Government Lacks Diversity

Monday, July 16, 2001 

WASHINGTON (AP) - When it comes to minorities and women, the face 
of the federal government looks more and more like America. When it 
comes to promotions, it's a different story.

The numbers of blacks, Hispanics and women drop dramatically - at 
times almost by half - at crucial mid-management levels where many 
decisions are made.

Presidents Bush and Clinton have set good examples at the top, 
civil rights advocates say - Bush leads all presidents except Clinton in 
naming women and minorities to political appointments. But that 
progress has not trickled down evenly.

``When the decision-makers are white males, they pick those close 
to them,'' says Avis Buchanan, an attorney with the Washington Lawyers' 
Committee, which has handled many class-action personnel suits against 
the government. ``Call it the `similar to me' phenomenon.''

After a wave of lawsuits, settled in the past few years but 
dating back through the administrations of Clinton, George Bush and Ronald 
Reagan, some agencies have taken action.

The Secret Service, for example, appointed its first black woman 
supervisor this month. Last year, the Agriculture Department - already 
accused of favoring white farmers in its subsidy policies - introduced 
staff minority advisory councils.

Colin Powell, the first black secretary of state, recently called 
attention to the place of minorities in the government when he pledged 
to raise the numbers of Hispanics working at the State Department.

``There will come a day when a future secretary of state will be 
able to stand up here proudly and look at a more diverse work force 
than we have now,'' he told Hispanic interns last month.

The government acknowledges that the numbers of Hispanics in its 
ranks are low. But overall, an Office of Personnel Management report 
describes the government as the pacesetter in employing minorities.

Indeed, the government is ahead of the private sector in 
employing minorities, and is about level in employing women.

Blacks, 12.9 percent of the U.S. population, make up 17.6 percent 
of the federal work force, ahead of the 11.2 percent in the private 
sector. Women, just over half the population, comprise 43.8 percent of 
federal workers, not far behind the 46.6 percent in the private sector.

But blacks are just 9.7 percent of mid-managers and 7.1 percent 
of senior managers. Women hold 30.7 percent of mid-management jobs and 
24.2 percent of senior management positions.

Why the gap? Minority advocates say promotion incentives meant to 
reward ambitious workers are sometimes abused by managers to favor 
white men.

Some recent examples:

-In December, a judge approved a $4 million settlement that said 
Education Department managers had abused a system designed to give 
promotions to those who assumed extra responsibilities. Those 
responsibilities were assigned almost exclusively to whites, the settlement said.

-At the FBI, service in tough, SWAT-like teams was often a 
prerequisite for moving up the ladder - but women were discouraged and even 
blocked from joining such units, according to class action lawsuits 
brought by women agents in the early 1990s. The agency headed off the 
lawsuits by changing its promotion practices, said Robert Shaffer, a lawyer 
for the women. FBI spokeswoman Charlene Sloan said SWAT team experience 
was never a prerequisite for promotion.

-In a 1997 settlement, the Library of Congress acknowledged that 
a broad exemption to standard promotions procedures introduced by 
Congress to attract talented outsiders had been grossly abused to favor 
whites.

-In a 1996 settlement with black foreign service officers, the 
State Department - without acknowledging fault - agreed to outside 
supervision of its promotions and to pay compensation. Lawyers showed that 
plum posts - for instance, in Europe - were mostly given to whites.

Mid-managers are important because they decide how to fill the 
gaps in broadly written legislation and where to spend money.

``Political people come and go, but those people make real 
decisions,'' said William Kennard, Federal Communications Commission director 
under Clinton.

During his term, Kennard told his executives that their own 
careers would be assessed by how equitably they promoted women and 
minorities. He said his was a lone voice, even in the relatively liberal Clinton 
administration.

``The civil service is hierarchical, it perpetuates systematic 
racism,'' said Kennard, who is black. ``You're not promoted on merit. You 
have an old boys' network.''

Valerie Grant spent the last 16 years of her 30 years at the 
Education Department just below the managerial level. She was rejected for 
promotion more than 30 times, despite her consistent ``most qualified'' 
rating in internal department reviews.

``I wanted to do something different, exercise my abilities, 
develop things,'' said Grant, who is black. ``I wanted to be creative.''

Larry Bussey, a colleague at the department who joined Grant in 
the class action suit settled in December, said managers never trusted 
blacks.

``It became clear there were no opportunities beyond the 
journeyman level,'' he said. ``We were the worker bees, we carried the water.''

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On the Net:

Washington Lawyers' Committee: http://www.washlaw.org

Education Department's settlement agreement: 
http://www.ed.gov/class-action

OPM report to Congress: http://www.opm.gov/feorp