John Hirsh
You are right, the Polish, Jews, Irish did get discrimated and treated like dogs when they first arrived here, but after a generation or two they were accepted into the "club"(more accurate term would be white club). The only reason the average Asian household income is slightly higher than the average White houshold income is because we import Asia's best and brightest college/university to work in high tech/business industries. The average Asians working normal jobs will tell you about the racism they suffer in society, juts like the Native Americans, Blacks and Latinos
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In the years that followed, Moore says he put in for numerous other posts— but often, less-experienced white agents moved in ahead of him. According to court documents, on two occasions, positions Moore sought went to relatives of former directors of the Service. Deputy Assistant Director Mackin would not comment on specific hiring practices, but says, "In the Secret Service, we have a number of agents who are children, siblings, spouses or otherwise related to others in the Service. It's not unusual in law enforcement."
Stuck at a GS-13 pay level for 11 years, an unusually long time for an agent with his experience, Moore first filed an administrative complaint. Then, in 2000, he and nine other black agents with similar grievances sued. Only later was he promoted.
Other plaintiffs in the suit who spoke to NEWSWEEK gave more-blatant examples of alleged racial intolerance. One, Camilla Simms, a 41-year-old special agent in the Chicago field office, joined the Service in 2002. She says she was surprised by the casual racism in the office. One example stands out: in 2003, the Service gave out promotional calendars featuring a photograph of two agents, a white man and a black woman. Walking through the office, she saw that several of the calendars in white agents' offices had the black woman's face blotted out with white paper. She and a few others complained and the calendars were eventually removed, but after that she says she was "ignored and ostracized" by some white colleagues. "I was the only black female agent there at the time," she tells NEWSWEEK. "As a police detective, I was given the opportunity to shine. Then I came to the Secret Service and I felt like I had the plague." (A Service spokesman had no immediate comment.)
Despite the raw emotions that the case has exposed, the agents suing the Service say they are deeply loyal to the agency. Some agents worry the lawsuit could leave the public with the false impression that the agency won't give a black candidate—or president—the same level of protection that they would a white one. Black and white agents NEWSWEEK spoke to insisted that would never happen: they are professionals, and neither white nor black agents, they said, would allow personal feelings to interfere with their work. "We protect the office of the president and whoever is housed there," Moore says. "Our protectees get the best protection available, period." Whatever the agency's faults, he says, when it comes to safeguarding the lives of those in its charge, the Secret Service is colorblind.
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