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MLK’s death is still our call to action 

It has been more than a half century since the 39-year-old Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel as he worked for justice on behalf of the striking Memphis sanitation workers.

This means several generations have now come of age raised with only the memory of an icon, not with seeing a flesh and blood person grapple with the brutal problems of this country’s injustice.

I delight that we have not let Martin Luther King Jr.'s life fade into obscurity, but I believe his burial may offer a better opportunity to rededicate ourselves to his cause of nonviolent social justice action.

For it was at the funeral, that Benjamin Mays, the former president of Morehouse College, gave the eulogy. Mays was the person credited with providing the intellectual foundation of the civil rights movement and he used the eulogy to remind us of the meaning of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s death. He also used it to call us to moral, ethical action on behalf of the marginalized other, work that was too important to be buried along with Dr. King.

Over 100,000 mourners came on April 9, 1968, to say their final farewells. It was only five days after James Earl Ray, who was still unknown and at large, killed King. A murder that Mays would tell the mourners “The American people are in part responsible for Martin Luther King Jr.’s death. The assassin heard enough condemnation of King and of Negroes to feel that he had public support. He knew that millions hated King.”

First, Mays took the opportunity of the eulogy to remind us what King stood for.

That violence was ethically and morally wrong, that only love and forgiveness could break the vicious cycle of revenge, and that, in due time, nonviolence would prove effective in the abolition of injustice in politics, in economics, in education, and in race relations.

Then Mays reminded us of what King went through to live his beliefs.

“This man was loved by some and hated by others. If any man knew the meaning of suffering, King knew. House bombed; living day by day for thirteen years under constant threats of death; maliciously accused of being a Communist; falsely accused of being in-sincere and seeking the limelight for his own glory; stabbed by a member of his own race; slugged in a hotel lobby; jailed thirty times; occasionally deeply hurt because friends betrayed him.”

And then Mays gave the call to action reminding us that passivity doesn’t bring vision forward.

 “(MLK) was convinced also that people could not be moved to abolish voluntarily the in-humanity of man to man by mere persuasion and pleading, but that they could be moved to do so by dramatizing the evil through massive nonviolent resistance.”

Benjamin Mays, the man Dr. King called his spiritual father, used his eulogy as a blueprint for the future. We should too. Each April 9^th we should reread the eulogy and recommit to action that serves others.

As Mays said, “Martin Luther King Jr.’s unfinished work on earth must truly be our own.”

Chad Dion Lassiter, MSW

Executive Director

Maryland Civil Rights Tour

By: Ian Fahnestock

Enforcement Division

At the end of March into April of 2023, four PHRC employees, Debra Brice, Sheinna Gonzalez, Dana Prince, and myself, were given the opportunity to join the 2023 Maryland Office of Civil Rights bus tour which would take us across six states, over the course of nine days. The tour made stops that were, and still are, critically important to the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s. Some of us had an idea what the trip would entail, given information provided and accounts from the previous years’ group, but nothing could have prepared us for how truly life-changing those nine days would be.

We started our journey in Rockville, Maryland where we departed early in the morning for our first stop in Greensboro, North Carolina to visit the International Civil Rights Museum, located out of the former Woolworth Department store where early sit-ins took place. Day two, we were off to the Atlanta, Georgia to visit the National Civil Rights Center, mostly focused on MLK Jr., his life and his importance to the civil rights movement.

Later that day, we arrived in Montgomery, Alabama. We visited the Freedom Riders Museum, which was converted into a museum from an old Greyhound Bus Station with an ominous bricked up entryway that once served as the “colored” entrance. We would spend the next two days in Montgomery, visiting the Legacy Museum and its extension, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, the Rosa Parks Museum, the Civil Rights Memorial Center, By the River Center for Humanity, with special guest freedom rider and activist, Joann Bland. This stop concluded with a walk across the Edmond Pettus Bridge, where Bloody Sunday occurred.

Next, we stopped in Birmingham, Alabama, where we visited the Kelly Ingram Park, Birmingham Civil Rights Museum, and Bethel Baptist Church, where the bombing that killed four black girls occurred. That evening, we headed to Memphis, Tennessee and had the opportunity to dine on the historic Beale Street. On day six, we stopped at the historic Lorraine Motel, the site of the assassination of MLK Jr., now converted to a museum. We made a final stop for the day in Money, Mississippi to visit the courthouse where Mamie Till-Mobley sought justice for the lynching of her young son, Emmett Till.

The next day we visited Medgar Ever’s house, where he was murdered by long range gunshot at the side entrance of his home. Ever's was a civil rights activist and the NAACP's first secretary. We also visited the Mississippi Museum of Civil Rights and the campus of the historically black Tugaloo College.

On day eight, we traveled to Arkansas and visited Little Rock Central High School with special guest, one of the Little Rock Nine, Elizabeth Eckford. Lastly, we took a tour of the Daisy Bates’ house. Bates was an activist and newspaper publisher who documents the battle to end segregation in Arkansas.

The four of us had an amazing time on the tour and we are forever grateful for what we experienced. We encourage anyone who gets the chance to take part in the tour to do so. My biggest takeaway was you can be taught history your entire life, but perspective is changed, and context is solidified when you can actually visualize where these events occurred, share the same space and hold conversations with the faces that lived them. Ultimately, we were able to get a real sense of not only how far we’ve come, but also the amount of work we still need to do. Thank you to Executive Director Lassiter, James Stowe, and the Maryland Office of Civil Rights.

This tour was life changing and we are all the better for it. We shall overcome. 

Mental Health Awareness Month

By: Amanda Brothman

Communications Director

In the United States, 1 in 5 adults experience mental illness each year and according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, 1,814,000 adults in Pennsylvania have a mental health condition. That is 6x the population of Pittsburgh.

If you need assistance, there are resources available. The State Employee Assistance Program, also known as SEAP, provides free, 24/7 confidential support.

SEAP provides counseling sessions with specialists, legal aid, and financial planning.

Get connected by calling 1-800-692-7459 (TTY: Dial 711, then 1-800-692-7459) or go to liveandworkwell.com.

Other available resources:

Crisis Text Line: Text "PA" to 741741

National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: Text or Call 988

Veterans in crisis: veteranscrisisline.net

Substance use help: 800-662-4357

PA Support helpline: 855-284-2494

More information on mental health resources in Pennsylvania can be found here.

On May 25, PHRC will participate in Trauma and Mental Health Awareness Capitol Day. A schedule of events can be found here.

Executive Director Lassiter will be featured on the following panel:

• 12:45-1:45pm: I Kick and I Fly: A Community Response to Human Trafficking- Panel Discussion with Emmy Award winner and author Ruchira Gupta
• Location: 60EW
• Register here.

PHRC will also host a table throughout the day.

IN-STATE RIVALRIES

By: Deven A. Price

Harrisburg Regional Office

In my college days of the late 80s, as a student and lifelong fan of the Pennsylvania State University Nittany Lions, there was no bigger football rival for us than the school across the state, the University of Pittsburgh Panthers. In fact, the games were considered one of the best and most bitter in-state rivalries in college football. For me, that level of anticipated competition was one of the things that made me fall in love with the school and the game. Of course, the other games and rivalries were fun but there is nothing like that annual grudge match to make or break a successful season. Unfortunately, after I graduated and in the early 90s, Penn State joined the Big Ten Conference, which ended the annual game with Pitt and seemingly ended the in-state football rivalry. Or did it?

In the last 30 or so years, Penn State has gone on to develop big rivalries within the B1G, but none are in our state, nor have they risen to the level of the annual fight for field superiority with Pitt (now in the ACC). As such, Penn State currently proclaims to be “unrivaled.” Of course, the two old, in-state rivals have played a few games in a few years here and there, but the alumni and fans of our era are left wanting the yearly in-state rivalry to return to the way things used to be when the games were the highlight of every season.

The Harrisburg Regional Office (HRO) has its share of alumni and fans of both schools. Over the years, the HRO has also bred some football contempt between Pitt Alum Attorney Stephanie Chapman and myself. Of course, her contempt for PSU is longstanding, deeply rooted, and just pure unadulterated hate, and I continue to downplay the significance of the old hatred as we are now “unrivaled.” Or are we?

So, my reason for writing this article and feeding you all of this sports competition stuff is actually to address the current agency climate. The encouragement of the current administration for staff to work together as one team, regardless of geographical regions, and not that of three distinct regions, as well as bring an end the so called “in-state rivalries” held between our offices is appreciated. Thus far, our agency has done this with the legal division by assigning attorneys to work on cases regardless of which region they were created. Also, our agency has done this with the agency’s intake units with the handling of calls from anywhere in the state being addressed by anyone in the agency. In addition, I have experienced the recent sharing of cases for investigation between the regions to ensure equity and relief to agencies that need work or have too much work.

As I share this point of view with all who may read this, I can honestly share that I have always approached my work performance, production, and quality with pride in my own abilities and pride for the work for the same of others not in my region without concern, contempt, or hatred for what they were doing or not doing in their respective regions. I have also always trained my team to take the same approach. In addition, I believe that I have always made efforts to share best practices, as I have found them, with my peers in the other regions and I have always eagerly participated in the numerous trainings and meeting to “get everyone on the same page.”

In closing, it is my opinion that to further succeed with meeting the vision of unifying our agency’s regional staff, we continue to focus on all three regions executing the same procedures via more cross-office projects, trainings, collective brainstorming, teamwork, and comradery, so that we -as PHRC- are ‘unrivaled’ instead of “in-state rivals,” which leaves some to feel like there is a deep rooted contempt amongst us for the purpose to reign superior over the other regions. And I simply conclude with “WE ARE!”

Investigating Complaints for Systemic Impact

By: John Brubaker

Attorney III

At PHRC, it is important to fully investigate every complaint filed with us and recover for every possible victim of discrimination. Sometimes this means looking for additional victims beyond just the Complainant who filed the complaint. Investigations on behalf of multiple victims are called systemic investigations. But systemic violations of Pennsylvania anti-discrimination law aren’t always automatically apparent or alleged in the original charge. Most systemic investigations rely on our legal and investigative teams to identify potential systemic issues either from the facts plead in the charge, or the facts discovered through the course of the investigation. But how do we look for systemic issues? One of the best ways is to remember the types of situations where they regularly occur.

Systemic Sexual Harassment

One place to look for systemic issues is in sexual harassment charges, especially charges where a male employee was reported for sexual harassment, but not punished. Workplace studies show that nearly three in four incidents of sexual harassment go unreported. Also, when sexual harassment goes unpunished, it is likely that it will continue, not just against a Complainant that may have filed a complaint, but against other women in that workplace that may have had interactions with the harassing employee. Many of these women may not have complained internally, or especially filed a charge themselves. If you have a sexual harassment charge in a workplace with multiple women, and a male employee that has demonstrated the proclivity to repeat his harassment, you should automatically make at least two document requests:

1. Request a full employee roster of the department/location of Complainant’s workplace, including all known contact information (especially phone number and e-mail address) for each employee. Make sure the scope of this request is reasonable given the circumstances. If you have questions about scope, contact Legal for advice. Identify the women on the roster, with a focus on those who worked with the offending male harasser, and contact them, asking if they too experienced harassment. If, for some reason, you can’t get a roster, Complainant may have the contact information of her female coworkers herself.
2.  Request documents related to all internal sexual harassment complaints, as well as documents that show the actions Respondent took in response to those complaints.

From here, you can potentially build a systemic case on behalf of all potential victims in the workplace.

Policies That Discriminate

If a Respondent takes an adverse action against a Complainant based on a seemingly discriminatory application of a policy, chances are that they have applied that policy in a discriminatory manner to other individuals in Complainant’s protected class. The whole idea with policies is that they apply broadly to a large number of people. Some well-known examples of policies that discriminate are:

• No excuses attendance points policies, where employees are terminated after accruing a certain number of sick or tardy days, sometimes even if they call in for a legitimate reason. Such policies naturally discriminate against disabled individuals, who may need to take more time off of work than non-disabled employees. If an exception to the attendance points policy is not made for disabled employees that need an accommodation of additional time off work, an employer may be guilty of a systemic PHRA violation. If this issue arises in one of your investigations, please contact Legal!
• Overly-broad criminal background screens are known to cause disparate impact against Black and Hispanic individuals, especially males. If Respondent takes an adverse action against a Complainant because of an adverse criminal background history, but the criminal violation is non-violent, far in the past, and/or unrelated to the job at hand, this policy may create disparate impact against a class of individuals. If this issue arises in one of your investigations, please contact Legal!
• Large Reductions in Force (RIFs) often target older workers. If Complainant is 40 years of age or older, and was terminated due to a large RIF, you should request a list of all employees terminated under such RIF and their age and compare it to a list of all employees retained. Respondent is encouraged by federal law to keep such lists when conducting a RIF, so in most cases these documents should be out there.

These are just some examples of scenarios that could create systemic discrimination under Pennsylvania anti-discrimination law. It would be impossible to list all such scenarios, so it is important to remember that for every complaint that comes through our doors, we should always be on the lookout for how the alleged discrimination could have negative effects on similarly situated individuals other than just the Complainant.

If you have any questions about this related to one of your complaints, please ask for help! Identifying systemic issues early in an investigation helps beef up the PHRC’s enforcement, with the goal of a discrimination-free Commonwealth!

George Soros Did What?

By: Saul Ravitch

Philadelphia Regional Office

Whenever someone invokes the name of George Soros to delegitimize something they don’t agree with, they’re trafficking in antisemitic conspiracy theories that go back centuries.

These range from the grisly, medieval “blood libel” to today’s paranoid Great Replacement Theory. The common thread is the portrayal of Jews as cunning, malignant outsiders who prey on their virtuous and unsuspecting neighbors.

This was recently demonstrated by a Manhattan grand jury’s indictment of former president Donald Trump. Although District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is African American, actually filed the criminal charges, the former president and his defenders quickly expressed outrage over Bragg’s perceived subservience to George Soros, a Hungarian Jew.

What does George Soros have to do with a local District Attorney’s charging decision? Good question.

The short answer is that Soros contributed to an advocacy group that endorsed Bragg’s candidacy. Just below the surface, however, are racial and religious stereotypes that have reemerged and galvanized a large chunk of the American electorate.

Bragg’s race and Soros’ religion are considered strong evidence in support of the Great Replacement Theory. The premise of this theory is that Jews are manipulating non-whites in order to destabilize Western countries. The ultimate goal of this scheme is believed to be the replacement of white, Christian citizens with more easily controlled racial minorities. Thus, non-whites are considered mindless pawns without personal agency while Jews are seen as devious masterminds pulling the strings. Bragg and Soros thus embody their respective communities.

Today’s anti-Soros hysteria can trace its lineage back to “The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion.” This work, written in the early 1900s, was a forged document that purported to lay out a Jewish plan for world domination. It popularized many traditional antisemitic stereotypes that persist to this day. Although modern audiences may find its depiction of Jews to be cartoonishly evil and over-the-top, it was vastly influential.

The term “protocols” refers to specific actions to be taken. In addition, each protocol contains commentary that explains and justifies those actions.

For example, Protocol No. 1 establishes the villainy of the Jewish “Elders” by expanding on the topic “Right lies in Might.” It also includes the following helpful advice: “[w]e must not stop at bribery, deceit and treachery when they should serve towards the attainment of our end. In politics one must know how to seize the property of others without hesitation if by it we secure submission and sovereignty.”

Similarly, Protocol No. 2 emphasizes the stereotypes of Jewish greed, cunning and control of the media: “Through the Press we have gained the power to influence while remaining ourselves in the shade; thanks to the Press we have got the gold in our hands…”

These themes of greed, power, dishonesty and menace are repeated throughout the Protocols with neither subtlety nor restraint. Thus, even the most dull-witted reader will grasp the underlying message: Jews bad.

This brings us back to George Soros. As a wealthy Jewish financier, he fits the Protocols’ stereotype. In addition, his support for progressive causes around the world is easily characterized as “globalism.” Among those who embrace the Protocols as fact, this is considered shorthand for “world domination.” Lastly, he stands out as “other” at a time when Christian nationalism is on the rise in the United States.

Thus, George Soros’ personal characteristics and the social forces currently spreading across the country make him a lightning rod for those who practice the world’s oldest hatred.

“So much I know about what I’ve seen, so little I know about my own eyes.”

Alice Randall wrote these words in her parody The Wind Done Gone, a small novel that sparked widespread interest for its unauthorized retelling of Gone with the Wind. While both novels have been passionately debated, the truest value is not in arguing individual impressions, but in the discussion itself. The power of words lies in the questions, discussions, and narrative shifts they can spark. For Alice Randall’s part, she certainly begged us to ask what is behind our own lens. Her words asked us to look deeper. 

I am a believer in the power of words to change our society and am excited to have joined PHRC to advocate for trauma-informed discrimination policies within our Commonwealth and to educate on the power of digging deeper to build stronger community. We use words to share stories that influence change; we use words to build relationships and repair harm; we use words to gather support to update laws.

Prior to recently joining PHRC as Director of Policy & Intergovernmental Affairs, I served for 5 years as Special Assistant to the appointed Commonwealth Victim Advocate. My passion for criminal justice and restorative justice was fueled by my own family’s victimization experience.

During my time at the PA Office of Victim Advocate, I took special interest in studying the ways that crime disproportionately impacts marginalized communities and the many ways in which the Commonwealth might adopt evidence-based, trauma-informed practices within our justice system.

My staunch belief in the power of words stems from my earlier career history within the Governor’s Office of Administration where I served in various roles, including Deputy Communications Director, as well as my ongoing work as a published author.

I spend my free time offering community-based poetry events in which I leverage the accessibility of art to include trauma education. In 2022, I was deeply honored to receive the first ever Harrisburg’s Simply the Best Award in the performing arts category for this work. My writing and art have been featured in various literary publications and has been highlighted at many local events, including recently at Harrisburg’s Civic Club. 

Stop by my desk anytime to say hello! I love meeting new people and am greatly anticipating the opportunity to get to know each of you.

Upcoming PHRC events

Outside PHRC events

Action Conversations on Race

YWCA Greater Pittsburgh: Center for Race & Gender Equity

Every third Wednesday of the month 12-1pm EST

May 17, 2023: Antisemitism and White Supremacy

Antisemitic violence is deeply connected to white supremacy culture. In collaboration with National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) Pittsburgh, our conversation addresses the rise in antisemitism as well as racism against Jews of color as we seek opportunities to unite against white supremacy.

A free module designed to provide info & support directly to survivors of sexual assault. Survivors are welcome to register for all sessions or individual sessions.

Module 2: Empowerment - A Pathway to Healing

• May 11, 12:00 - 1:00 pm
• Social worker Lisa Ryan leads a thoughtful discussion on trauma and self-care
• Register here.

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