Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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8 JUNE 15-21, 2016 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM In an at mosphere replete w it h allegat ions of discriminat ion regarding black v ict ims where t he ev idence is quest ionable, now comes a case t hat is absolutely discriminat ion. In early May 2016, t he Cumberland Count y School Board voted 6-2-1 for Vernon A ldridge to replace Leon Mack as t he school system's act iv it ies director. A ldridge is white and Mack is black . Board members Carrie Sut ton and Judy Musgrave, bot h black, voted against A ldridge. They also voted against his appoint ment when it came before t he personnel commit tee on which t hey ser ve. A licia Chisolm, black board member, abst ained f rom vot ing when t he f ull board consid- ered t his appoint ment . Mack, t he outgoing act iv it ies direc tor, is ret iring. The possibilit y of discriminat ion shows up in t he reasons given for t he "no" votes by Sut ton and Musgrave. Their t hink ing is repor ted by Cat herine Pritchard, The Fayetteville Obser ver st af f w riter, in an ar t icle headlined, "School board t aps Vernon A ldridge as act iv it ies director amid cont roversy." Pritchard w rites: "Sut ton said t hen she couldn't sup- por t A ldridge's appoint ment because she felt t he school system should have looked harder to f ind a qualif ied mi- norit y candidate for t he job. She said she believed black st udent s, par t icu- larly young males, need to see black people in leadership posit ions to imag- ine t heir ow n f ut ure possibilit ies. A sked t hen if she agreed w it h Sut- ton's posit ion, Musgrave said she did. Later, she said she was agreeing t hat t he school system needs more minori- t ies in leadership posit ion in general. She said her opposit ion to A ldridge was because she didn't feel he was quali- f ied, not because he is white. Given what Pritchard repor t s as reasons given for t he act ions of Sut- ton and Musgrave, a bit of informat ion on ident if y ing discriminat ion follows. From FindLaw under "Discriminat ion in t he Work place:" The primar y federal laws t hat ad- dress racial discriminat ion in t he work place fall under Tit le V II of t he Civ il R ight s Act of 1964. In large par t, t he sec t ion of ten referred to sim- ply as "Tit le V II" prohibit s employers f rom: 1) failing or ref using to hire an employee based on t heir race; 2) f iring or disciplining an employee because of t heir race; 3) pay ing an employee less or prov iding t hem fewer benef it s on account of t heir race; 4) failing to prov ide benef it s, promo- t ions, or oppor t unit ies, to an employee because of t heir race; 5) improp- erly classif y ing or segregat ing employees or applicant s by race. Examining Carrie Sut ton's explanat ion as to t he reason for her vote in light of t his quote f rom FindLaw, cries " discriminat ion." By Sut ton's admission, her vote was based on Vernon A ldridge being white and not black . Because of his race, she voted not to hire him. Under Tit le V II, t hat is discriminat ion. A s for Judy Musgrave say ing her vote had not hing to do w it h race but w it h A ldridge not being qualif ied, she should be required to explain t he reasons for t hat posit ion. The explanat ion is needed because her com- ment comes in conjunc t ion w it h Sut ton's discriminator y votes. I can f ind no ev idence she has been called on to make her case. There is silence. Back to Sut ton and her st ated reason for vot ing against A ldridge. Imagine Sut ton being white and A ldridge black . If t he races of t hese t wo people were reversed t here would be an outcr y of major propor t ions and it would likely be led by media and organizat ions t hat claim great inter- est in f reeing our societ y of discriminator y pract ices. Instead, w it h ver y few except ions, t here is silence across t his cit y and count y. Be on not ice, silence in cases such as t his is dangerous. People who sense t he w rong , but are quiet because of fear event ually respond. That response is not necessarily v iolent . It could simply be pack ing up and mov ing to anot her area or put t ing t heir children in private schools; t hereby, allow ing public schools to suf fer. This cit y and nat ion are cr y ing out for leaders who are t hought f ul, fair to all and have t he courage of conv ic t ions to deal for t hright ly w it h dif f icult issues. Dealing forthrightly with difficult issues of ten requires individuals in positions of leadership to move beyond talking and do some hard work. W hat I see time and time again, is "passing the buck." Carrie Sut ton's reason for voting "no" to the assignment of a white person to a position being vacated by a black man ref lects some " buck passing." She holds "the system should have looked harder to find a minorit y candidate." W hat is the responsibilit y of blacks in positions of leadership and all black Ameri- cans when it comes to working together to prepare our own so they qualif y for positions of high responsibilit y? Instead of doing the hard work of preparation, of lif ting one another, the resounding chorus is for the "system" to handle it. Too of ten the "system" is ex- pected to go against the rules and even def y common sense in order to calm opposing or demanding voices. On preparing our ow n, here is how it look s. During my teenage years, Daddy was a building cont ractor. He built single-family homes as well as repaired homes in and around Camilla, Georgia. W hen I was about 13, he st ar ted t ak ing me to job sites, especially during t he summer. I worked, but also learned a bit about building. By t he end of my junior year in high school, he had lef t building. That summer Daddy told me he and I were going to build a house for a lady on t he east side of Camilla. The f irst day on t he job, he went to purchase building materials and lef t me at t he house site. W hen Daddy ret urned I was sleeping in t he wheel- barrow. He woke me up but as I lie in t hat wheelbarrow, Daddy stood near my feet, look ing into my eyes. He ex- plained t hat his reason for cont ract ing to build t hat house was so I would have work for t he summer. He never raised his voice… just gave me a brief over v iew of life and what it demands of a person. I got up and over t he summer we built t hat house. I got an educa- t ion on building and on liv ing. I spent t he nex t summer working tobacco fields in the state of Connecticut. After the first year of college, it was back to Camilla. I went looking for a sum- mer job. Public housing was under construction and I went there. This was the summer of 1966. Segregation was still alive and well in Camilla. I asked the white project foreman for a job and told him I could do carpentry. He did not believe me. I said, "Let me work a couple of days and if I don't measure up, I'll leave with no argument." I worked the whole summer cutting fascia boards and other lumber pieces that were then installed by a white carpenter. Daddy prepared me for that job and so much more of the successes I have known in life. He had to invest in me, struggle some with me and call me to account. There were no TV cameras, no newspaper reporters telling what this black father did for his son. Except that I tell the story, nobody would know. I tell it now only to illust rate what I believe is needed in our t ime. That is, for black Americans to break f ree of calling on t he "system" to f ix all t hat we see as ailing us. Fur t her, be caref ul not to at tempt manipulat ion of t he "system" against ot hers as in Vernon A ldridge's case where I hold t here is discriminat ion. Instead, follow Daddy 's example and be about helping one anot her prepare to lay hold of t he many available oppor t unit ies. KARL MERRITT, Columnist. COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com. 910.484.6200 Without Question-This is Discrimination by KARL MERRITT OPINION