Wednesday, February 06, 2008

Racial harassment cases rise sharply - USATODAY.com


Racial harassment cases rise sharply - USATODAY.com: Cases of racial harassment filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission increased 24% last year, a time of racial turmoil that included the Jena Six controversy and an outbreak of noose displays.

At the same time, state and city lawmakers have stepped up efforts to make it a crime to intimidate someone with a noose. And the Justice Department, which set up a network to link investigators reviewing noose incidents, has indicted a Louisiana teen on hate crime charges for dangling a noose from his pickup and driving past demonstrators after a protest in Jena, La., in September.

'Nooses are more prevalent,' says EEOC chair Naomi Earp. 'The noose has replaced the N-word … as the choice if you want to threaten or intimidate someone.'