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NAACP:
Lauderdale officials should be fired
By Gregory Lewis
Staff Writer, Sun-Sentinel
November 30 2001
The
Fort Lauderdale NAACP called for the dismissals of several Fort
Lauderdale city officials who have been cited in the past for
discriminatory practices, including the city attorney.
The Thursday night action was an amendment to a recommendation by the
national legal team and the local National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People executive board.
The members insisted the civil rights organization take a stronger stand
by asking that city officials be terminated.
Janice Boursiquot, who was the only member to vote against the
recommendation as initially presented Thursday got "amens'' from
the audience as she explained that the action wasn't strong enough.
"Many people have been damaged by blatant discrimination,'' she
said. "Those managers caused a lot of pain for a lot of people. It
is time for them to feel pain."
The NAACP supported some of the recommendations in a report from Judge
Henry Latimer. The report found that the city mistreats all of its
employees, recommended a major restructuring of top management at City
Hall and called for the expansion of the city's Equal Employment
Opportunities office.
In addition to the firings, the NAACP will ask the city to:
Employ a full time independent counsel to review and handle complaints
of discrimination for one year;
Terminate employees who engage in any illegal employment practices;
Implement sensitivity training for all city employees;
Be on alert for retaliatory action against whistleblowers.
Assistant City Manager Bud Bentley said of the NAACP action:
"Overall we're happy and pleased the NAACP is taking the interest
to look at and advise us on the Latimer report."
But, Bentley said, he was concerned that "specific people"
were named when the organization hasn't made any determination for
cause.
NAACP state president Adora Obi Nwese encouraged the chapter to take
strong action saying "we are in a war.''
She said she was "sick and tired of being sick and tired'' of
institutions that "think they can get away with discriminatory
treatment and racist behavior.''
Said Fort Lauderdale chapter president Bill McCormick: "What
transpired here is the members said they trust the NAACP to fight for
us,'' he said.
Courtesy Sun-Sentinel www.sun-sentinel.com
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