Houston
White administrators at Houston Community College (HCC)
have accused the institution of racial discrimination in a lawsuit
filed in federal court.
Lois Avery, dean of academic development for HCC’s Northeast
Campus; Tom Baxter, jail program coordinator; and Roger Simmons,
technology center coordinator, said they have not been able to get
promotions because the board of trustees has been favoring Blacks and
Latinos.
The nine-member board is dominated by five Black and Latino
trustees, said George M. Kirk, the lawyer for the plaintiffs, who are
seeking unspecified compensatory damages. The board is elected in a
single-member district system that is supposed to ensure minority
representation among the trustees.
“The point of the case is that the majority has adopted a sort of a
board politics system of race-based preference so certain wards are for
different races,” said Kirk.
Under this system, according to Kirk, positions at the Northeast
and Central campuses are being given to Blacks and the Southeast campus
is for Latinos. The other two campuses are in mostly White areas The
system follows the racial demographics of the wards that the trustees
were elected to represent.
Although the system has increased the number of Black and Latino
appointees, Kirk said it isn’t an affirmative action plan. It was never
ordered by a court or worked out as part of a settlement of any
complaint against the college.
