Although the focus of our Class Action is on the Federal Government, discrimination also exists in the private sector, including communities where the Forest Service has a significant and influential presence. Recently, Ms. Christine Craft of KSAT radio aired a program regarding racial discrimination. Here are the links to the Radio Interview, Newspaper Article, Court's Denial of Discriminator's Request for Rehearing and Letter of Support.
Boll Weevils in The Department of Agriculture
Many minority persons see Boll Weevils as being only within their minority group. But, that is not really the situation --- Boll Weevils are in all groups, including "majority" groups, such as Judas Iscariot and Benedict Arnold who were traitors. An then there was Quislings of Norway, and the Régime de Vichy of France who collaborated with the Nazi. And there are others who are right here today!
In a CNN interview in 1996, Mr. Leroy W. Warren, Jr., Chairman NAACP Federal Sector Task Force succinctly identified the situation by stating:
Secretary Glickman [former Secretary of Agriculture] is going to have to get a broom to clean house. He's going to have to clean some black people out and some minorities out. A black skin, a brown skin, a yellow skin or female skin does not say you are a person of good will or decency.
The audio version of Mr. Warren's CNN statement is enclosed in .wav and .aif format:
Leroy Warren.wav and Leroy Warren.aif
We do our best to rid our organization of Boll Weevils, but in nature, total eradication is virtually impossible. In fact, if you take a close look at the letter "U" in the word "QUARANTINE," above. You will see some kind of small insect is squatting there
Political appointees are crucial to our efforts to bring about positive changes in civil rights processing. Unfortunately, conveying information to our leaders is primarily in the hands of entrenched high level bureaucrats, rather than the average lower graded employees who have the greatest need for civil rights. Those bureaucrats, who are already at high grades, seldom support civil rights in a serious and effective manner. Thus, the political appointees seldom, if ever, hear what changes are truly needed for fair and effective civil rights processing. The average employee must know who the political appointees are, understand their background, and know how to contact them. A good place to start is at the Progressive Government website. That website can provide you with names, biographical information, and contact information, among other things such as the salaries of specific political appointees. Please check it out.
In 1985 the Forest Service (FS) and African American employees entered into a class complaint agreement that included the goal of hiring and promotion. The FS grossly failed its committment. The Lead Agent filed a "non compliance notice". USDA responded that
"We find that the Agency did not comply with the provision regarding efforts toward elimination of underrepresentation."Then, the FS manipulated the issue to imply that the African American class was in conflict with the Bernardi v. USDA consent decree (a class complaint favoring white women, including their white male spouses, many of whom were agency officials). The FS falsely alleged that
"...due to information from a consent decree monitor, the [African American] goals were rescinded."The EEOC administrative judge (AJ) critized the FS for having its head where the sun doesn’t shine, e.g., having a posture that is "short sighted" and "contrary" to the intents of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Even so, the AJ went along with the FS and dismissed the 1985 Black Class complaint. That is a lesson we must all remember and be prepared to prevent it from happening again. See Full Statement, including attachments: original complaint, settlement agreement, letters from the USDA, and the EEOC decision document NOTE: the Lead Agent of the 1985 class complaint has provided me with a complete set of the class complaint documents, which will be maintained forever.
A.F.G.E. of the AFL/CIO, National Fair Practice Coordinator, clarifies how employees can defend themselves from agency misconstruing issues, aleging complainant failed to state a claim, and dismissing complaint on basis of it being a "Complaint against a process". See Full Statement here SeeExcerpt from MD-110 here/td>
A Forest Service Employee has offered recommendations to increase the African American component in the Forest Service. He also cite major flaws in previous diversity programs that were miserable failures, such as the Forest Service "TOWARDS A MULTICULTURAL WORKFORCE" policy that virtually excluded African Americans.See Full Statement here
In a December 17, 2003 letter the Deputy Chief informed all Regional Foresters, Station Directors, Area Director, IITF Director, Job Corps, and WO Staff that "While we made great strides in diversifying our workforce in the 1970's and 1980's, we have made little progress since the early 1990's". In other words, Forest Service diversity programs in the 1990's and up to today were a FAILURE. Due to that revelation, around about October, 2004, the Chief of the Forest Service initiated a new diversity program under a contract with the Kaliedscope Group. Hopefully this new program will not just be a repeat of past Forest Service diversity failures. See Deputy's letter here See Deputy's Data here
West of the Pecos, there is ten times as much political and environmental action than east of the Pecos --- Additionally, of all Forest Service employees, more than twice as many work in the west than in the eastern and southern states. Yet, African Americans are only 1.369% of the Forest Service's western workforce. See Spreadsheet data here
The Forest Service has appointed more African Americans to line officer positions in July-August than at any other time in the history of the Forest Service(But --- BALANCE is needed) See further information here