NAACP Calls For Investigation After Racial Slurs By City Employees In Warner

The president of Oklahoma's NAACP is calling for a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the town of Warner. He’s also asking for a meeting with the town’s mayor and other city officials.

This comes after two employees were recorded making racist comments about Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Employee 1: “We get Martin Luther King Day off?"
Employee 2: “No n***** day for us.”
Employee 1: “We’re off for n***** day?”
Employee 2: “Yes.”
Employee 1: “It says holidays, we take holidays.”
Employee 2: “I’m not celebrating n***** day.”
Employee: “We can just call it JER Day. James Earl Rat. That’s what we always celebrate. Not that we don’t like black people.”
Employee: “I’m not racist. I’m just saying that’s what it’s called here.”

“I’m furious and upset about them, I take this very seriously,” said Anthony Douglas president of Oklahoma NAACP.

At a public meeting last week, the City announced the two employees have resigned. But the NAACP says the fact that the conversation happened at all raises more concerns.

“If people are doing those things so publicly and they’re so comfortable making those kind of statements, I wonder what kind of statements they’re making around minorities and how those minorities are being treated on a day to day basis in Warner,” said Nkem House, attorney.

To answer those questions, the NAACP wants to know if the city of Warner gets federal funding, how many minorities it employees, how many African Americans have been arrested, how many have received cut off services from city utilities, and if there's a place where they can report civil rights violations.