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Interior Dept. Criticized for Lacking Blacks

Source: Black America Web

The federal department that has come under fire recently for its handling of offshore drilling and clean-up of the nations worst oil spill is also facing criticism over a lack of diversity in its ranks.

Blacks in Government, a national organization of government employees, issued a report earlier this year that took aim at a systemic practice of excluding blacks from opportunities for hiring and promotion in the Department of the Interior, which is helmed by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. Statistically, black employees are recruited in fewer numbers, promoted at lower rates and resign in higher numbers, the report stated.

And earlier this month, the EEOC sent top DOI officials a letter detailing their review that showed diversity was not part of the strategy for the Bureau of Fish and Wildlife and that that departments leadership didnt show that diversity was important.

The Department of the Interior has 56,622 permanent employees, and only 5.6 percent of those employees are black, according to documents submitted to the EEOC. The federal goal is to have an employment rate comparable to private industry in the same fields, which would be 9.2 percent for the DOI.

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