Is the Noose Replacing the 'N-Word'? Racial Harassment Hits Record, Says EEOC
Racial-harassment cases increased 24 percent in 2007, as the Jena 6 case and an outbreak of noose-hangings across the country hogged media attention, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, reports USA Today. "Nooses are more prevalent," EEOC Chair Naomi Earp told USA Today. "The noose has replaced the N-word … as the choice if you want to threaten or intimidate someone." Some state and city lawmakers are trying to make it a crime to intimidate someone with a noose, and the U.S. Department of Justice recently indicted a Louisiana teenager on hate-crimes charges for hanging a noose from his pickup and driving past demonstrators after a protest in Jena, La. EEOC racial-harassment filings increased from 5,646 in 2006 to 6,977 in 2007 and the annual figure has more than doubled since 1991. Since the Jena 6 case, the country has dealt with an epidemic of nooses. Read DiversityInc's coverage of the Jena 6 case and check out DiversityInc's Noose Watch to learn where most nooses are found and how many we've counted to date.
Affirmative-Action Foe Donates to Barack Obama
It is a little strange to hear that Ward Connerly, the anti-affirmative-action crusader, donated $500 to Barack Obama's campaign. The news almost makes one wonder if Connerly's donation is a Republican ruse to undermine Obama's support among Black voters. But while Connerly told the Orange County Register that he almost certainly won't vote for Obama because they are polar opposites on most policy issues, he said he donated the money in recognition that Obama doesn't use his race as a reason to get people to vote for him. "I think that's how most Americans feel," Connerly told the Register. "The people of New Hampshire. The people of Iowa. People want to get beyond it, especially those 18- to 30-year-olds who are part of this new dynamic, energetic Obamamania." Obama spent 11 years working as a civil-rights attorney and often speaks about institutional racism, racial socioeconomic disparities, and racial segregation. He also supports affirmative-action programs, according to OnTheIssues.org. Read who is paying to end affirmative action.
VA Should Stop Helping Wounded Soldiers? Army Attempts to Clear the Air
A Veterans' Affairs Department spokesperson told National Public Radio last week that an Army team sent to Fort Drum in upstate New York told the VA to stop helping soldiers with disabilities. The VA, NPR reported, was helping soldiers with disabilities write their paperwork so they would get better disability ratings. Now, Army Surgeon General Eric B. Schoomaker tells NPR the brouhaha was a misunderstanding. "We have always encouraged competent counseling for our soldiers. We have no policy that denies them access to any counselor. So it just didn't make sense to me. And then when I spoke to members of the team that went up there, they had no recollection of that having been a part of their exchanges," Schoomaker told NPR. NPR revealed to Schoomaker a memo saying helping soldiers with paperwork was a "conflict of interest," a contention that was later backed by the VA. Schoomaker said he wasn't aware of the memo and added, "If anyone out there feels that they didn't get the best advice, they need to come forward and let us know about that." Read why disability is a civil-rights issue.
NFL's Minority-Hiring Rule Extends to College Football
The National Football League's Rooney Rule requires that teams hiring a head coach must interview at least one prospect of color. Now the NCAA has sent 120 schools a policy that follows the NFL's rule by requiring any Division I-A football program with a head-coaching vacancy to interview at least one candidate of color, reports The Washington Post. The policy, however, does not have teeth because it does not punish a school for noncompliance. "It's already had a very significant impact," Dutch Baughman, executive director of the Division I-A Athletic Directors' Association, told The Washington Post. "We wanted to improve the number of legitimate, in-person interviews [involving minority candidates] that took place. We weren't so much focused on the number of hirings. That will come in time." Read DiversityInc's coverage of the death of football coaches among Division I-A schools.
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