Is Georgia the worst state regarding workplace bigotry? If so, what should we be doing about it?

“Georgia still remains a state that has no place for hate.”- Governor Kemp (4-4-25)

Governor, I am glad that you generally criticize those spreading hate. And I wish that what you stated was true- but the facts as shown below do not support your naïve statement. A statement that I have heard other well-meaning people make as well.

Per the Southern Poverty Law Center, there are 50 hate groups in Georgia (https://www.splcenter.org/hate-map/?hm_year=2024&hm_state=GA ). That is a substantial increase from 2000, when there were 30 such entities.

By thoroughly analyzing 2024 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint data, online HR platform Techr recently issued a report analyzing employment discrimination complaint data across all 50 states. In fact, Georgia is the worst state for “workplace racial discrimination” filings (on a per capita basis). With a state-wide employment force of about 5 million, there were 2596 complaints in Georgia just last year – 336 color-based and 2,260 race-based.

It found that, with 52 cases filed per 100,000 workers -“Georgia shows most concerning patterns of workplace racial discrimination based on EEOC.” (see elearningindustry.com/hr-directory ). The other top 5 states on the list include: Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. The Techr report does not mention the obvious fact shown here- we are looking at 5 deep South states.

Per Techr- “These findings highlight the urgent need for more substantial diversity and inclusion initiatives, better training programs, and more robust anti-discrimination policies in workplaces across these states.” So, what is being done in our own state to address this issue? 

The answer for Georgia, consistent with Governor Kemp’s statement, seems to be- “if we ignore it, it will just go away”. In other words, many people in our state refuse to believe that a problem with discrimination or hate even exists. The General Assembly and our Governor are among that group.

Yes, our state does have a Georgia Commission on Equal Opportunity (GCEO), led by Executive Director Allona Lane Cross. Per the 1978 Georgia Fair Employment Practices Act (https://gceo.georgia.gov/ ), it monitors employment related activity but only in state agencies. In other words, not in the general work force. GCEO also states that it “has a robust Education & Outreach program…providing education…conducting technical trainings and workshops” and “promote(s) voluntary compliance with equal employment laws”. However, no relevant data is shown on its web site and their efforts are obviously failing given the findings of the Techr report.

Our state needs to consider legislation similar to that in states which address the discrimination issue head on. For example, the California equivalent of our agency enforces anti-discrimination legislation with all employers, not just state employees (https://calcivilrights.ca.gov/Employment/).

Georgia has a tremendous budget surplus. Let’s pass state legislation to use just a little bit of it to expand the activities and powers of the GCEO. Maybe we can see a drop in workplace discrimination.