RACISM or just plain incompetence?

I hired her fully well knowing she was a victim of PTSD. She didn't have to wear the scarlet letter on her forehead - she was a neighbor of mine and I knew her mother. I gave her a position and the maximum hours of weekly work - 15 hours. She began to thrive. She opened up and began to find that wonderful girl of yesteryear that she had lost....And then I moved on and her problems began to move to the front again. She needed respect, encouragement, and most of all, acceptance. She was different to be sure, but she passed the "secret shopper" test. The SS said she was kind, observant, and followed the rules. What more can one expect from a minimum wage job? She was clean, on time, and performed the duties of her job.

But this Christian organization whose mission it is to serve the underprivileged began to target and pick her for eventual dismissal. They were cunning, those Christian ones, they were. They slowly lowered her number of hours and began to give her for the first time in her two years at the center negative reports. How could they make up negativity about this young black woman?

First, they started with her hours. They changed them. Oh, yes, they forgot to tell her and she walked the four miles to work in the wind and rain. Yes, she was five minutes late. But the rain was pounding down so hard on her that she had to stop in the shelter of the phone booth for just a minute....

And, yes, she complained about a young black man whom they said had a brain issue - yes, he "creeped her out" and she was scared when he spent her entire shift in the game room. Yes, she was intimidated. No, she wasn't going to babysit a man who should not be spending that inordinate time in her work space. And, she added, he "stank." She said the homeless ones who frequented the place did not smell as badly....

And, yes, they blamed her for not being kind to those who were underprivileged - mind you, just this one man. And, beings that they were both black, what could the problem be? And, they were very smart and cunning once again. They found a black man who worked within the center to help fire her - so no one could say that nasty R word now, could they?

And now she sits in wonder as the unemployment people say she didn't work enough hours for benefits. She is a wounded veteran. She is a young black woman who is forced to live with her parents, although she is in her mid 30's. She has no hope and wonders if she is really dumb....

How can we help her? How can we give her back the dignity that the 15 hour a week job gave her? How can she explain to her daughter that they are both beholden to Grandma and Grandpa who already have four children living at home that they don't have money to do fun things like go to the movies?

MASABI is working hard to find her another job. She is shutting down quickly. Today I shall take the mom and daughter to the park and buy them an ice cream cone. But those amenities are nothing compared to the hole in the mom's heart and the empty purse strings trailing behind her....