|
|
| Fired staffers say skit about the Klan was inmates' idea |
| By Star-Ledger |
| Published: 03/14/2005 |
|
A skit that involved state prison inmates dressing like Ku Klux Klan members -- and led to the firing of five drug counselors who authorized it -- was designed by the inmates and intended to convey an anti-racist message, according to two of the fired employees. Three inmates, two of them African-American and one white, donned white hoods and full-length white sheets during a Jan. 6 skit at the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in Burlington County (N.J.), the Department of Corrections confirmed. The sketch was put on by participants in a drug treatment program for inmates. It was supposed to portray an episode of "The Jerry Springer Show" in which the three "Klansmen" were interviewed by another inmate acting as the show's host. Other inmates in the drug program participated in the skit by acting as the show's studio audience. Five employees of Gateway Foundation Inc., a Chicago-based contractor that provides drug treatment for New Jersey prison inmates, later were fired for authorizing the skit. Two other employees who knew about the show but objected to it being staged were not fired. The department said it was unclear who thought of the skit, but that it was not part of the inmates' drug treatment program and that the Gateway employees should have known better. Two of the five fired employees have since contacted The Star- Ledger to say it was the inmates who designed the skit and wanted to present it as a motivational tale during a morning meeting. |
MARKETPLACE search vendors | advanced search
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
|
Comments:
No comments have been posted for this article.
Login to let us know what you think