Their views hold true not just for the US Mint, but for many such organizations and the society at large where symbolic changes get a good press coverage, keeping things the same inside. 5 Human Rights Watch will also submit a report to CERD on racial discrimination and reproductive health in the United States together with the Global Justice Center, Amnesty International USA. In September, the Treasury Department opened an investigation into allegations of racial abuse and harassment brought about by employees at US Mint.Įven though the Biden administration has taken significant steps to remove racial bias in the organization, some employees say such “distractions” are not going to change the underlying culture and people’s mindset there. When the 2020 protests erupted after the murder of George Floyd, workers in the organization sent a letter to Steven Munchin, the then Treasury Secretary, describing the incidents of racial aggression and the cuss words abusing black employees written in restrooms. Reports of racism at the Mint first surfaced in 2017 when a white employee used rope from bags of coin to shape a noose for a black colleague in mind.

The staff at US Mint even felt they “lack psychological safety” and described the workplace rife with bias and “microaggressions.” The draft of the report, compiled after a survey of the staff by an independent human resources firm, points to a culture problem and an undercurrent of racial tension at the Mint, or the Treasury Department. According to an internal report accessed by The New York Times, black workers feel threatened and professionally disadvantaged in the agency. Gibson to become the first black director of the US Mint.īut, in spite of these outward gestures of racial justice and progress, lies hidden marginalization and deep discrimination against black employees in the organization. It was the feeling that this particular black family, the.

This announcement was made a few weeks after President Biden nominated Ventris S. It was not just that there might never be another African American president of the United States. Early this month, the US Mint took a landmark decision by announcing the dispatch of a fresh batch of 25-cent or quarter coins featuring poet and writer Maya Angelou- the first black woman to be depicted on a coin.

Racial turmoil signs progress u.s. mint