NG General Accused of Discrimination

[Blitzer]

NG General Accused of Discrimination (http://www.military.com/news/article/ng-general-accused-of-discrimination.html?ESRC=eb.nl)


St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- More than a dozen members of the Missouri National Guard have accused their top general of discrimination on the basis of race and gender.



In the past two months, two high-ranking personnel officers have filed federal discrimination complaints alleging that the top general in Missouri's Guard, Adjutant Gen. King Sidwell, discriminates against women and blacks.
And 13 black members of the Missouri Guard have complained to the NAACP that Sidwell has "fostered a climate of institutional discrimination."
The allegations come seven years after a study of the Guard's racial climate criticized the organization for deficiencies in the promotion of minorities and women.



"Under Gen. Sidwell, it's my perception that unless your skin is the same color as his, you're not qualified to be part of the key staff," said Lt. Col. James Tate, one of the Soldiers to sign a letter of complaint to the NAACP.
The federal complaints, one filed by Tate, the other by a white female, allege that Sidwell and his chief of staff, Col. Glenn Hagler, passed over qualified black and female officers for promotion in favor of less qualified white males... (Link) (http://www.military.com/news/article/ng-general-accused-of-discrimination.html?ESRC=eb.nl)

[SEAX]

Jones, who is white, said she was passed over for a job as the head of human resources for the Guard in favor of a white man who didn't apply for the job and had no experience in human resources.

True racism or just bad leadership?

Her side stated this..
"The adjutant general said to me: 'Nancy, this is not about you being a woman. It's that John Oberkirsch is the next person I want to promote.' That was his answer," Jones said. "He genuinely doesn't see it. In my opinion, he doesn't see women in the same leadership capacity as he sees men." No SHE didn't see it because she's projecting racism on him when clearly he's just making a poor decision.

Sounds like this guy is just a (dufus) bad leader. There's a real difference between active racism and incompetence in your chain-of-command.

[Biscuitsjam]

Nobody knows what the true story is. Probably no one will ever know...

This woman might be a bad leader that wasn't worthy of promotion. The general might be a sexist pig. Maybe it's something else entirely. IF the general is in the wrong, he needs to be straightened out. He should be promoting the most qualified, without regard to race or sex.

I'm somewhat confused by senior officers involving the media and the federal court system into an internal dispute. The military has mechanisms for dealing with problems like this, and that should be the first course of action. If these officers are bringing the military into disrepute without first pursuing quieter methods, they're in the wrong also.

[The Maggy]

The article seems alittle one sided. I'd like to see the qualifications of the people that got promoted and the people that didn't.