Race Based Harassment

Hostile work environment. When we hear these words, some of us might think of women being harassed by men. We think of sexual innuendo and other demeaning thoughts.

Do we think of race based harassment?

CHARLESTON, S.C. -- In a new twist in American race relations, a federal court has ruled that a white teacher in a predominantly African-American school was subjected to a racially hostile workplace.

The case concerned Elizabeth Kandrac, who was routinely verbally abused by black students at Brentwood Middle School in North Charleston. Their slurs make shock jock Don Imus look like a church deacon.

Nevertheless, despite frequent complaints, school officials did nothing to intervene on Kandrac's behalf, arguing that the racially charged profanity was simply part of the students' culture. If Kandrac couldn't handle cursing, school officials told her, she was in the wrong school.

So what happened here?

Kandrac finally filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and subsequently brought a lawsuit against the Charleston County School District, the school's principal and an associate superintendent. Last fall, jurors found that the school was a racially hostile environment to teach in and that the school district retaliated against Kandrac for complaining about it.

Good.

The ramifications of this are profound:

While the dollars-and-cents issue may have been of paramount importance to school and district officials -- and would have lent heft to the verdict -- the more compelling issue for students, parents and society is the idea that a particular group of people can be allowed to behave in a grossly uncivil and threatening way by virtue of their racial "culture."

The key legal question was whether a school could be held responsible for students' behavior. In this case, the black children of Brentwood had been given a pass for their behavior because vulgar language was considered normal for their culture.

Turn this around. Imagine the teacher was black in a predominantly white school...where the students used their culture as an excuse. It wouldn't fly. The school and it's administration would be held liable for every form of damage possible. One's culture is not an excuse for behavior that is wrong. Black people have used every card possible for their supposed plights against their human rights and now, we see them on the other side of the fence. Once again, using another card to explain and defend their behaviors and racism- which they bring onto themselves.