Black California state employees find racial slurs written on cards on their desks

Three California state employees found racial slurs written on cards on their desks when they arrived at work Friday morning at their West Sacramento office.

Small note cards on the desks of two Black men at the Office of State Publishing each contained the n-word, according to the employees. A white man with photos of his Black wife and daughter also found a card with the n-word on his desk.

“I’m a little blown away,” said Michael Fletcher, 53, a heavy truck driver who was one of the Black men affected. “I’m still trying to process it.”

C.J. Brown, a white warehouse worker at the office, was the first to discover the cards when he arrived at 6:30 a.m.

“I’ve never seen anything like that,” Brown said. “It’s like something you see in movies regarding high school children.”

Brown said his supervisor, a Black man, was the third person who found a card on his desk. The supervisor reported the incident to one of his superiors and someone called California Highway Patrol, Brown said.

He said the CHP came and spoke with people in the office but determined a crime hadn’t been committed. The CHP couldn’t immediately provide more information to The Sacramento Bee.

The office ended up letting everyone leave work early this afternoon, Fletcher and Brown said.

Department of General Services spokeswoman Monica Hassan said in an email that the department referred the matter to state law enforcement and launched an internal investigation. Hassan said the department has offered impacted workers paid time off and other resources to cope with any trauma.

“The Department has a zero tolerance policy for any such behavior. We will take all appropriate steps to address the matter and prevent any such incidents in the future,” she said in the email.

Fletcher and Brown said the notes must have appeared on their desks after they left work Thursday afternoon and before they arrived early Friday morning.

Fletcher said he believes the notes are connected to the presidential election, which has created tension in the office. At one point, upset after President Donald Trump refused to clearly condemn white supremacy during the first presidential debate, he complained about a senior manager who had a Trump bumper sticker on his personal vehicle, he said.

Race has played a central role in the presidential election as protesters have demanded changes following the deaths of Black men and women at the hands of police.

The International Union of Operating Engineers, which represents Fletcher and Brown, plans to file a health and safety grievance, union representative Brandy Johnson said.

The incident comes after groups of Black employees at two California state departments publicized whistleblower letters alleging patterns of racism at their departments.

Fletcher and Brown each said they hadn’t experienced racism at the office before, but Fletcher said there are very few Black people in upper management, and characterized the office culture as “old school,” describing another incident in which a racial slur was casually used without repercussions.

“It’s 2020,” said Fletcher, who is biracial. “My parents weren’t even allowed to get married when I was born, but here 53 years later we’re fighting for the same things they were fighting for back then.”

This story was originally published November 6, 2020 at 3:45 PM with the headline "Black California state employees find racial slurs written on cards on their desks."