order non hybrid seeds LandRightsNFarming: Re: DURING SECRETARY TOM VILSACK TERM AS GOVERNOR BLACKS WERE DISCRIMINATED ...

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Re: DURING SECRETARY TOM VILSACK TERM AS GOVERNOR BLACKS WERE DISCRIMINATED ...



On Wed, Sep 21, 2011 at 8:37 AM, <LawrLCL@aol.com> wrote:
 
the apple don't fall far from the tree.....
 
the shirley sherrod culture continues at usda, and the band plays on.
 
lucas
Subj: DURING SECRETARY TOM VILSACK'S TERM AS GOVERNOR BLACKS WERE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST
 

IOWA GOVERNORS DID NOT STOP DISCRIMINATION AGAINST BLACK STATE EMPLOYEES
...AND IS SAID TO CONTINUE TO THI DAYS. USDA SECRETARY TOM VILSACK WAS ONE OF THOSE GOVERNORS.

Racial discrimination trial begins

By Lynn Campbell
IowaPolitics.com

« Crime/Courts

Share

DES MOINES — More than a dozen African-Americans packed a Polk County courtroom Monday for a class-action lawsuit alleging that Iowa state government has for decades declined to hire or promote people, or unfairly fired them, because they were black.

The landmark trial that kicked off before Polk County District Judge Robert Blink is expected to last three weeks. At stake: The fate of up to 6,000 African-Americans, who could be owed between $66 million and $71 million in damages.

"It doesn't matter what your race is. You should be able to have the same opportunities, as far as employment," Linda Pippen, a lead plaintiff in Pippen vs. State of Iowa, told IowaPolitics.com. "You shouldn't be judged on your name or the color of your skin, it should be by your qualifications."

Pippen joined Iowa Workforce Development in 1998 as an associate in the Waterloo office and worked in state government for 12 years, until a year ago. She scored high on a customer service test used to screen job applicants and was in line to be promoted to an adviser. But a white woman who initially scored below the cutoff score was given the job instead.

"By me being African-American and being an employee with the state, working, thinking I'm qualified for a position and trying to get promoted and then actually finding out I'm not getting promoted because of the color of my skin, that really hit home," Pippen said.

Iowa has more than 3 million residents. More than 91 percent of its residents identify themselves as white and less than 3 percent identify themselves as black, according to the 2010 Census. The state has struggled with the issue of racial equality; its proportion of blacks being sent to prison is one of the worst in the country.

Pippen vs. State of Iowa details the stories of African-Americans who say they've been denied jobs or promotions since 2003. But the impact of the case is expected to be more far-reaching than that. Plaintiffs' attorney Thomas Newkirk on Monday entered into evidence executive orders by both Republican and Democratic Iowa governors dating back to 1964.

Gov. Terry Branstad, a Republican who served four terms as governor from 1983 to 1999 and returned to office this year, on Monday defended the state's progress in its hiring practices.

"We're trying to get more uniformity and consistency and fairness in terms of the way things are managed in state government, including hiring," Branstad said at his weekly press conference. "We want to end favoritism and make sure that people are treated in a fair and nondiscriminatory way."

Branstad acknowledged that the state has had some problems. He placed some blame on former Democratic Gov. Chet Culver, saying the previous administration didn't have regular meetings with department heads, and rules weren't being reviewed before they were proposed.

Mollie Anderson, who served as director of the Iowa Department of Administrative Services in the Culver administration, said in a video deposition broadcast Monday at the trial that the state cannot be responsible for people's personal opinions. However, she said the state is responsible for how people's opinions affect their work in state government.

Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds said that since she and Branstad took office in January, all hiring goes through the Iowa Department of Administrative Services and the Iowa Department of Management. That way, it's more centralized and consistent, "instead of each one of the agencies doing their own thing," she said.

Branstad pointed to the Iowa Civil Rights Commission as an example of how things have changed. He said Director Beth Townsend implemented a new "matrix of expectations," including not using state computers for personal use, including email.

"Six people quit because they didn't want to work that hard," Branstad said. "And then three more have been fired because they were involved in discrimination and name-calling against their co-employees in that agency. And that's just absolutely inappropriate for somebody that's working for the Civil Rights Commission."

The Rev. Keith Ratliff, president of the Iowa-Nebraska chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the class-action lawsuit will prove that there has been discrimination and bias in the hiring of blacks in state government.

"I think it's very important for our state to realize that this has taken place in the past, and what can be done in the future to keep this from happening again," said Ratliff, who is the pastor at the Maple Street Missionary Baptist Church in Des Moines.

Ratliff maintained that such discrimination and bias continues today.

"There are still things happening in 2010, 2011 and 2012," Ratliff said. "There needs to be things put in place so that this does not reoccur, reoccur and reoccur. That's best for the state of Iowa."



Contact the Omaha World-Herald newsroom

Start subscription | Buy today's ePaper | Subscriber login



Copyright ©2011 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.

« Crime/Courts