NAACP wants the firings of Black women to stop

By J. Kojo Livingston
Contributing Writer

In the wake of the firings of two high-profile Black female media personalities, the Shreveport Chapter of the NAACP is putting out a call to action to defend Black female employees.

Lloyd Thompson contacted the Black media Sun after hearing that local TV favorite Michelle White Lafitte had been released KTLA Channel 6 television station. This followed the firing of popular weather forecaster Rhonda Lee at TV Station KTBS, Channel which has made national and international news.

Lee’s situation is currently being addressed through legal means, however many in the community have expressed outrage at firings that are being interpreted as acts of racism and signs of disrespect toward the Black community. This sense is heightened by the lack of both male and female faces on local television news.

“We need to be conscious of how our Black women are being treated in the community, from news reporters to store managers to women in decision-making positions. I am calling on entire community, church leaders, community organizations and neighborhood folks, to take a ‘zero-tolerance’ attitude on the mistreatment of women of color. In the next few weeks we will bring community leaders together to discuss this problem and come up with some solutions to stop this madness. I think Black History Month, which I think is a good time to talk about what we can do to help our Black sisters. They are our mothers our sisters and our daughters and they are being fired in record numbers in the Shreveport-Bossier area.

This article was originally published in the February 11, 2013 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper