Jocelyn Benson (Campaign photo)
The author is a political commentator and former journalist, who served as deputy director of Public Information under Mayor Coleman A. Young from 1984-1991. He is the co-host of the podcast, Detroit in Black and White.
By Adolph Mongo
As Black History Month comes to a close, I want to point out why some Michigan Black community leaders have forgotten those Black heroes who broke down the barriers of racism and bigotry in a segregated America.
Jesse Jackson (Photo: Rainbow PUSH Coalition)
One of the many lessons that the late Rev. Jesse Jackson taught us was that an endorsement from the Black community should carry tremendous weight and responsibility. Every endorsement should come with the promise that our endorsed candidate will uphold our shared values of building a society where everyone has the opportunity to thrive and be free of the institutional racism that has held back the Black community and other people of color for too long.
Today, I am watching with dismay as Black leaders line up to endorse a candidate facing serious allegations of racial discrimination in her office, filed by not one, but many of her Black employees. The paper trail speaks for itself.
Just last summer, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson had to pay nearly $800,000 in taxpayer dollars to settle a lawsuit filed by Angela Harness, a Black woman who worked for the state of Michigan for 18 years and served as Benson's director of Customer Service.
Jocelyn Benson (Campaign photo)
Harness claimed she told Secretary Benson about incidents of discrimination repeatedly, yet Benson and her leadership team did nothing. Instead of addressing her concerns about discrimination, Harness says Benson personally instructed her chief of staff to shut down the Race and Equity Task Force that she chaired, which prevented her from conducting diversity training.
And now, just six months later, there’s another lawsuit — this one filed by three current and one former Black employee. Like Harness, they are suing Secretary Benson for racial discrimination, alleging that Black employees were treated differently than Whites.
The suit alleges that White managers and supervisors selectively enforced and interpreted rules to isolate and punish Black employees and that Black employees were unjustly passed over for new opportunities.
Heaster Wheeler, a former senior advisor to the Secretary of State, swore under oath that the allegations are true. He stated that the racial problems under Benson's leadership are “regular, repeated and systemic,” and that when he brought it to Benson’s attention, she did nothing to stop it, so he quit.
Wheeler isn’t even a plaintiff in the lawsuit, so he stands to gain nothing except the satisfaction of telling the truth.
We may never know the outcome of this lawsuit because just days after it was filed, the case was moved from Wayne County Circuit Court to the Michigan Court of Claims, where it’s being heard by a Grand Rapids judge who contributed to Jocelyn Benson’s campaign. How convenient!
Despite these credible and serious allegations of turning a blind eye to blatant acts of racism, Black leaders whom we trust are lining up not to demand answers, but to offer their endorsement.
Is that how apathetic and obedient we’ve become? A candidate can be accused of racism and no one bats an eye or even asks a question.
Our endorsement should be worth more than that. Supporting Secretary Benson is fine, but she should have to publicly answer for these allegations and prove she’ll create an environment in Lansing where everyone, regardless of race, has an equal opportunity to advance their careers and work in an environment free of racism.
Frankly, she must prove she is worthy of our backing. The future of our community and the credibility of our endorsements depend on it.
