Civil rights leaders provide outlet for employees facing racism
Reverend Silvester Beaman is used to listening to his church members. Back in February, one of them came to him reporting workplace racism and discrimination and he listened.
That person was a Delaware state employee. After doing some digging, Reverend Beaman discovered that person was far from alone.
Reverend Beaman, who is also the President of IMAC says, “We then began to feel that there was a culture of racism in state government with our employees.”
The Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance says since 2012, there have been 190 complaints of racism and discrimination from Delaware State employees to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The complaints revealed trends like racially charged comments and manipulated opportunities for advancement.
Reverend Christopher Curry, the Vice President of IMAC says, “A person did no get the promotion, and they’re African American. They ask what do I need to do to be promoted? The answer is to do A, B and C. The African American does A, B, C and D. The position comes open and they’re still over looked. Now that new hire has to be trained by the person that did A, B, C, and D.”
Reverend Michael Rogers, the President of IMA says, “What we’re finding is that it’s not a very isolated situation. It appears to be somewhat wide spread. There is a concern.”
Another major concern is inadequate reporting. Of those 190 EEOC complaints in the past three year, only one was deemed credible.
The IMA says that’s troubling. They brought their concerns to Governor Jack Markell. He’s supporting the IMA and the NAACP in a series of statewide hearings to encourage people to come forward if they feel they’ve been victims of workplace racism.
They’ve already held three in New Castle County. More than 80 people testified. The governor sent 17,000 letters to state employees encouraging them to participate. According to officials, that can be tough.
Lamar Gunn, the NAACP Central Branch President says, “When you talk about reporting, it’s such a small community, I can tell you people are afraid to say anything.”
The information shared in the hearings is guaranteed to remain confidential.
The IMA and NAACP plan to have a report from these hearings to the Governor by the end of September.
The hearings to report racism and discrimination amongst state employees in Kent County will begin on August 25th at the Divine Empowerment Christian Church in Smyrna. A hearing will be held on August 27th at the Whatcoat United Methodist Church in Dover, DE. The third and final hearing in Kent County will be on Saint Paul AME Church in Harrington, DE.
The hearings in Sussex County will start September 1st at the Friendship Baptist Church in Lewes, DE. The second will be at Emanuel House of Praise on September 2nd in Seaford. The third and final hearing in Sussex County will be at Mt. Pisgah AME Church in Laurel, DE.
