In Memphis, Tennessee, we have a city motto that states: “If you see something, say something.” We did. I did. The silence was deafening.

“Don’t you faint or get discouraged; the prize is further up the road. Yield your mind and soul to Jesus, he will help you bear your load. This old world is full of troubles, trials almost on every hand. Lord, look down on me from heaven give me power here to stand.”  - My great-grandmother, Ruby B. Moore

Behind closed doors we were belittled and demeaned in a manner that inflicted emotional distress. Constructive criticism was replaced with destructive criticism to make employees feel inadequate and unworthy. A culture of fear and intimidation was the new normalcy. Currently, the country is battling COVID-19 pandemic. But the employees have been facing this pandemic for years. For the past four years, I have been fighting for equal justice against workplace bullying and to expose systemic racism. I have written at length to address the workplace bullying environment that occurred at Southwest Tennessee Community College (SWTCC) and the preferential treatment three white colleges received over a black college by the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR), only to be ignored. Our story was swept under the proverbial rug to cover up the legitimate problems and abusive conduct under the leadership of Dr. Tracy Hall that drove many long-time employees to leave the college.

It saddens me that I had to begin a petition to acknowledge what we experienced. I feel like a dirty secret. I was screaming for somebody, anybody to help us. No one could hear me. A muzzle was placed over my mouth. Silence strangled every employee that was committed to receive justice. The powers to be made certain this story never saw a shed of light. A misguided sense of loyalty was the chokehold that destroyed lives and livelihoods. Despair. Helplessness. Hopelessness. At the end of the day, we had no one to turn to. My fight for racial justice and change has met strong opposition from city and state leaders. Despite their silence laws will no longer be segregated. Let your vote make a change. Black and white must be on one accord.   

I am petitioning for the following persons and organization help to ascertain that workplace bullying victims receive equal justice under Tennessee Healthy Workplace Act and to condemn structural racism. The change is now.    

• Governor Bill Lee – Tennessee
• Antonio Parkinson – State House of Representatives – Tennessee-098
• Dr. Flora Tydings – Chancellor - Tennessee Board of Regents
• Jim Strickland – City of Memphis Mayor
• Lee Harris – Shelby County, Tennessee Mayor
• Memphis City Council
• Congressman Steve Cohen – Tennessee-09

Ironically, Tennessee was the first state to become the leader to pass the “Healthy Workplace Act” in 2014, which is the anti-bullying workplace law. This law was established to protect everyone. Yet, preferential treatment was given to white colleges to address and acknowledge their concerns. This narrative is not new. Change is now.

The Healthy Workplace Act addresses “abusive conduct” which means acts or omissions that would cause a reasonable person, based on the severity, nature, and frequency of the conduct, to believe that an employee was subject to an abusive work environment, such as:

• Repeated verbal abuse in the workplace, including derogatory remarks, insults, and epithets.
• Verbal, nonverbal, or physical conduct of a threatening, intimidating, or humiliating nature in the workplace.
• The sabotage or undermining of an employee’s work performance in the workplace.

This story is personal for me because I endured workplace bullying for eight years. I was employed at SWTCC for sixteen years. In my most recent position, I was the Veterans Affairs Coordinator. My bullies were my superiors. I made many attempts to remove myself from the direct retaliation. However, my bullies were protected by leadership. The abuse I experienced were in the form of manipulation, intimidation, humiliation, work sabotage, and verbal abuse. Even my immediate supervisor’s spouse took part in a retaliatory act against me. The abusive conduct played a pivotal role on my mental health that forced me to take a medical leave. Workplace bullying not only harms the bullied employee. But it places undue stress on their families, too. I know my ordeal contributed to my mother’s stroke. My employment was terminated on February 27, 2019 before I was scheduled to return to work on March 1, 2019. I was denied unemployment benefits.

I was the whistleblower that reported the college wrong doings and the mistreatment of employees. During July 2015, Dr. Hall was appointed as SWTCC president. Under her abusive leadership, the college became a fear-based workplace. The culture was toxic that induced hostility and frequent retaliation acts. Employees did not have the autonomy to speak freely without fear of reprisal. If you did not share the same beliefs and ideology as to how employees should be treated or spoke out against any wrong doings at the college, you were labeled as a problematic employee or you were told that you were no longer a good fit for the college. This would in turn lead to an abrupt termination, protected by Tennessee’s Employment-At-Will state laws that employers abuse for personal satisfaction. However, employees should be protected from such maltreatment under the Tennessee Healthy Workplace Act: Anti Workplace Bullying Law. Employees were leaving the college at such an exponential rate; the state retirement representative investigated the high level of departures. Both faculty and staff exit interviews conveyed poor leadership, verbal abuse, distrust, and hostility. We had employees to quit before securing other employment. Because of the constant revolving door, the bullying climate remains.  

During October 2017, I addressed an email to Dr. Flora Tydings, Chancellor for TBR, and former Governor Bill Haslam to investigate my retaliation complaint and the treatment of employees at the college, under the leadership of Dr. Hall and other top administrators. The email never garnered a response to investigate the treatment of employees at the college. However, the email did garner a response regarding my retaliation complaint. My complaint was forward to Mike Batson, TBR Chief Audit Executive for further assistance. A conference call was held in the same month. The call lasted a little over two hours. Based upon the responses, it seemed that they were concern. Because as I told my story I became emotional. There were comments such as, “Ms. Birdsong, take your time. We are here for you.” But even after detailing all my experiences of workplace bullying and my distrust with the college internal system for investigations, I was still redirected back to the college to begin the complaint process. He further noted that if I were dissatisfied with the outcome, my complaint (misled) would be re-routed back to TBR for an investigation. That never happened.     

Surprisingly, we discovered TBR conducted investigations at three predominately white colleges regarding their presidents’ leadership: Motlow State Community College, Northeast State Community College and Nashville State Community College. All these colleges experienced similar issues as SWTCC and swift actions were taken to address those employees’ concerns. The results of their investigations led those presidents to resign or retire. Multiple faculty and staff repeatedly asked for an investigation. Employee requests were ignored. We can only conclude, because of SWTCC’s demographics. So, the question remains: Were we ignored because the college president and most employees are black? Those white colleges received wide-spread support from senators and community leaders to address their concerns. Additionally, they received media coverage throughout their respective cities, whereas, SWTCC received no media coverage. When the wrong doings begun, over 75 letters were mailed out. None of the local news outlets (print or television) ever acknowledged receiving any anonymous letters pertaining to staff complaints.

The investigations were led by Mike Batson and his team months prior to our conference call. Can you imagine my reaction? I was shattered. My feelings and experiences of workplace bullying were discounted and minimized for any real concern. I did not matter. The employees did not matter. Our black lives did not matter. To this very day, I am affected by that two-hour or so conversation. They put on a remarkable performance to make the black woman feel like she mattered… The change should happen now. I have included all colleges story links that discuss the problems and abusive conduct those employees experienced under their college presidents’ leadership that led TBR to investigate. Note: The first storyline link includes a thirty-seven-page audit report by Mike Batson.  

• https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2017/06/14/college-system-moves-fire-motlow-state-president-amid-ongoing-problems/394786001/  
• https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/education/2017/09/20/nashville-state-president-who-slammed-internal-report-announces-retirement/684339001/
• https://www.timesnews.net/Education/2017/06/08/Gilliam-retiring-as-Northeast-president-June-30.html

Both city and state leaders were contacted for assistance and they decided to turn a blind eye. Because of the strong alliances Dr. Hall have established with leaders in Memphis, our complaints are met with deafening silence. By protecting Dr. Hall from scrutiny, they literally threw the employees under the bus. But the major caveat missed, is their silence enabled TBR to continue to practice systemic racism. Systemic racism is the chokehold that strangles every black person from receiving racial equality and racial justice. If ever there was a time to unify against systemic racism, that time is now.