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Knot-tying exercise sparks questions of racism at UNCC
By: MCT
Issue date: 12/12/07 Section: Nation
- Page 1 of 1
University of North Carolina at Charlotte employees, angered and appalled by the university's response to three nooses found on campus, protested in front of the Reese Administration building Friday afternoon and demanded that those responsible be fired.
"I was deeply offended," said Marvin Mackey, an electrician at UNCC for the last nine years.
Mackey found the nooses in a bucket in the facilities workshop storage area on Nov. 14, prompting a campus investigation to determine if the ropes were made as a form of racial intimidation.
A week later, the university released a statement saying the incident wasn't racially motivated.
But some African-American employees disagree. Members and officers with the UE 150, the N.C. Public Service Union, organized Friday's protest and called for change throughout the UNC system.
The ropes were used by employees during a break-time activity in which one employee, an outdoor enthusiast, was demonstrating knot-tying techniques to other employees, UNCC Chancellor Phil Dubois said in a statement issued Friday.
During this activity, there were no racially related comments or observations, Dubois said.
"The ropes were found in a bucket contained in a storage area, were not displayed in an open or public way, and were not placed in a manner that would have ensured their discovery by the complaining employee during his normal course of work," Dubois said.
Several pieces of rope were found in a bucket in a public storage area in the electrical shop at UNCC. One of the ropes was about 6-feet-long and had a hangman's knot tied on each end, while another length of rope contained a loosely fashioned hangman's knot. Other lengths of rope in the bucket were either loose or rolled for storage.
"We are really offended that the university has overlooked this," said Ronnie Bell, a locksmith who is president of the UNCC chapter of UE 150.
UNCC's human resources department plans to work to improve understanding among employees and supervisors of sensitive inter-racial and inter-cultural issues, according to Dubois' statement.
"I was deeply offended," said Marvin Mackey, an electrician at UNCC for the last nine years.
Mackey found the nooses in a bucket in the facilities workshop storage area on Nov. 14, prompting a campus investigation to determine if the ropes were made as a form of racial intimidation.
A week later, the university released a statement saying the incident wasn't racially motivated.
But some African-American employees disagree. Members and officers with the UE 150, the N.C. Public Service Union, organized Friday's protest and called for change throughout the UNC system.
The ropes were used by employees during a break-time activity in which one employee, an outdoor enthusiast, was demonstrating knot-tying techniques to other employees, UNCC Chancellor Phil Dubois said in a statement issued Friday.
During this activity, there were no racially related comments or observations, Dubois said.
"The ropes were found in a bucket contained in a storage area, were not displayed in an open or public way, and were not placed in a manner that would have ensured their discovery by the complaining employee during his normal course of work," Dubois said.
Several pieces of rope were found in a bucket in a public storage area in the electrical shop at UNCC. One of the ropes was about 6-feet-long and had a hangman's knot tied on each end, while another length of rope contained a loosely fashioned hangman's knot. Other lengths of rope in the bucket were either loose or rolled for storage.
"We are really offended that the university has overlooked this," said Ronnie Bell, a locksmith who is president of the UNCC chapter of UE 150.
UNCC's human resources department plans to work to improve understanding among employees and supervisors of sensitive inter-racial and inter-cultural issues, according to Dubois' statement.
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