Somerset racial disparities eyed

Hmmmmm? It's evident that the NAACP has not looked at the breadwinner jobs at UMES. Hey NAACP! how about adding 51% white staff to UMES?


PRINCESS ANNE -- Civil rights leaders, labeling Somerset County "the most out of step" jurisdiction in Maryland and perhaps the nation when hiring or appointing blacks, are campaigning to reverse what they call a historical practice of passing over minority applicants.



On Tuesday, officials for the Somerset County NAACP Branch and the ACLU of Maryland jointly invited Somerset leaders to discuss reforms for "racial disparities" in a work force of about 243 employees of which about 13.5 percent are African-Americans.
At a noon news conference at St. James United Methodist Church in Westover, members of the two civil rights groups publicly invited Somerset officials to a June 11 forum to begin an open dialog on disparity in county hiring practices, citing the county's 42 percent African-American population -- the highest black population percentage of any Eastern Shore county with among the lowest number of black workers.
Sam Boston, Somerset County administrator, said he received the report Tuesday morning and had not had time to read it in its entirety. Although, he said, he sees no disparity in the county's hiring practices in recent years. Boston said he is willing to meet with the groups, and added that "I think County Commissioners are open to meet with them."
A spokeswoman at Somerset Human Resources said that Boston's office on Tuesday had requested employment numbers in order to review the situation.
Civil rights members also discussed representation of African-Americans in Somerset County government later Tuesday on National Public Radio's WEAA, 88.9-FM in Baltimore, said talk show host Marc Steiner, who said the issue has gained attention outside the local jurisdiction.
"It is my vision to bring all parties together in a town talk," Steiner said Tuesday from Baltimore, adding Somerset commissioners declined an invitation to join the broadcast because of a schedule conflict.
The civil rights groups delivered a report to County Commissioners detailing county demographics and racial diversity in employment they said show "deeply disturbing disparities" that also are evident at the Somerset Board of Education.

"This is an important day for the ACLU and the NAACP," said Meredith Curtis, an ACLU spokeswoman. "Somerset County is out of step with other counties in Maryland; we would like to see reforms enacted and start a process, put a plan in place, that would see that diversity is valued."
American Civil Liberties Union Legal Director Debbie Jeon said the group's attempt to mend racial injustices in Somerset "goes back decades."
"It is deeply troubling to see the disparity today," she said, mocking the Somerset County motto, "Semper Eadem," which in Latin means "Always the Same."
"With the nation's first African-American president, it's striking how little has changed in Somerset County," she said. "There is a 42 percent African-American population, the highest on the Eastern Shore.
Kirk Hall, president of the Somerset NAACP Branch, said racial disparity also spills into other segments of county leadership and authority. Specifically, Hall pointed to the county Democrat Central Committee, which overlooked community activist and NAACP former president Ken Ballard and Clarence Bell, a businessman with expertise in law enforcement, for consideration as an appointee to the board of County Commissioners. The Democratic Central Committee forwarded two other names to Gov. Martin O'Malley, who will made a selection for the vacant position.
Hall said the commission appointment mirrored the county's past.
"No African-Americans have been elected or appointed to a top county office in the county's history," he said, adding that of the blacks hired, few have professional roles.
Now is the time, Hall said, to "expose the great racial disparity in the great Somerset County."