Racism in this country

Tennie Pierce

Oh, this just makes me purely sick to my stomach. CNN has just published an article called "Firefighter settles lawsuit over dog food in spaghetti". Here is part of what it says:

LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- The city will pay $1.43 million to settle claims by a black firefighter who said he suffered harassment and discrimination after co-workers served him spaghetti laced with dog food, officials announced Friday.

Tennie Pierce's lawsuit was to go to trial Monday.

As part of the settlement, Pierce will receive about $60,000 in back pay, City Clerk Frank Martinez said in a statement. Pierce, who has been on unpaid leave, also agreed to resign from the Fire Department and drop all claims against the city.
...
Pierce sued the city in 2005 after fellow firefighters mixed dog food into his spaghetti dinner. He said he suffered retaliation for reporting the incident as well as verbal slurs, insults and derogatory remarks, including taunting by firefighters "barking like dogs (and) asking him how dog food tasted."

Pierce's claim was one of several lawsuits alleging a pattern of harassment and discrimination against women or minorities working for the department.

The cases have cost Los Angeles taxpayers more than $15 million since 2005, including a record $6.2 million judgment to Brenda Lee, a black lesbian firefighter who said she was taunted and retaliated against for complaining.

Now look at their "solution". I wonder how this is going to work?

Douglas Barry, who served as interim chief for nine months, became the city's first black fire chief when he was sworn in last week.

I wish Chief Barry the best. Looks like he's got quite a clean up job ahead of him.