Target is Racist!

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The below information is from:
http://slanteyefortheroundeye.wordpress.com/2007/08/19/the-target-corporation-a-bullseye-on-black-employees

Team 4: Racist E-Mail Sent To Target Employees

The following is a transcript of a report by Jim Parsons that first aired Aug. 16, 2007, on WTAE Channel 4 Action News at 5 p.m.


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An e-mail filled with racist jokes made its way to dozens of local employees of a major retailer.


And most surprising of all, the message came from a store manager's work e-mail address.

The national office of Target Stores told Team 4 it's investigating how and why an e-mail got sent on the company computer system to more than 100 Target management employees all over western Pennsylvania.

It's a list of 31 racist jokes that belittle blacks. There are specific references to physical appearance, sex and even Ku Klux Klan lynchings and other forms of murder.

The e-mail was sent under the name of a manager at Target's West Mifflin store last Thursday. It appears to have been intended for one person, but instead went out to every Target management employee in western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

In the subject line, the phrase, "New target guest," followed by a message to the intended recipient that said, "Saw this and reminded me of some of our new guests. Delete ASAP."

Two Target management employees spoke to Team 4 on the condition that their identities be hidden. They told Team 4 they feared retribution for speaking out about the e-mail.

"It was directed specifically at minority guests that shop at Target, making fun of the people who shop at Target," said one employee.

"There was references to blacks and monkeys, blacks and the Ku Klux Klan," said another employee.

"It was very harsh. I mean, I read the first couple ones, and I was literally appalled to where I had to stop reading."

"I couldn't believe my eyes," said the employee. "It was offensive, demeaning, and it was something that came from a higher-up at Target, and I just felt outraged. Total outrage."

Target employees also told Team 4 they received the offensive e-mail last Thursday at about 9 a.m., and by that same evening, someone had gone into their e-mail accounts and deleted the message.

Target's national office in Minneapolis issued a statement to Team 4, saying, "The e-mail in question is in clear violation of our mission statement and contradictory to what Target stands for. Target is taking prompt and appropriate actions, including using our forensic lab to bring swift resolution to this matter."

But swift isn't the word that comes to mind of some local Target employees in how the company is handling things.

"A week later, still nothing has happened to resolve the issue on behalf of the company," said one of the unidentified employees. "It's scary on a certain level, because the e-mail was borderline hate. I don't know who in that company thinks that's funny and that it's OK."

A Target spokeswoman in Minneapolis refused to answer any of Team 4's questions, other than the company statement, but employees who have spoken with Team 4 said the manager whose e-mail address sent that message is still on the job.

Also, Team 4 did some checking around the country and found several lawsuits against Target by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging discrimination against black employees.

This year, Target agreed to pay $775,000 to 13 black workers in eastern Pennsylvania in a lawsuit that alleged Target had created and condoned a racially hostile workplace.

[url]http://targetfiling.blogspot.com[/url]