European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - March 31, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday March 31, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 9 Blacks in Europe react to Hooks visit by Janet Howells Tierney staff writer Frankfurt West Germany a visit by the a act s executive director raised Black consciousness and caused discrimination complaints and requests for new chapters to flood into the organi action s european of Nee a local director says. Benjamin Hooks visited tour military communities in january and Early february and left behind Ripples of discontent said Arthur w. Diggs recently named european Field director Tor the National association for inc advancement of coloured people. Diggs an air Force technical sergeant also works with race relations for the 4lh air sup port operations Center so in  West Germany. I be gotten about 25 complaints of racial discrimination from officers enlisted civil ians teachers and family members Diggs said referring to inc first month after Hooks visit complaints arc Mill coming in Many from army officers. Before i would get one or two Calls a week. Or. Hooks raised the consciousness of Many Blacks in the communities he visited along with he complaints Diggs has an swered requests for new a act chapters from communities in Hanau Gic Ssan Kai  a Schaffenburg wild Flecken Rhein main a Wiesbaden Mainz Norn Berg and Baum older. Also since february More than 500 members have signed up with the organization Diggs said. Bill i tic increase in discrimination complaints to the a act comes As a Surprise to v corps equal Opportunity office for sol Diers As Well As its equal employment Opportunity office for civilians. In fact both offices report decreases in such claims since fcb Rumary. ,.  months ago the v corps dec office which serves 10.000 civilian employees was working on about -17 Active complaints each month. " 1- the complaints activity has been reduced said Soma . He v corps Leo officer in Frankfurt s Abrams building. As of feb. 23, we had 28 Leo complaints on hand and of those 11 were based on  the. Military Side 5s soldiers complained to the v corps to office in fiscal 1988 about  for religious beliefs race or sex said set i St class Charlotte p. Jackson the v corps to adviser. Jackson said 17 of those discrimination complaints were resolved through the Soldier s Chain of command and 41 others arc pending Aci Iori or were unfounded. During the first three months of fiscal 1989, 22 discrimination complaints were filed with to from soldiers. Action still is pending on those. We Haven t gotten any complaints in lately about discrimination Jackson said. If there Are problems out there they Aren t idling us  officials said about is.000 of the 60,600 soldiers assigned to v corps Are Black. Diggs thinks Many americans in Europe who experience racial discrimination Don t complain through official channels because of the system s red  there s no outlet for people to air their  he said. People feel the report ing system is a joke of the system was of acc live people would t be coming to us results of a 1987 Usa eur personnel opinion Survey found that nearly 38 percent of Black respondents fell they had been the subject of racial discrimination during their Over seas tour most of the respondents said they did t Repon the incidents because they Felt they were too minor or they did t think any one would do and thug about it. More than 16 percent said that they reported the incidents. But that no action was taken and while Diggs described both the Mili tary s to and the civilian s Leo offices As Token organizations to appease the Public he added that top management is responsible Sis in of Togo Benjamin Hooks Middle. A act s executive director talks with Brig. Ren. Ernest j. Jonm la and tech. Sgt. Arthur w. Dirks in january. For the current distrust of the  top management sets acid enforces policies so its dedication to race relations can make or break a program Diggs said. On that Point at least the to and Leo officers agree with Diggs. The program is As Strong or As weak As the commanders Jackson said,1 we gel the facts make recommendations to the com Manders and they Lake the action. We try 10 resolve the problem at the lowest  we report directly to the command he said. Everything we do depends on command support which has been positive Diggs said he attended a meeting Between Hooks and Usa eur commander Gen Casbie e. Saint and came away with the feel ing that Saint is concerned about Black issues and Saint told a group of equal Opportunity advisers military commanders and command sergeants major during a january conference. That he would not stand for racial discriminate need action. I m declaring War on  Arthur w. Diggs lion or sexual harassment. From my Point of View i won t tolerate it he said. So if 1 catch you at it we will indicate to you that that Type of behaviour is not acceptable. Anil if you refuse to change then i la remove you from the Opportunity to do  Diggs could t agree More i plan to confront the system first he said let s make the system work. It s a Good system but some people Aren t doing their Job. If they re not doing their Job let s get them  for Diggs inc command s support is vital to the future of race relations in military communities. We need action Diggs said. There is a need to establish an open dialogue Between workers and management. I m declaring War on bigotry the Battle against race discrimination frequently involves the help of an a act attorney in West Germany. In one Case an army officer has been delayed in West Germany for months because of problems Diggs said Are based on the Soldier s race. Diggs has written a letter appealing to Saint to intervene and Speed up the Legal process that has delayed the officer s Al tendency at a service school and separated him from his family for to than four months. The a act attorney will represent the officer in a pending court martial. Because we be received so Many complaints we have to choose which ones need immediate action which will set a Prece Dent and which have enough evidence for inc defendant to win a court Case he said. Other problems being tackled involve Black family members being sent Back to he United states for misconduct while Whites who break the same rules arc Given a second Chance and allowed to slay in Europe Diggs said. As Many As five teachers with inc overseas school system have tiled complaints with Diggs about harassment and discrimination based on thai skin color. But he said he disagrees that racial prob lems arc growing and he thinks Leo employees Are helping communities More than Ever. When i took this position four years ago there were Only seven full Lime Leo positions in v corps he said now Here Are 24 Ca reer positions most Are gs-l2s and above and they ill have worked in this Field for some Lime. We Are versed in Case Law and act As a Little bit of social worker and pastor too. These people really care and usually go out of their Way to Clear up situations we need to refocus on inc real problems and what the solutions will  he also said More emphasis should be placed on the needs of minorities we need to Deal More with tracking the Job advancement of women and minorities who have entered the system in the last 10  she said. As of a year ago. 13 of the approximately 100 professional positions in v corps were filled by minorities throughout Usa eur 8.6 percent of the lop jobs were filled by minorities she  corps communities began a Black employment program in february 1988 thai sets up career workshops special speakers and other activities to assist Blacks in the work place she said. These programs Aren t Only held during Black history month he said the Good communities keep it go Ingall