EXCLUSIVE: Black North Carolina State Troopers Describe Decades of Racism, Retaliation Within Highway Patrol

Black North Carolina State Highway Patrol troopers describe years of racist texts and slurs, humiliation rituals, denied promotions and retaliation for reporting discrimination   — allegations that point to a deeply entrenched culture and longstanding pattern of racism within the lawforce’s ranks, according to an investigation by The Emancipator. 

Roughly a dozen other Black current and former North Carolina state troopers, who shared their experiences with The Emancipator anonymously out of fear for their safety and job retaliation, detailed a systemic pattern of racial discrimination they say begins at the agency’s training school and continues throughout officers’ careers.

In a federal lawsuit filed late Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, Jamere Todd, a Black trooper who has been with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol for 11 years, said White senior troopers subjected him to public humiliation such as mocking workplace displays, heightened scrutiny, disciplinary pressure and transfer denials. 

Todd says similarly situated White troopers did not face the same treatment.

The public humiliation included a photo of Todd with the words “Feign Illness’ as a Christmas ornament displayed in the office, a ‘Tamper Evident (sic) Tape” label above his name in the mailroom and a poster that marked him as “Missing,” mocking his military obligations and personal leave.

He told The Emancipator he faced harassment and retaliation when reporting the discriminatory treatment to his supervisors. 

“There has not been an apology. There has only been denials,” Todd said.

Black troopers allege racism from the academy to the ranks

Todd also alleges discrimination related to his service in the Air Force Reserve. In one instance, Todd missed the highway patrol’s promotional exam while serving on military orders and was never informed that he could take a makeup exam or receive an accommodation.

His attorney, Amina Mack, Todd’s attorney, contends this violates the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), a federal law that protects service members from job discrimination based on their military obligations. 

According to a demand letter The Emancipator also obtained.

Todd says that after notifying a highway patrol supervisor about an upcoming deployment, he was subsequently assigned to the night shift. Todd says he was told this was because he was “going to get all of the night shifts he would miss while deployed.” 

The EEOC issued a “right to sue letter,” and Todd is seeking $6.5 million in compensation as well as lasting changes within the agency. 

“I have to stand up for what is right, no matter what it comes with,” Todd said. “The most important piece to me is transparency, visibility of the systemic disparity within the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, and a resolution and some actions going forward so we can hold these individuals accountable.”

The Emancipator’s investigation found that Black troopers have raised discrimination complaints against the North Carolina State Highway Patrol over the years, with at least one being settled and paid in the last year.

A veteran Black sergeant faced transfer denials, harsher discipline than White troopers and discipline that blocked a promotion for two years. 

The sergeant also described a racist, hostile working environment in which group texts circulated offensive messages, images of monkeys and sexually explicit images meant to dehumanize Black people. 

Supervisors were aware of this conduct and tolerated it, and complaints led to isolation, increased scrutiny, threats, emotional distress and damage to his career, the officer alleges.

Another Black trooper described racial harassment beginning at the  North Carolina State Highway Patrol’s training academy, where the officer said White instructors subjected Black recruits to verbal racist abuse and taunts  during the weeks-long program. 

During an educational portion about the history of the officers’ uniform, trainers also boasted about the color being “Confederate Grey,” several Black troopers told The Emancipator.

Another trooper also alleged supervisors manipulated the officer’s schedule around military duty. The trooper also described being accused of having sexual relationships with superiors to receive preferential treatment and being called “an angry Black female.”

Discrimination continued outside of work, troopers said.

“Black troopers in Charlotte were called the ‘Black Panthers’ because we took a picture together at a housewarming (even though there were other people of other races present),” the trooper also said.

The Emancipator reached out to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol for comment but has not received a response.

A half-century of fighting racism within the highway patrol

Created in 1929, North Carolina State Highway Patrol has more than 1,600 troopers today. The racism Black troopers in the state face goes back decades. 

Charles H. Johnson became the first Black patrolman for North Carolina’s highway patrol in 1967, shortly after Jim Crow laws were outlawed across the South. He and other Black troopers were blocked from promotions and isolated at the agency. In 1974, Johnson filed a class-action civil rights lawsuit against the highway patrol over discriminatory hiring and promotion practices. The Department of Justice joined the lawsuit in 1975, and five years later, a consent decree was reached that required an increase in Black and female troopers – including a set number for them in training school.

Though Black representation on the patrol increased, discriminatory practices continued. 

A former trooper who worked with the agency in the 1970s told The Emancipator that though he was initially welcomed by other officers with open arms, but faced racism from the community he swore to protect. 

As he witnessed other Black troopers experience discrimination, he became an advocate, counseling colleagues on how to file complaints and, at times, accompanying them to confront supervisors.

 In one instance, an older Black trooper was mistreated and spoken to abusively by a young White supervisor, he recalled. He spoke up about it, and the White troopers were moved, he said.

“Racism, you have to stand up to it,” the trooper told The Emancipator.

He was retaliated against and punished for his advocacy, he said. He was also blocked from promotions, even when he passed the tests, but said he does not regret anything.

In 1999, the agency appointed its first Black commander, Col. Richard W. Holden, Sr. Since then, other Black troopers have risen through the supervisory ranks.

Yet, current and former Black troopers interviewed by The Emancipator say those history-making moments do not diminish the racist harm that continues.

“There are amazing individuals in this uniform, and I don’t want to dim their light because they are there,” Todd said. “Unfortunately, we have individuals that should not be in this organization, and there’s no accountability for the actions that they are committing.”