Found on AOL news blog;
A truck driver for the Niagara Falls Public Works Department told a judge today that putting up a racially motivated "whites only" sign on a water fountain last summer was "the stupidest thing I have ever done in my life."
James R. Curtis was then sentenced to three years of probation, 50 hours of community service and mandatory cultural diversity training. City Judge Mark A. Violante also ordered Curtis to submit to random alcohol and drug testing, and pay a $200 surcharge.
"This is a very racist act which was done for no good reason," Violante told Curtis. "It isn't a joke and it shouldn't be a joke . . . Niagara Falls is a very diverse city. The people in this city shouldn't have to put up with this."
Curtis, 52, of 80th Street, admitted putting up the handwritten "whites only drinking fountain" sign in the city's public works garage last Aug. 13.
The incident drew national attention when he was first charged. Curtis originally faced a much more serious felony hate crime charge until last October, when the Niagara County district attorney's office agreed to reduce the charges against him after interviewing his fellow public works employees.
He pleaded guilty Nov. 11 to second-degree aggravated harassment, a misdemeanor.
Harvey F. Siegel, Curtis' defense lawyer, said his client was not "mean-spirited" and pointed to support from 44 of his co-workers, including several who are African-American.
MY REPLY;
Whatever happened to free speech, this is still a free country isn't it, where is the hate in those words, it didn't say "whites only water fountain or I'll kill you" it didn't say "whites only water fountain or I'll break your freakin skull" there are no exclamation points, no endless underlines, your condemning someone for a practical joke that didn't hurt anyone except a bunch of crybaby racists, if it said "blacks only water fountain" do you think anyone would pay any attention to it, I wouldn't, and I'm white, I would laugh and say "too bad for mister black" and use it anyway, they're letting emotions dictate policy, and in effect, desecrating the constitution of the United States of America, get over it already, if you can allow a rapper to put out a song called "Kill Whitey" (by INDK) how can you make a big deal out of something as unimportant as this?
Comments
Here's why I disagree with
Here's why I disagree with you:
1. He placed his comment at his workplace. The First Amendment does not give you the right to express your personal opinions at a workplace. If he had an opinion about racial issues, he should have posted it on his personal blog, or put a big sign on his garage door at home. Your workplace belongs to your company (in this case the government) -- it's not your personal soapbox.
2. You can't clothe hatred in the first amendment. The fact that it didn't say, "kill you" or "break your freakin skill" does not lessen it's intent. Segregation has a rich history and is part of the past that he used to remind people that he worked with that blacks were once second-class citizens. If this was intended as some sort of joke, he's just proven that he's not smart enough to have a job where he works with other people.
3. "Kill Whitey" (an album name, not a song) is in fact a legitimate implementation of the First Amendment, as it's an artistic endeavor that people have the option to avoid. A sign over the drinking fountain at your place of employment is not a legitimate artistic endeavor, nor an acceptable place to exercise your "rights."
4. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. was a Supreme Court justice appointed by Teddy Roosevelt. Here are a couple of his quotes that relate:
This guy has a right to say what he wants on his own time, but he doesn't have the right, under the law, to create a hostile working environment. His action was, and should have been, addressed by the law. I think his sentence was fair.
I do believe that your ire is misplaced.
Here's why I disagree with your disagreement
I can see your point of view, coming from a managerial position, but to us blue collar workers, beating up each other is a point of levity in a workplace of boredom and monotony, there ARE more than just blacks and whites in the workplace and everyone teases everyone equally and nobody's nose was touched, I believe it was the over-reaction by management, and that of the court system that was racially motivated, ever heard of making a mountain out of a molehill.
Harvey F. Siegel, Curtis' defense lawyer, said his client was not "mean-spirited" and pointed to support from 44 of his co-workers, including several who are African-American.
It was said and received in jest, punishing someone for keeping levity in the workplace defeats management's goal of a happy and productive workplace, any reprimand should have been kept "In House" the fact that it ended up in court is a point for managerial paranoia and cruel and unusual punishment.