Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 16 May 2002 — Page 14

Page 14* The Muncie Times • May 16. 2002

•RACIST, from page 11 Haygood has an attorney and will be making a statement to the Human Rights Commission. Blacks said they are tired of the constant bashing of Black leaders in the local press, and the inaccurate reporting that ruins reputations. But how can some racist white progressives be checked. "You have to define what you mean by progressive," said Christopher Muhammad of the Nation of Islam local mosque. "Progressive means different things to different people. We have a right to disagree." Bryant said "we are demanding that this racism cease immediately... if you go after our leaders we are going to come back. We are not going to lie down and take this. We have some real differences with how Haygood and Cook were treated. It seems like part of the city government in San Francisco is not respecting the AfricanAmerican community... a lot of people use that term 'progressive' but what does it mean today in San Francisco? We were all progressives in the 1960s, but now there seems to be a different spin on what it means to be progressive in San Francisco." Supervisor Sophie Maxwell showed up but she did not speak to those at the rally. When

asked by The Sun Reporter why she was here she said "I support the community... there is a lot we need to deal with." When asked if there was white racism aimed against Blacks, she hedged a bit. "We have had racism here. But we also have Black students with a 1.7 Grade Point Average, high unemployment, and we have high rates of cancer." Bell said in a city where 57 percent of the voters are women, there's little gender or race diversity in power positions often held by white males. The Haygood termination was part of a violation the Sunshine Ordinance and the Brown Act, she said, laws that mandate full disclosure to the public. "There needs to be a fair process... this was a secret process by a commission that came in with an agenda to remove her and she wanted a public hearing," Rev. Brown told The Sun Reporter: "The social and political DNA of San Francisco says there is racism. It is alive and well. The Board is showing its true colors..." Mayor Brown has said in other published reports that the Election Commission should resign. Richard Shadoian, a white commissioner, said, "The mayor should consider resigning...." Shadoian and Schulz had clashed with Haygood when they removed election materi-

als from ner office, a move she called improper. She was fired last week. Assessor Doris Ward was also at the rally. "We have to stand up and speak out," said Lillie Peters, a Bayview Hunters Point resident. "Racism is hard to stamp out because people don't see it even when it is right in front of them." Racism Lawsuit Against NBC-TV In Court SAN FRANCISCO Blacks working for the National Broadcasting Company had to deal with whites who posted racist cartoons in the workplace, watched an employee in blackface on closed-circuit NBC monitors, and saw a hafigman's noose in a maintenance shop as well as Ku Klux Klan robes hanging in an office, according to federal court documents obtained this week by The Sun Reporter. The lawsuits against NBC in New York City have not been widely reported by the mass media. Last week, a federal judge ruled that General Electric, the parent company for the network, must respond to lawsuits filed by five employees who say they suffered pervasive racial and sexual harassment when they worked as technicians. "The media does not like to talk about racism generally," said one NBC staffers, "and + hey sure as heii are not

going to carry this story on the network evening news. And the other media will not make other media look bad when it comes to race because their own shop might not be that clean either. Race is too sensitive Of an issue. It can lose you minority viewers." The lawsuit comes as the NAACP pressures the major networks to hire more Black executives and slate more programs with African American talent. The networks have responded with promises to more diversity outreach with vendors, create more internships and work to bring more people of color to jobs in front of or behind cameras. Meanwhile, one Black plaintiff in the NBC lawsuit, Kyle Little, said in court papers that workers were encouraged to watch a tape of a staffer dressed in blackface that was shown on closed-circuit monitors at NBC in New York. He also said that last year he saw a noose hanging in a maintenance shop with the name of a Black worker on it. A noose is a Jim Crow - KKK - sign used to intimidate Blacks after others were lynched in the South. Several others of the NBC plaintiffs said they saw Ku Klux Klan robes hanging in offices. Lawyers for the minorities said this was part of a racial and hostile worKplace. Hispanics also complained. Julie Perez

said a co-worker dropped a 75-pound TV monitor inches from her foot and another staffer asked her "why aren't you home making babies?" Perez also said white men received better work assignments, training and benefits. Gilbert Muro, who is Mexican American, said his supervisor on the "Today" show made racial slurs about Black and Hispanic guests. Many minorities talked about bias while working for the show "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" in New York. Blacks at NBC said white co-workers and supervisors posted racist cartoons, made sexist comments and denied racial minorities opportunities that went to white males. The federal judge ruled NBC must defend claims of race and sex bias and retaliation. "This was like working on a plantation," said one Black staffer. "You have a lot of Blacks that will not speak up because you will get fired and then blackballed... not be able to work anywhere in the industry if they see you as a troublemaker. They give some Blacks token jobs to make it look like all is well and fair." When the minorities filed their lawsuits two years ago, they were seeking $200 million in damages. If the claims are accurate, they suggest "something is rotten in the offices of •LAWSUIT, see page 15