They must have been reading Berserker and me discussing this on the board.
Urban League lawsuit points out touchy racial issue: light vs. darkPosted by Marjory Raymer | The Flint Journal December 19, 2007 15:42PM
FLINT -- Now, the issue isn't just black and white. It's, but everything in between, too.
A lawsuit filed this month against the Urban League of Flint points to the increasingly complex issue of race and equality.
A biracial employee, Jamie Kendall, sued the Urban League after not being promoted to CEO. She claims that she was asked if she was "black enough" to lead the organization dedicated to creating equal opportunities for African Americans and other minorities.
"It is a touchy situation. We need to have some honest dialogue about it within our own culture," said local NAACP President Frances Gilcreast.
Glen Lenhoff, Kendall's attorney, is one of the area's leading attorneys on discrimination in the workforce, including reverse discrimination. He acknowledges, though, that this case is a first for him.
"I think it is an unusual case, but I think you'll see more and more of these cases as time go on," Lenhoff said.
And, he still maintains it is simply discrimination based on skin color -- just that this time it's about the shade of the color because Kendall is light skinned.
The Urban League's CEO, Lorna Latham, referred all calls to board president Valaria Conerly Moon, who could not be reached for comment.
"I've always been a proponent that we need to clean our house and make sure our house is strong. We need to do what's right for ourselves," Gilcreast said. "Light brown, green, purple, whatever, you should have the same opportunities."
The debate is sure to grow: The number of multiracial residents in Genesee County has steadily increased since 2000, the only racial category to do so, Census data shows.
The issue has gone mainstream in recent years with the likes of Tiger Woods, whose ancestry is black, Caucasian, American Indian and Asian, and presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, whose mother was a Caucasian from Kansas and father a black from Kenya.And in Detroit, a club promotion allowing all-night free admission to black women with fair or light skin set off widespread complaints and opened old deep wounds in the black community. The event planned in October was canceled, and the promoter, who is black, apologized.
"There is an irony because the Urban League is supposed to be the bastion of civil rights," Lenhoff said.
The lawsuit asks for damages in excess of $75,000. It claims Conerly Moon asked Kendall if she was bi-racial and then asked if she was "black enough" and if she could identify with black people.
Kendall, manager of finance-operations, was one of three finalists for the CEO post but did not get the job. She continues to work for the agency.
Kendall also suing is for slander, claiming that Conerly Moon told at least one individual that Kendall was having an affair with the previous CEO.
The Urban League has not yet responded to the lawsuit. The deadline is Dec. 26, although extensions are often given.
http://blog.mlive.com/flintjournal/newsnow/2007/12/urban_league_lawsuit_points_ou.html
