black…MYstory

Craig Holcomb is a white man suing his former employer for discrimination. Now, some might say, “what happened, did they hire a black person for a job he should have gotten?” In a word, no.

Holcomb is alleging he was fired because of who he chose to love and marry. Holcomb was the top assistant basketball coach at Iona College in New York. In 2004, Holcomb was fired from his coaching job by what he says were a group of racists in the athletict department. Specifically, he names the school’s Vice President and former Athletic Director Richard Petriccione as one of the main perpetrators. According to Holcomb, Petriccione repeatedly referred to players as “ni**ers” and called a Nigerian employee a “jungle bunny”. When it was clear that Holcomb was going to marry his then-fiancee Pamela Gauthier, a black woman, Holcomb said Petriccione told him, “You’re really going to marry that Aunt Jemima? You really are a ni**er lover.”

Originally, his case was thrown out of court because the judge ruled that Holcomb couldn’t file racial discrimination because the racial hostilities alleged were aimed at Holcomb’s wife. However, the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Manhattan has reinstated his case, ruling that it would be possible for Holcomb to be discriminated against due to his association with his wife.

Holcomb with have his day in court and a college will have to answer questions of discrimination. If true, this is a sad commentary and a reminder that, even today, some people want to enact their own miscegenation laws.

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