A group of African American religious leaders and the Albuquerque chapter of the NAACP have filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education against the University of New Mexico. The suit charges that the university has created a racially hostile environment for students, faculty, and staff. The complaint singles out the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center.
Among the charges in the complaint are:
• No African Americans have ever held leadership posts in the administration or faculty outside of Black studies.
• Black faculty and staff are paid less than Whites in similar posts.
• Black faculty and staff receive harsher discipline for rules infractions than White faculty and staff.
• Black doctors and nurses at the Health Sciences Center are subjected to a racially hostile work environment.
• Black patients do not get the same level of care at the hospital’s emergency room as other patients.
In a statement responding to the allegations, the university administration said, ““We do not discriminate against African-Americans. The university has very clear policies in place which prohibit discrimination and we train our employees to comply with the law and our policies.”
Policies may be in place and training may occur, but without enforcement and reinforcement, those policies are just words on paper.