Ghetto Handbook causes Author to be Fired
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The press secretary for the Houston Independent School District announced plans by administrators to fire a district police officer who tried to distribute a racially insensitive pamphlet to fellow officers. The production and distribution of a racist pamphlet titled "Ghetto Handbook," Officals are outraged and say "The publication was incredibly offensive and completely reprehensible. HISD condemns it in the strongest possible terms." Controversy over the racist pamphlet continued even after the cop was suspended for writing it. Several people gathered at the Grace Temple Baptist Church in Sept. to discuss the negative impact the pamphlet entitled "Ghetto Handbook," has had on the HISD community. According to Fox news at a meeting, those who attended learned that Morris is caucasian, has an African-American wife and two children of mixed race. Morris was an undercover HISD officer at the time. David Glasker who attended the meeting told FOX 26 News, "It doesn't change anything at all. It makes me think how does he act around his own family members with his wife being of African-American ethnicity. The attorney for Morris told FOX 26 News it was gutwrenching for Morris to explain to his family why he was suspended from duty. After the meeting, Carol Mims Galloway who is a candidate for the HISD School Board and the president of the Houston chapter of the NAACP said, "That's what we're upset about. Ebonics. Ghetto. Only refers to one race of people." HISD has suspended Morris with pay as it investigates his distribution of the "Ghetto Handbook" and the three-month lapse before top district officials were informed of it. The eight-page booklet, subtitled "Wucha dun did now?", was handed out to about 15 Houston Independent School District police officers at a May meeting, district spokesman Terry Abbott said. Officials declined to identify the officer who handed them out, but said he had been ordered to attend diversity training. A supervisor immediately collected the booklets, Abbott said, but district officials said they didn't learn about the incident until someone complained to the district's Equal Employment Opportunity Office in mid-August. "This publication was completely reprehensible and HISD condemns it in the strongest possible terms," Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said in a written statement Thursday. Saavedra said he has "mounted a very aggressive investigation." District Police Chief Charles Wiley had no comment, Abbott said. The booklet billed itself as a guide to Ebonics, teaching the reader to speak "as if you just came out of the hood." It included definitions such as "foty: a 40-ounce bottle of beer"; "aks: to ask a question"; and "hoodrat: scummy girl." The booklet names six district officers "and the entire day shift patrol" as contributors. Abbott said a preliminary investigation has cleared those officers of involvement. Last year, almost 30 percent of the district's 202,000 students were black and almost 60 percent were Hispanic. "It was really a slap in the African-American community's face," said Galloway, who is running for the school board. "We're paying their salaries with our tax dollars," Galloway said of the district police. "It does reflect on the district." School board member Larry Marshall said the document was inappropriate, even if it was meant to be a joke. "These are very racially sensitive times," he said. "It was a huge mistake in judgment." |
