A New Morning of Race in America

On the issue of race in America there is something in the air. Shakespeare’s melancholy Dane might say it is the “scent of morning;” our president would call it a “teaching moment.”

A lawsuit filed in the district court of East St. Louis alleges that Mayor Alvin Parks and City manager Robert Becks refused to hire Ronald Grimming, a former top commander of the Illinois State Police and former Director of the Florida Highway Patrol as the city’s police chief because he is white.

Plaintiffs Wyatt Frazer and Della Murphy, former members of the Police, Fire and Civil Service board, allege that shortly after Parks was elected he let his bias be known rejecting their recommendation of Grimming because in his words, “the city was not ready to hire a white police chief.” At Parks’ recommendation the city later hired Michael Braxton, a Black candidate with considerably less experience. Braxton resigned earlier this year following allegations that he has mishandled murder cases and engaged in race based hiring practices.

Frazer and Murphy further claim that for their advocacy of white candidates for other jobs in the municipality they were forced off the board. (more…)