Since May 3, 2000 there's been a case pending that has yet to be resolved. No, y'all - it ain't the R. Kelly case - that joint's only been pending since 2002 and it's now FINALLY moving into jury selection as I type. No, this case was filed (eight years ago) by ten current and former southside U.S. Secret Service agents for racial discrimination and it still has yet to be decided.This past Friday, a court filin' by the attorneys representin' the ten agents of internal emails that they had obtained revealed that, 'Secret Service supervisors shared crude sexual jokes and engaged in racially derogatory banter about blacks, and passed around an anecdote about a possible assassination of the Rev. Jesse Jackson...' (in case you have to register for that story and don't want to, you can also get a more detailed view from The Daily Kos...)
It's no surprise to southsiders that this type of behavior continues to go on. It may come as as surprise to many northsiders who continue to insist that this type of behavior is a relic of the past just like slavery and that southsiders need to stop complainin' about unfair treatment. My question is this: 'If this type of behavior can be uncovered within the United States Secret Service - an elite government organization comprised of well educated, well trained men and women - what's life like for Joe or Jane Southsider down at the UPS processin' plant or IBEW Local 25?'...
A sample of the nonsense goin' down at the USSS include the worn out email - versions of which continue to pop up everywhere - about the 'Harlem Spelling Bee'. This joint was sent out by 'Thomas Grupski, then assistant director for protective operations, who, according to the filing, now heads the Office of Government Liaison and Public Affairs'.
Then there's the message about southside lightnin' rod, Jesse Jackson (course this was before Rev. J-Wright jumped in to take his place...) that the New York Times summarizes like this:'A March 3, 2003, message describing Mr. Jackson as the “Righteous Reverend” was passed among several Secret Service supervisors. The message, about a missile striking an airplane in which Mr. Jackson and his wife were traveling, concludes, it “certainly wouldn’t be a great loss and it probably wouldn’t be an accident either.”'
It should be pointed out that only a very small fraction (10 out of 20 million over 16 years) of Secret Service emails contained this type of nonsense. However, it must also be pointed out that the USSS has been stonewallin' and fightin' this case for eight years, in that time it has been discovered that other records and emails relevant to the case have been destroyed and not everyone is stupid enough to write such trash in an email and actually send it out even if they really do feel that way.
It should also be pointed out that the emails were sent to and from the accounts of at least 20 Secret Service supervisors. Not the rank and file, but people in positions of power with the ability to guide or misguide another agent's career. Yet the prevailin' notion these days seems to be that we are now in the era of 'the level playing field' and tools to help produce that field (like *cough* Affirmative Action *cough* *cough*) are outdated and unnecessary because its been forty years since the Civil Rights heyday. We're certainly past that ugly point in our lives, right? Heck - one of 'them negras' is even about to become the democratic nominee for President of the United States.Well, we'll see how far that goes but note, Smooth Barack is runnin' nationally and we've seen that racial sentiment varies widely depending on which state you're in (Exhibit A: check the West Virginia polls today). No, this post is about Joe and Jane Southsider tryin' to live the dream far away from the political spotlight, workin' side by side with the 'hard working Americans, white Americans'. Seems to me that there's still a lot of work to be done...
Peace@Least,
Tyrone
P.S. Note to Smooth: You may want to supplement your Secret Service detail with a few hard homeys from Chicago's southside. You *know* they'll have your back...
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