White House correspondent Helen Thomas is retiring in the wake of comments she made at a recent celebration of the Jewish Heritage at the White House.  When asked her opinion on Israel, the 89-year old Hearst columnist said, “Tell them to get the hell out Palestine.”  When asked where they should go, Thomas said they should “go home” to “Poland, Germany, and America, and everywhere else.”  Thomas has served as a White House correspondent for 57 years, having joined during the later years of the Eisenhower administration, coming to the forefront with John F. Kennedy, and serving until the second year of the Obama administration.  Known for pushing the envelope, Thomas never hesitated from asking the tough, impolite, and even downright offensive questions that reporters should ask. CNN Article

Thomas’ comments were quickly denounced both by the White House Correspondents Association and the White House itself. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs called them “offensive and reprehensible.” Thomas herself said in an apology that they don’t reflect her “heart-felt belief that peace will come to the Middle East only when all parties recognize the need for mutual respect and tolerance.” MSNBC Article.  There is no denying that there continues to be a tendency to discriminate against certain groups of people in the workplace.  Discriminating against an individual based on race or national origin may be prosecuted under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  Please visit the EEOC’s website for further information: www.eeoc.gov/policy/vii.html.

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