BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission believes there's something to learn from what's going on in Buffalo.
"Buffalo has been engaged in a really important conversation about all of those broad issues of race justice since May, and we wanted to make sure that we benefited from that conversation as well," Charlotte Burrows, the Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, said.
Former Buffalo Fire Commissioner Garnell Whitfield was one of many who shared his story with the commission. His mother Ruth died in the Jefferson Avenue Tops shooting.
"This didn't just start on May 14th. We've been living with this our entire lives," Whitfield said.
Whitfield said he faced racial discrimination and harassment his entire career. He was accused of armed robbery at 15-years-old, which ruined his opportunity to become a New York State Trooper.
"The charges were dismissed in lieu of his testimony. The case was never adjudicated, which for the New York State Troopers was enough to disqualify me as the 126th candidate on the list for that year," Whitfield said.
The commission heard from experts, employers, and employees from across the city, including the Environmental Services Department at Mercy Health of Buffalo. Kimberly Hayward said she no longer works in the the Environmental Services Department because of the racist treatment she faced from her bosses.
"Caucasian workers would refuse to clean the COVID rooms, so in other words, African Americans were put in the most dangerous jobs without being trained properly or even wearing proper PPE," Hayward said.
The discussion shifted from the issue of racism in Buffalo's work force to what can be done to solve the problem, like spreading awareness about laws already in place to prevent discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
"Go to the high schools and explain what legal rights folks have, what's right, what's wrong, and how you can influence and shape the law," Dr. Henry Louis Taylor, the Director of the Center for Urban Studies at the University at Buffalo, said.
The commission asked the witnesses what else they believed would help encourage equal opportunity employment. Other suggestions included combating unnecessary job requirements and creating more efficient diversity training.
"We're not starting from the top down with these trainings. We're not forcing these organizations and these businesses to understand that black people are just like them," Zeneta Everhart, whose son was shot during the Jefferson Avenue Tops shooting, said.
