On June 9th in Wilmington, Delaware at the Louis L. Redding House, the Interdenominational Ministers Action Council (IMAC) and the Delaware NAACP announced the formation of a Committee on Racism in State Government. Outraged faith, civil rights and social justice leaders are calling attention to the discriminatory labor & employment practices within Delaware state government. Over the past five months IMAC & NAACP leadership have been conducting personal interviews with former and current state employees and have compiled a sampling of complaints registered by employees from several state agencies. After listening to state employees, IMAC and NAACP leadership realized that a pattern of discrimination, retaliation and other adverse actions were the normal response to inquiries and grievances about inequities in the workplace. The organizations are uniting to further investigate the claims of discrimination and unfair treatment within state government.
Over the next three months, a series of hearings with state workers will be scheduled statewideand meetings with state officials coordinated to examine labor practices, investigate complaints and gather documentation. The committee on racism in state government will put forth policy recommendations for systemic and institutional change and the committee will monitor the implementation process and progress of administrative and policy changes within state government.
Who: Faith leaders, social justice leaders and concerned citizens are joining forces to ring the alarm that racism is alive and well at the state of Delaware.Why: IMAC and the NAACP have received numerous complaints from African American state workers about unfair labor practices and civil rights violations. Under the guise of providing supervisory direction, warranted progressive disciplinary action, and counselling, African American employees lost promotional opportunities, and have been subjected to harassment, intimidation, verbal and mental abuse, severely disciplined for infractions, threats of termination and retaliation. White state employees have made racially offensive comments and taunts in the presence of and to African American state employees. There have been acts of retaliation against employees who have filed grievances or EEOC complaints.
For more information contact the IMAC Delaware office at 302-777-1190 orimacde@verizon.net.
For more information contact the NAACPDE at 1-844-622-2733 or by email NAACPDELAWARE@GMAIL.COM.
