DC Residents Protest Discrimination by African American Museum Contractor

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)A coalition of black job seekers, community groups, faith leaders, and “mad-as-hell” District residents marched on the site of the future Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture on Wednesday to protest the treatment of black job seekers at the hands of Smithsonian  contractor Clark Construction. “We don’t understand how they are going to build a building about us, and not allow us to work on that building,” said DC Jobs or Else coalition leader Reverend George C. Gilbert Jr. “We don’t understand how they are going to build on this site and discriminate against the people this building is for.” Police and reporters quickly surrounded the demonstrators who marched and chanted to demand an explanation for Clark’s past hiring practices, and a guarantee that future District job seekers will receive a fair chance to apply for work at the African American Museum and other Clark projects. The coalition says that more than 120 black District residents have been turned away, ignored, or misled when they’ve applied for jobs at Clark to help build the museum. The DC Office of Human Rights is currently investigating a discriminatory hiring complaint against Clark. Click here for Jaime Flores’ video of Wednesday’s demo and here for the Washington Post report on the action. - screen shot from video