Picketers Question Neuman's Stance on Fight Against Racial Discrimination

A group of about a dozen African-American demonstrators gathered outside the county government's offices in downtown Annapolis Tuesday, bearing signs that criticized the county executive's stance against racial discrimination.

"Zero Tolerance" has led to "Zero Action," read many of the signs outside the Arundel Center, while inside, the Anne Arundel County Council deliberated in the final minutes before passing the county's 2014 fiscal year budget.

Ronique Smith, whose husband works for the Anne Arundel County Public Library System, said she was demonstrating Tuesday to ensure County Executive Laura Neuman sticks to her no discrimination policy.

In May, Neuman announced she was launching a review of the county's anti-discrimination policies. And later that month, said she would launch a task force to investigate problems within the Anne Arundel County Police Department.

"I have zero tolerance for inappropriate behavior of our police department if it exists," Neuman said in a press release. Neuman also commented during a community meeting in April that the county has a history of segregation, and she would work to find solutions.

Smith said so far she has seen no results of Neuman's efforts.

"She's stated openly that there was, and she had a zero tolerance [policy] for discrimination, and we're just calling her on that. That's what we're here for—to make sure that she adheres to that policy," Smith said.

Smith held a sign stating that there were no Latinos or African-American men in supervisory roles at the library system's headquarters. Others held similar signs—one with a sketched black-and-white image of Neuman, with the words, "Neuman has appointed no blacks to cabinet."

Demonstrator Robert Eades said discrimination has been used by those in power to segregate the job market, and if nothing was done to stop it, there would be "another revolution."

"If we don't do something to straighten this out now, there's going to be another revolution in this country," he said. "We all want the same thing—equality."

Neuman told reporters at the Arundel Center on Tuesday that she had met with the demonstration's organizers, and that she was working to circumvent the county's history of segregation.

To start, she was hiring a compliance officer to review and reinforce the county's anti-discrimination policies, according to The Capital.