change the future until we acknowledge the past. What happened in Minden was part of the systematic genocide of the Washoe people in the Lake Tahoe area. Washoe were forced into servitude and their children taken away. 

We need to understand and acknowledge this history before we can move on. The next step is for Minden to issue a heartfelt apology to the Washoe for being a racist sundown town.