Former Neo-Nazi Manages Black Workers

(Kansas City, Kansas) See what you think of this story.

From KansasCity.com:

Ten months ago, the self-proclaimed national director of Aryan Nations, a virulently racist and anti-Semitic group, announced plans to move its headquarters to Kansas City, Kan.

The resulting community outcry led the director, Charles J. Juba, to quit the group, which proclaims that Jews are "the children of Satan" and blacks are "beasts of the field." His supposed successor then announced the Aryan Nations would move to Sebring, Fla.

Juba, however, stayed in town, taking a job with a 63-year-old Kansas City die cutting business. In short order he became the plant manager of the business, Gasket Engineering Co.

That might not be particularly noteworthy -- except that more than 80 percent of the plant's 87 employees are black. And Juba's immediate supervisor, besides being black, is gay.

I would disagree with the reporting since I believe that advancing from temporary worker to plant manager in a matter of weeks is particularly noteworthy. Nonetheless, that's fine and laudable. Being successful shouldn't be criticized.

However, Juba being consumed with hatred for blacks and Jews is worthy of comment, especially when he has to get along in an environment with a majority of blacks on the workforce. And, even more troubling, Juba "continues to spout many of his old beliefs." During a recent interview in his supervisor's office, he called Jews the "spawn of Satan" and said races shouldn't mix. Juba is also quoted as saying,

"My opinions are my own. I think I'm entitled to them. I never let them affect my work in the past, and I won't now."

True enough, Mr. Juba, but what about the work environment? I imagine that there is more than a little tension in the air. About 60 black workers are not going to forget what you represent.

Looking at the situation from the company's standpoint, placing Mr. Juba in a decision-making position over a largely black workforce has to be courting disaster. Even a relatively insignificant dust-up between Juba and a black worker could be amplified into a major civil rights case by the greenest of law school graduates. After all, the groundwork in proving bias and malice is essentially a matter of record. And, there's also the potential for other civil lawsuits against the company.

Since I'm not a civil rights attorney, maybe my cynicism and alarm is overreaching. But just from a common sense standpoint, putting an avowed bigot in a position of authority over black employees is equivalent to putting the fox in charge of the chickens.

I personally wouldn't take the risk. If it works out that Juba and the workers can coexist peacefully, fine. But, if it doesn't work, Gasket Engineering Co. can probably anticipate some very costly lawsuits. Prudent business strategists customarily attempt to avoid such a degree of vulnerability to litigation.