In the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minnesota in May, many took to the streets in protest. Others took to social media, posting jokes and videos reenacting the last minutes of the Black man’s life — pinned under the knee of a police officer, gasping for air.
Some of the latter were discovered to be employees of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) and that these correctional officers watch over Black inmates, added insult to injury says Sharonya “Reene” Dorsey, a member of a group speaking out against racism and discrimination within the CDCR. While then leader Ralph Diaz did put out a letter stating that the behavior brought dishonor to the Department and that “unethical or racist conduct by staff, whether on or off duty,” would not be tolerated, Black CDCR employees like Ms. Dorsey say it was a missed opportunity for real change.
The Coalition of Black Employee Excellence (COBE) has issued its own missive, its “Letter and Action Plan for Racial Justice at California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.” Leaders say the group formed to highlight systemic racism and implicit bias through their shared stories and lived experiences and that the 14-page letter is their way of advocating for racial justice within the agency. COBE’s letter calls out hiring practices, the need for diversity in upper management, microaggressions they often face, and the overall lack of support for Black employees.
COBE was formed by Sebrena Lindsay. She and Ms. Dorsey are both associate government program analysts (AGPA) for the CDCR’s Office of Education. Unbeknownst to each other, they both independently reached out to Diaz after receiving his initial letter. Then they started talking.
“Me and Sebrena, we are two very strong-minded Black women and we had decided we had had enough. Really, we had,” Ms. Dorsey shared. “That’s how we started collaborating, trying to get Diaz to meet with us and it’s been a very long road.”
Ms. Dorsey is matter of fact about what being Black within CDCR means for her.
“I feel like I’m being raped,” she said.
“I feel insulted. I feel degraded. I feel no value. I feel no morals within my coworkers. I feel like a woman who has no reason to go into this (field). As a Black woman, as an AGPA and we are leads, but you would never think so, because they don’t treat us like we earned that position,” she continued.
Ms. Dorsey said her experiences with racism on the job have been related to the lack of communication and respect on work projects.
“I haven’t been able to climb up to the high hill because they’re not going to give me that project to make me look good. They’ll give it to the 23-year-old White person that has no experience or knowledge.”
Ms. Dorsey said problems started for her when she questioned why Black groups like 100 Black Men and 100 Black Women weren’t up for grants that are awarded to organizations to come in and work with inmates on various educational programs. When she learned that Black groups weren’t being informed about such opportunities, she said she requested applications to hand out directly to them, which didn’t go over well.
“They started really kind of questioning me because I was questioning them. After that everything went downhill,” she said.
Ms. Lindsay says she spoke out as project leader after a contractor reinforced a stereotype about Indian people in a training video. Despite a zero tolerance policy, she says she was removed from the project as a consequence. She’s often referred to by her White colleagues as an angry Black woman, when speaking up, she said.
It’s not an accurate depiction, Ms. Dorsey shared, but is one that demonstrates exactly what they’re talking about.
“I am the Black woman who will get irate with you,” said Ms. Dorsey, the daughter of a former Black Panther. “I will go toe-to-toe with you. I am that person. Sebrena would never. Her classiness, her demeanor is nowhere near how they described her. That’s why I was blown back.”
Ms. Lindsay says many fear retaliation and loss of employment.
“The Black employees, the majority of them, I’m going to say 90 percent of them, they will not step forward and address it or complain, because they will suffer retribution,” she said.
“Reene suffered isolation, retaliation. She was excluded from meetings also for her projects. Renee spoke out for someone else and they went after Renee with a vengeance, to the point where Renee had to request to be transferred,” Ms. Lindsay shared.
The “toxic” culture of silence goes all the way to the top, she says.
“It’s just an atmosphere of trying to contain it internally, which is what their playbook has always been, which is we will listen to you guys, we’ll check the box and then we’ll dismiss you and you should be happy that you still have a job and that we tolerate you,” she said.
There have been little recourse and few courses of action, Ms. Lindsey said. Asking repeatedly to be transferred can have negative connotations for one’s career. There are Equal Employment Opportunity complaints that can be filed, but according to her, those “usually go nowhere.”
“I’ve had quite a few members of the coalition state that they previously filed EEOs, but somehow their paperwork disappears and it goes nowhere,” she said. “Then you have the scenario where the Black employee is just broken and therefore they just fall back and just become almost invisible.
You can see it in their body language, in their spirit, that they have just been broken and all they are trying to do is to hold on to their ability to be able to support their family. I get it and I understand it totally, but it shouldn’t have to be like that.”
The group says it also stands in solidarity with another “group of concerned Black employees” who recently raised concerns about workplace bias at the California Air Resources Board, gaining inspiration from them and resolving to “use our voice to declare ‘enough.’”
While there are other Black collective groups within the CDCR, Ms. Dorsey says they’re largely for actual correctional officers and that she didn’t know of any at the headquarters building on S Street, prior to Ms. Lindsay starting one.
“We’re going to build on the communication and find individuals who want to be a part, to start the process of change,” Ms. Dorsey said.
“We may not see it, but at least we’ll start it.”
By Genoa Barrow | OBSERVER Senior Staff Writer