Civil Rights

Colorado Teacher Fired For

Opposing Racism Sees Court Victory

    WASHINGTON, D.C. - (AU) - 6/10/2022 - Americans United for Separation of Church and State celebrated a recent opinion by a federal appeals court that allows a lawsuit filed by former teacher and director of student life Gregg Tucker to proceed against the private Christian school in Colorado that fired him after he tried to address pervasive racism there.

    Gregg Tucker was an exemplary teacher at Faith Christian Academy in Arvada, Colo. When he tried to combat extensive racism his family and many Black, Hispanic and Asian students faced there, he was fired. Tucker fought back in court, where Faith Christian Academy argued that he was a “minister” and therefore that firing him was a matter of faith that the federal courts could not decide.

    Today, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed Tucker’s case alleging race discrimination under Title VII, Gregory Tucker v. Faith Bible Chapel International, to advance by refusing the school’s demand to declare Tucker a “minister” and dismiss the case. Now, Tucker gets to litigate the case and attempt to vindicate his rights.

    “The court’s decision today is a win for the rule of law and a critical step in our fight to prevent the weaponization of religious freedom,” said Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United. “Gregg Tucker was fired because he tried to combat pervasive racism at the school. The courts should not allow religious freedom to be distorted as a license to discriminate and deny basic civil rights.

    “This case brings to light a dangerous trend: The school’s attorneys and religious employers are urging courts to adopt an ever-broader interpretation of the ministerial exception, which was meant to ensure that houses of worship could freely choose their clergy. The ministerial exception was never intended to put religious employers above the law or permit them to discriminate against all workers and sidestep civil-rights laws.

    “These employers want the ministerial exception applied not just to clergy and some private-school educators with significant religious duties, but to all employees at religious organizations. This doctrine should not apply to Gregg Tucker, who was not a minister. We are gratified that the Tenth Circuit’s decision allows Gregg to prove that in court.”

    The school had made the unprecedented move of appealing a district court order allowing the case to proceed, even though such appeals are not permitted until after litigation has resolved certain questions, including whether or not Tucker is a “minister.” The school wrongly argued that the court should just accept the school’s disputed contention that Tucker was a minister, before that factual question was answered, and dismiss the case. The school wanted to circumvent the legal process and deny Tucker his right to challenge the retaliation and discrimination he suffered. But the court rightly rejected those arguments.

Case Background:

    Gregg Tucker devoted 14 years of his life to working at Faith Christian Academy in Arvada, Colo., as a teacher and director of student life. After Tucker and his wife adopted a daughter, who is Black, from the Dominican Republic, some students began to call Tucker and his family racial slurs. Tucker was even more dismayed by the unchecked racism some students directed at their Black, Hispanic and Asian classmates. With the school administration’s support, Tucker organized an anti-racism symposium for students in January 2018. While the event was overwhelmingly well received by administrators and families, a handful of parents objected. The school eventually caved in to the pressure of those parents and stripped Tucker of some of his duties, and then it fired him.

    Tucker filed a federal lawsuit in June 2019 because the school violated his civil rights by retaliating against him when he opposed the school’s racially hostile environment.

    The school is trying to exploit a legal doctrine called the “ministerial exception” to avoid responsibility for allowing Tucker to suffer racially motivated discrimination at work and for unjustly firing him. But Tucker was not a minister – he was not responsible for teaching theology, had no substantial religious functions as a part of his job, and when he inquired about a tax deduction available only to ministers, he was explicitly told by the school that he was not a minister.

    Tucker’s legal team includes Americans United Litigation Counsel Bradley Girard, who argued the case before the 10th Circuit in May 2021; AU Vice President and Legal Director Richard B. Katskee; AU Madison Legal Fellow Adrianne Spoto; and from the Denver law firm Levin Sitcoff PC, attorneys Bradley A. Levin, Jeremy A. Sitcoff and Peter G. Friesen.

Resources
The opinion from the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
The complaint in Tucker v. Faith Bible Chapel.
Tucker’s brief filed in the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Racial Justice

Graphic Novel Spotlights 

Black Wealth Before 1921 

Tulsa Massacre

 

 

By Lily Bohlke
Producer / PNS

______________ 

    CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - (PNS) - 8/21/2021 - A graphic novel illustrated by a University of Illinois professor aims to serve as a primer for young people to learn about the history of the Greenwood District in Tulsa, Oklahoma, often known as Black Wall Street, destroyed by a white mob in 1921.

    It's called "Across the Tracks: Remembering Greenwood, Black Wall Street, and the Tulsa Race Massacre," by Alverne Ball of Joliet.

    Stacey Robinson, assistant professor of graphic design at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, illustrated the book. He said it is about the destruction, but also the rebuilding, of the city, and the survivors that to this day are still seeking justice.

    "The weight of this subject matter is balanced by very beautiful, very opulent colors, and there's joy in the book as well," Robinson remarked. "American history did not happen in black and white; it did not happen in sepia tones. I wanted the audience to feel this Black beauty, to feel the opulence of this town."

    Survivors and descendants of the Tulsa Race Massacre are calling on the JusticeDepartment to launch an investigation and help find the mass graves of hundreds of Black residents who were killed. They said they do not trust local and state officials to handle the remains with compassion, or to meaningfully investigate the deaths.

    Robinson noted in Tulsa before 1921, it is said dollars circulated more than 20 times before leaving the Black community, which is a key component of wealth-building. He argued kids and teens should be aware of the history to help understand the racial wealth gap that exists today. The net worth of the average white family is ten times more than the average Black family.

    "If you know Black Panther, there's the nation of Wakanda, right? Well, Black people have had our Wakandas, we've had our Black liberated, autonomous spaces," Robinson explained. "And when we have these spaces, they are destroyed because we are Black and affluent."

    Robinson added while the Tulsa Race Massacre is not often taught in schools, more and more people are learning about it with its 100-year anniversary. He noted the HBO series Watchmen and Lovecraft Country, set in Tulsa, are also boosting awareness, and hopes the graphic novel can serve as another entry point.

References:
Letter Justice for Greenwood 08/13/2021
Wealth gap report Brookings Institution 02/27/2020

Story credit: Public News Service.

Wisconsin Unrest

 ACLU Calls for Resignation 

of  Kenosha Police Chief, County Sheriff

Chief Blames Blames Victims of Shooting For Own Deaths

KENOSHA - (ACLU) - 8/28/2020 — Following the lead of organizers on the ground, the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin and National ACLU called for the immediate resignation Aug. 27 of Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis and Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth. The ACLU’s demand follows the shooting of Jacob Blake and the murder of two protestors, who were shot by a 17-year. See: 17-year-old participating in a counter-protest.

Sheriff David Beth's deputies not only fraternized with white supremacist counter-protesters on Tuesday, but allowed the shooter to leave as people yelled that he was the shooter. The sheriff excused this by saying his deputies may not have paid attention to the gunman because there were many distractions, including “screaming” and “hollering,” people running, police vehicles idling, “nonstop radio traffic,” and that “in situations that are high stress, you have such an incredible tunnel vision.” Sheriff Beth was also criticized last year after calling for five people of color who had been arrested for shoplifting to be put into warehouses “where weput these people who have been deemed to be no longer an asset.”

During the Kenosha Police Department’s first press conference in response to the Blake shooting and subsequent murders committed at protests, Police Chief Daniel Miskinis blamed the unidentified victims in Tuesday night’s shooting for their own deaths, saying the violence was the result of the “persons” involved violating curfew.

“The ACLU strongly condemns Sheriff Beth and Police Chief Miskinis’ response to both the attempted murder of Jacob Blake and the protests demanding justice for him. Their actions uphold and defend white supremacy, while demonizing people who were murdered for exercising their First Amendment rights and speaking out against police violence,” said Chris Ott, Executive Director of the ACLU of Wisconsin. “The only way to rectify these actions is for both Sheriff Beth and Police Chief Daniel Miskinis to immediately tender their resignations.”

If Sheriff Beth and Police Chief Miskinis refuse to immediately tender their resignation, the ACLU is calling for Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian to demand the police chief’s removal by the Kenosha Police and Fire Commission, and the sheriff’s removal by Gov. Tony Evers.

The ACLU is asking people to call both the sheriff's office and the police chief's office. More information is available here: release

Cultural Crossroads

We Have To Talk

About Racism With Each Other

By Jim Grandone

Commentary

   Am I a racist?
   White. Male. Pushing 65. Your typical Trump voter demographic.
   Except, I am not a Trump supporter. I support Black Lives Matter. After all, I am considered a liberal on the political spectrum. Doesn’t matter. That doesn’t absolve me from being a racist.

Jim Grandone

   You see racism is insidious. It is both visible and invisible. You can watch the news and see the obvious racist action in the streets of our cities. Confederate and Nazi flags counter protesting BLM events. You can see it in the eyes of the self-appointed militia parading around with the AR 15s. The invisible part hides in the halls of power and the human resources departments at corporations.
   Try as I might, I want to understand other cultures beyond the mov

ies and the music and entertainers. But I don’t. I probably never will. My closest experience was a graduate fellowship with 11 others at the Coro Leadership Center in St. Louis where my trainer was African American from Compton, Calif., and I was a minority. But that’s another story.
   The reasons I am probably racist are legion. I was raised in a white neighborhood. Went to an all-white private school until high school. My friends are all white. So, my orientation is white. It isn’t by design. Or is it?
   Most people think of white people who hate black people when they think of racists. The KKK. White Supremacists. But that is where the insidious part comes into play. You see, you don’t have to hate black people or Asians or Latinos to be racist. It’s in everyday privilege that racism occurs and is virtually undetectable. It happens in the hiring process where previous experience is required. How does a member of a minority get that experience? It’s that degree and the first hire that determines access to careers. Are those doors really open?
   You may wonder why a white, privileged American male, pushing 65 is talking about racism to a predominantly white audience? It is because we have to talk about racism with each other. That is where it begins. It does no good telling minorities that you are their ally if you aren’t willing to call out racism among the white people with which you associate. It does not change anything in the structure of society if we don’t confront racism when we see it.
   So, what that comes down to is systemic racism. And it has got to stop.

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   Jim Grandone is a long-time resident of Edwardsville, Ill. He was the architect of the 'East County...If You Only Knew' marketing campaign promoting the Metro East to businesses in St. Louis in the 1990s. Grandone holds a BA in political science from the University of Illinois at Springfield and was a Coro Fellow and serves on a variety of boards. He lives in Leclaire with his wife, Mary.

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(Reprinted with permission. This article originally ran in the Edwardsville Intelligencer)
Posted on RP News, Aug 4, 2020