Social/Racial Justice Blog

What to Do If You Are a Victim of Religious Discrimination in the Workplace

If you have experienced religious discrimination in the workplace, you may be eligible to file an employment law claim for workplace discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. You will need to maintain evidence and documentation and be sure to get your claim underway properly and in a timely manner.

Examples of Workplace Religious Discrimination

There are many ways that religious discrimination can occur. As an example, you may hear Islamophobic comments, your manager may make inappropriate jokes about Muslims. Inappropriate comments calling Muslims names such as “terrorists” or “evil” could also be made as well as discriminatory remarks or not being allowed time to pray per your religious beliefs could be discriminatory in the workplace.

If your religious beliefs call for certain attire to be worn, such as a hijab, a dupatta, or abaya, and your employer tells you those garments are prohibited, or fires you for wearing them, you may be able to pursue a claim. Religious discrimination involves treating an applicant or an employee unfairly because of their religious beliefs, and you have protections in place and resources available to help you.

Filing a Claim for Religious Discrimination at Work

If you have been a victim of religious discrimination in the workplace, you should gather supporting evidence and documentation then follow proper protocol for filing a claim. You will need to speak with a manager or your employer’s human resources (HR) department. Be sure to provide all the details. Document who you spoke with, when you spoke with them, and the response you received. If the matter is not resolved, you can file a claim with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

You will need to look up the nearest EEOC office online. You can then file your claim online, print out forms and mail them in to file your claim, or you can call the nearest office to get the process underway over the phone. You will be interviewed by a representative, and the EEOC will investigate your claim.

Many state governments have a “work share” agreement with the EEOC, so you may be able to file a claim with a state labor agency and it be dually filed with the EEOC or vice versa. In Pennsylvania, you can file a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC)The PHRC and EEOC will then work to resolve the matter. If they cannot reach a satisfactory resolution, they will suggest you file a federal lawsuit against your employer.

Remedies for Religious Discrimination

If you have been the victim of workplace religious discrimination, and you have pursued an employment law claim against your employer for their violations, you may be able to recover compensation to cover your losses. Your losses may include lost benefits or lost wages, or you may be entitled to being promoted or receiving a higher wage for your work duties depending on the circumstances of your claim and the damages you suffered. Your employer can face penalties, fines, and other reprimands from the state and federal labor offices.

 

Resources:

https://www.eeoc.gov/statutes/title-vii-civil-rights-act-1964

https://www.employmentlawhelp.org/discrimination/evidence-religious-discrimination

https://www.phrc.pa.gov/File-a-Compliant/Pages/How-to-File-a-Complaint.aspx    https://www.eeoc.gov/filing-charge-discrimination

https://www.employmentlawhelp.org/discrimination/remedies-religious-discrimination

 

The Cherokee Nation and the Trail of Tears

How many Native Americans do you know? Name 4 things you know about Native Americans?

What is the proper term; American Indian, Native American, or indigenous people? There is no consensus on this issue.

In his book The Day the World Ended at Little Big Horn, Joseph M. Marshall III reviewed all of these labels and then wrote, “We prefer to be identified by our specific tribes or nations, of which there are nearly five hundred ethnically identifiable in the United States.”

 

 

This map represents the original pre-contact homelands of the hundreds of Tribal Nations that existed across what is now Canada and the “lower 48” of the United States. Most of the names shown here are the indigenous names that tribes used for themselves. In some cases where the original name was never recorded, other common names are used. Many tribes did not survive the invasion by Europeans. -Aaron Carapella-Map of our Tribal Nations

 

 

 

 

We are going to discuss an event that happened to the Cherokee Nation, but let’s start at the beginning. The history of the Cherokee Nation began thousands of years ago. Artifacts confirm that the Cherokee have been here for 13,000 years.

First tools found

In 1540, Hernando DeSoto, was the first European to have contact with the Cherokee. In time, trade and intermarriage followed, most notably with the English, Scottish, and Irish. Missionaries soon followed and a number of Cherokee converted to Christianity (about 10 percent). Between 1500-1650, 90 percent of the indigenous population died of European diseases and violence. Due to this, the Cherokee population became concentrated in present day Tennessee, western North Carolina, and upper South Carolina (with additional towns in Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia).

By 1828, the Cherokee had a written language (most of their history was an oral history passed down from generation to generation), a Constitutional government, and a newspaper written in Cherokee and English.

 

Sequoyah wrote down the characters of the Cherokee alphabet. Until then, there was only the spoken language.

 

Early European settlers distrusted and feared the Cherokee, because they were different than them and because they occupied land that the white settlers wanted (and felt they deserved). In the early years, President George Washington, believed the best way to solve the “Indian problem” was to “civilize” the indigenous population. To the white settlers, civilization meant that the Cherokee needed to toss aside their culture and customs and adopt the white culture and customs. Some tribes adapted to this “civilization.” The Choctaw, Chickasaw, Seminole, Creek, and Cherokee became known as the “Five Civilized Tribes.” Thomas Jefferson considered “civilization” a way to eradicate (destroy) the Native American way of life. Jefferson considered the Native Americans stunted by their “savage” ways. Native Americans were seen as inferior.

As more and more white settlers flooded into the Cherokee area, the valuable Cherokee land was wanted by the white settlers. These settlers didn’t care how “civilized” the Cherokee were, they wanted the land. These settlers stole livestock, burned and looted houses, squatted on land that did not belong to them, and committed mass murder. State governments condoned this effort to drive the Cherokee out. In the 1832 case of Worcester vs Georgia, the US Supreme Court affirmed that the native nations (Cherokee) were independent nations and the laws of Georgie have no force. Even with this victory, the mistreatment of the Cherokee people continued.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It would be Andrew Jackson that would enforce “Indian removal.” As a soldier, Jackson was involved in years of brutal fighting against the Creek and Seminole nations. He continued this campaign as president. In 1830, he signed the Indian Removal Act, which gave the federal government the power to remove the Cherokee and give their land (cotton-producing) to the white farmers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The law required the government to negotiate the removal of the Native Americans voluntarily and peacefully. It did not permit the president or any other group to coerce the Native nations into giving up their land. This was ignored by President Jackson. The Native nations were threatened by the invasion of the US army. The Choctaw were the first nation removed from their land. Next, the Creek nation was driven from their land. Of the 15,000 who set out to Oklahoma, 3,500 died along the way.

The Cherokee were still undecided on what to do. Some wanted to stay and fight and others thought it was better to leave. In 1835, a few self-appointed representatives of the Cherokee negotiated the Treaty of New Echota with the federal government, which traded all Cherokee land for 5 million dollars. Many of the Cherokee felt betrayed. The principal chief of the Cherokee Nation, John Ross, presented a petition with 15,000 signatures asking for the treaty to be dismissed. The treaty passed anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trail of Tears

By 1938, only 2,000 Cherokee left their Georgie homeland for Indian territory in Oklahoma. President Martin Van Buren sent General Winfield Scott and 7,000 soldiers to oust the remaining Cherokee. Scott and his troops forced the Cherokee into stockades at bayonet point while whites looted their homes and belongings. The Cherokee were marched more than 1,200 miles to Indian Territory in Oklahoma. Disease and starvation were rampant along the way. It is estimated that 4,000-5,000 Cherokee died as a result of the Trail of Tears. The federal government promised that this new Indian territory would remain with the Native nations. As white settlers moved westward, this promise was broken by the US government.

“I fought through the civil war and have seen men shot to pieces and slaughtered by thousands, but the Cherokee removal was the cruelest work I ever knew.” -John Burnett, US Army

While watching the video, write down any similarities or contrasts you find with the Holocaust:

https://witf.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/akh10.socst.ush.exp.trail/trail-of-tears

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name four things that you see in this painting.

 

 

 

 

Read Samuel’s Memory (written by a Cherokee boy on the Trail of Tears).

What parts of his story made an impression on you?

Why did Samuel hate white people?

How did his memory make you feel?

Extended Activity:

Using mixed media art, create a piece that would represent Samuel’s Memory. Use magazines, newspapers, paint, etc.

 

Laura Maqueda
Growing Up In The Minority

When I first got to Hanover, there were, at most, four or five Hispanic families. This was during the early 2000s, when I had moved from a community in Gettysburg where the population was also vastly Caucasian. I made one friend that lived in the street across from me, as her family helped mine with their transition into our new surroundings.

When I started at Hanover Street Elementary School, I was put into ESL classes. There was a class of around five students. The teacher taught us English, and assisted with taking tests in our other classes, as it was difficult to understand as a non-native English speaker. The class lasted about an hour every day. During ESL, I was regularly bullied by other kids in the school because I wasn’t fluent in English at the time. This would often mean that I was mixing up words, or didn’t know the correct way to say what I was thinking. I was removed from ESL in third grade because I became fluent in the language and no longer needed the extra assistance from the class.

In the Hanover community, around 2003 or 2004, there still wasn’t a large population of Hispanics. So, my sister and I would regularly have to translate for our parents as they could not speak English at all. Most of the time, we would have to miss school to translate for any appointments that they would have to go to. At that point, we would typically drive to Gettysburg to a Mexican corner store for most of our grocery shopping, as there were none in Hanover yet.

By middle school, the population of Hispanics in Hanover had grown drastically, most likely doubling in size. I had other family members move from California to Hanover as a part of the large movement of Hispanics to the community. By this point, any bullying that I received over my racial background had all but stopped, which I mostly attribute to the large influx of Hispanics to the school system. At this time, there were actually two Mexican corner stores that had opened up in town, which made things much easier for my family. In current times, there are many more than that, including a lot of Mexican restaurants. At this time as well, I was attending diversity days at South Western School District, which was really what had introduced me to being an advocate for the many cultures within our small community.

For my senior project, I got together with some educators in the high school to bring more attention to the diversity within our town. I created a diversity day at the high school, which represented the many cultures within our town, and was used to celebrate all of them together. We had cultures from various Central American countries, with stations for each individual country, as well as a small group that represented Indian culture. A final group represented various European countries, to celebrate the heritage of others in the community. At the end of the day, we had a motivational speaker. He spoke about coming to this country as an immigrant, and what barriers he faced, from language to cultural adaptation. This really resonated with me, as I had faced many of the same struggles.

Over the years, I have been grateful to grow up in a very small community that has been accepting of the change in diversity. Many of the educators, as well as community leaders, have helped in the success of integrating the large influx of minorities that transitioned into the community. Things really changed from when I was seen as an outcast upon my arrival into the community, to now, where there is a thriving Hispanic community that lives alongside the group of people that has been established here for a long time prior.

Growing up as a Latina in Hanover, 20 years ago is a different world from today. You didn’t see as many Hispanic people around Hanover. Mexican stores were miles away and being able to connect with people was a bit harder, since not everyone understood where you were coming from. My family and I moved to the United States from Mexico at the age of five. When we first arrived it was definitely a difficult move, I had to get use to the new language, streets, school, food, and people around us. As a five year old child, I was not sure what it meant for us to be moving, but I knew this was not my home.

A new journey began, my parents enrolled my older brother and I in school. We were the new kids that came from a different world. I can still remember in detail my first day at school. My parents walked me to my first grade classroom where my teacher Mrs. Appler held my hand and walked me to my seat. She told the kids to greet me and they all said, “Hi” in Spanish. She did her best by pointing and showing me around the classroom. This great teacher years later told me how she had done her best to learn a few words in Spanish and also had the students learn a few words. She mentioned how this was the first time ever that she had a student who did not know how to speak any English. Although it was a scary time, being in a school where I couldn’t find someone who spoke my language, within time, I met a friend who was fluent in Spanish as well. He helped me communicate with the teachers and if the teachers needed something he was the translator.

Looking back, during this time there were only a few Hispanic students. One of them being my friend, and another being my brother. Once I got to fourth grade, I met a couple more students that were like my family. Out of the whole school, there were five of us. This was nice, because we now had friends who knew about our traditions and we could share our stories. We were limited on how much anyone else would understand, but if we had the chance we were able to share what we did during the holidays, or about our traditions. As we started to speak English fluently, it was easier to tell our stories to friends and teachers who were curious to learn. Growing up, three traditions that we kept were El Dia de Los Muertos, Christmas, and Three Kings’ Day.

A tradition that is well known by its name, but not its true meaning is, El Dia De Los Muertos, which is commonly known as Day of the Dead. At home, we would decorate cemeteries and put up an Ofrenda (alter) that had all the goodies, pictures and candles of the deceased. Many people believe that those who have passed, come back on that day to visit there love ones. My family still kept this tradition by putting up an ofrenda for our family members who had passed. We would decorate a table with bright colors, place food, drinks, traditional day of the dead bread, and candles.

For Christmas, our family would celebrate with going to mass and having a family dinner on the night of Christmas Eve. We would also put a nativity scene (without the baby Jesus) underneath our tree, then after Christmas mass, we would place the baby Jesus down next to Mary and Joseph. Christmas Eve night, all of our relatives would get together to celebrate by making traditional Mexican food that they had been cooking all day. Once January came, we celebrated “El Dia de Los Reyes Magos,” by buying a Rosca de Reyes. “Rosca” means wreath and “reyes” means kings. The Rosca de Reyes has an oval shape to symbolize a crown and has a small doll inside, which represents baby Jesus. The doll figure symbolizes the hiding of the infant Jesus from King Herod’s troops. Traditionally, roscas are adorned with dried and candied fruits to symbolize the many jewels that a crown would have. The person who gets the slice with the doll must host a party on Día de la Candelaria in February.

All of our traditions and celebrations hold a special place in our hearts, for they are the only thing that connects us to our long ago home.

Karl Heinrich Ulrichs (July 28, 1825-July 14, 1895): The first Gay Activist
Post by Deb SMith

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation conducted a 2018 survey and found the following:

• *46 percent of LBGTQ workers say they are closeted at work.
• *53 percent of LBGTQ workers report hearing jokes about lesbian or gay people once in a while.
• * The top two reasons LBGTQ workers don’t report negative comments they hear about LBGTQ people to a supervisor or human resources:
• They don’t think anything will be done about it.
• They don’t want to hurt their relationships with co-workers.

Where did gay rights begin? Who was the first person to ‘come out’? How was this person treated?

In 1862, German lawyer and author Karl Heinrich Ulrichs came out to his family. This was 158 years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

Ulrichs was the first homosexual to speak publicly in defense of homosexuality. In 1867, he was given permission to speak to the Congress of German Jurists which consisted of 500 judges and lawyers. He was asking them to consider repealing the anti-homosexual laws. He was shouted down before he could make it clear what he was talking about. Ulrichs tried to explain that there was a persecution of an innocent class of persons who in Germany is outnumbered in the thousands, a class of persons to which many of the greatest and noblest intellects of our and other nations have belonged…exposed to an underserved legal persecution for no other reason than that mysteriously disposing creating nature has planted in the, a sexual nature that is the opposite of that which is in general usual. (lbgtqnation) Those present didn’t want to give him any chance to speak. As soon as he mentioned “sexual nature,” the Chairman asked him to continue in Latin so as not to offend delicate and less educated ears in attendance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have you ever tried to speak out about something important to you and no one would listen? How did it make you feel?

In 1868, he stopped writing under a pseudonym (using a different name than his own). He wrote a series of pamphlets in which he was the first to formulate a scientific theory of homosexuality. Ulrichs believed there was a third gender. His beliefs included the following:

*Men attracted to other men had been born with a ‘woman’s spirit.’

*Women attracted to other women had a ‘male spirit.’

*Anyone attracted to both men and women had some of both.

Men and women were born this way and the state should not view their acts as criminal and they should not be punished.

Ulrichs goal was to free people like himself from the judgement of homosexual acts as being unnatural. He invented a new term to describe the nature of the individual, and not the acts performed. The terms he identified were:

*Urning for men attracted to other men.

*Urningin for women attracted to other women.

*Uranodioning for those attracted to men and women.

At one point, his pamphlets were taken by the police for degrading marriage and the family. The judge found him innocent and returned the pamphlets.

In 1880, Ulrichs published the world’s first gay periodical. He planned for several more, but there just weren’t enough subscribers to financially support this project. Following this, he moved to Italy and lived in poverty. The Marquis Niccolo Persichetti did become his friend and helped support him toward the end of his life. Ulrichs died of a kidney ailment on July 14, 1895.

Even though his scientific theory is not well regarded today, his openness and activism inspired those that followed. He inspired Magnus Hirschfeld to establish the Scientific Humanitarian

Committee (1897), the world’s first gay rights organization. The main goal was to fight for the abolishment of Paragraph 175 of the German Penal Code, which punished sexual contact between men. This law was not repealed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2017 Berlin, there were over 800 homophobic acts. The rise in homophobia has been blamed on far-right groups. In January 2019, the monument to homosexual victims of the Holocaust, located in Berlin, was defaced with black spray paint.

If you could write a letter to the person(s) that vandalized one of these monuments, what would you say? How would you convince them that what they did was wrong?

 

Check out Making Gay History: The Podcast: https://makinggayhistory.com

Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself. -Harvey Fierstein

Most of us remember the “Red Scare” of the 1950’s from history class. This was fear of Communists taking over the US and was led by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Many people were wrongfully attacked and hurt.

But have you heard of the Lavender Scare? I know I didn’t until recently. This was a purge of homosexuals during the same time period as the Red Scare. There was a fear that gay people were a threat to national security and that they were in all levels of the government and needed to be removed.

Homosexuals must not be handling top-secret material. The pervert is easy prey to the blackmailer. -Joseph McCarthy

Following WWII, gays started to gravitate to urban areas and create their own communities. During the late 1940’s, the general public became aware of homosexuality thru Alfred Kinsey’s book, Sexual Behavior in the Human Male, published in 1948. In this book, Kinsey stated that same-sex experiences were relatively common. The public did not see this as acceptable.

The “Sex Perversion Elimination Program,” was started in 1947 by the US Park Police. This was to target gay men for arrest. A year later, Congress passed an act “for the treatment of sexual psychopaths” in Washington DC. This labeled homosexuals as mentally ill. Homosexuals were viewed as a lurking threat. This was at the same time that the US was facing another lurking threat: Communism.

McCarthy linked Communism and homosexuality. He felt that both Communists and homosexuals had “peculiar mental twists.” A week after McCarthy gave a speech, Deputy Undersecretary John Peurifoy testified that the State Department ousted 91 homosexual employees as security risks. It should be noted that homosexuals were being uncovered much quicker than Communists.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a second, larger investigation known as the Hoey Committee Investigation, named after its chairman, Senator Clyde Hoey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hoey Committee gathered information from the medical community, federal agencies, law enforcement, and judicial authority. The committee held a five-day executive hearing, closed to the public. No gay men or lesbians spoke. The committee first contacted numerous federal agencies. They sent a questionnaire to all branches of the military plus 53 civilian departments and agencies, small and large. The committee would then interview agency officials. The response from Secretary of Commerce Charles Sawyer was typical:

“The privilege of working for the United States Government should not be extended to persons of dubious moral character, such as homosexuals or sex perverts. The confidence of our citizenry in their Government would be severely taxed if we looked with tolerance upon the employment of such persons.” (July 24, 1950)

There were a few responses supporting homosexuals in the work place. Howard Colvin, acting director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service:

“Since it is possible, according to our understanding of medical and psychiatric opinion on the subject, for a homosexual to lead a normal, well-adjusted life, we do not consider that such a person necessarily constitutes a bad security risk. We believe that each such case would have to be decided on its own merits.” (July 31, 1950)

The significance of the 1950 congressional investigations and the Hoey committee’s final report was to lay the groundwork for President Dwight D. Eisnhower’s 1953 Executive Order #10450, “Security Requirements for Government Employment.” This order effectively banned gay men and lesbians from all jobs in the US government. The Lavender Scare was not as widely known as the Red Scare. Those that were fired for homosexuality did not want anyone to know why they were fired. This entire period was filled with tragedy; some could no longer care for their parents due to the loss of employment. After being ‘outed,’ some committed suicide.

Among the tragedy, some federal workers took action. In 1957, the Army Map Service fired astronomer Franklin Kameny. Kameny had been arrest in California a year earlier for a consensual contact with another man. He appealed his dismissal all the way to the Supreme Court. The appeal failed in 1961. This caused Kameny to co-found the Mattachine Society of Washington DC. This organization battled anti-gay discrimination, especially the federal government’s discrimination policies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 1975, the Civil Service Commission announced that gay people could no longer be barred or fired from federal employment because of their sexuality. In 1995, President Clinton signed Executive Order #12968, which stated: “The United States Government does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, or sexual orientation in granting access to classified information.” In 2014, President Barack Obama signed Executive Order #13672. This extended protection against discrimination in hiring and employment to include gender identity.

As you can see, the LBGTQ community has fought long and hard for equality, and the fight continues. How can you help? Be kind to everyone. Be an Upstander and defend those that are being discriminated against. Wear a safety pin (by wearing a safety pin, you show people that you believe in equality for the LBGTQ community). Identify yourself with pronouns. Example: Hi! I am she/her Deb Smith.

For an extension activity:

Write a poem of acceptance for the LBGTQ community or create an art piece.

This is a trailer for the movie, The Lavender Scare: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuIYssjmlv0

Check out Making Gay History: The Podcast: https://makinggayhistory.com

 

 

 

 

This world would be a whole lot better if we just made an effort to be less horrible to one another. -Ellen Page

Strength in Community: A Personal Responsum on the Meaning of Pride and the LGBTQIA+ Movement

When sitting down to write a piece about what the LGBT Rights Movement means to me, I simply didn’t know where to begin. My perspective as a feminine queer woman has been heavily influenced by the LGBTQIA+ movement overall, so parsing apart my own thoughts from the rhetoric of a social movement presented a challenge for me. Growing up as a queer girl in a small town, I was immensely privileged, with a loving family and a close friend network, though I internally faced many struggles of self-identity without the guidance from others like myself whom identified as LGBT. This feeling of isolation and stigma is a common perspective for many LGBTQIA+ youth who grow up without the ability to talk about their gender or sexuality explicitly. This can be an incredibly difficult challenge for people of all ages to face, and even more so for young people.

This is where, however, the importance and power of the Gay Rights Movement impacted my life. The Gay Rights Movement, which once started as a protest for gay rights at The Stonewall Inn and Bar in New York City (see below), now exists as a movement of Pride each June, which celebrates the newfound visibility and strength of the LGBTQIA+ community altogether (Willis). My own discovery and education concerning the Gay Rights Movement, (which is now known as Pride/ the LGBTQIA+ Rights Movement), led to a personal curiosity about others like me, sparking for the first time in my life a sense of belonging. Pride today highlights the importance behind community, reminding all LGBTQIA+ people, whether out, or silent, or questioning, or isolated, or visible, or without labels, or identifying, or dysphoric, or passing, that they are not alone.

Stonewall Riots 1969

The history of the LGBTQIA+ Rights Movement which includes that of protest, struggle, and loss, gives way to the struggle and perseverance of queer people historically, reminding us today of a community that remains strong despite challenges. The LGBTQIA+ community has expanded and become more visible, while the fight for equal and equitable rights for its members remains the same. This movement, which is symbolized by the Rainbow Pride Flag and enters public awareness annually in June, remains important for LGBTQIA+ peoples year-round.

Pride is important because it reminds those of us who are told to stay silent that we no longer need to be and that our experiences are important to speak about. It reminds us that despite feeling isolated, we are not alone. It signifies that our chosen families are real families too, and that we have a home within a community of others like ourselves. It reminds us that our self-expression and our unique perspectives are valid. And most importantly, pride reminds us that we are worthy. Love is love, which the world needs more of.

Lauren Frank, 2020

 

 

Sources Cited:

Willis, Amy. “Stonewall Riots: How a Police Raid on a Pub Led to the Rise of the LGBT Movement.” Metro, Metro.co.uk, 11 Dec. 2019, metro.co.uk/2016/06/28/stonewall-riots-how-a-police-raid-on-a-pub-led-to-the-rise-of-the-lgbt-movement-across-the-world-5969798/.