Michigan NAACP President Yvonne White Calls for Investigation of Audette Cadillac Dealership Incident

DETROIT, March 9 -- Yvonne White, president of the Michigan State Conference NAACP, denounced the despairing comments of the Audette Cadillac Dealership operator, located in Novi, Michigan, who responded to a call from an African American woman asking for driving directions.

The General Motors OnStar factory-installed option is an integrated automotive safety and security system that is "prepared to assist the unexpected on the road." The OnStar System operator connected the driver to the Audette Dealership operator for assistance. The Audette operator provided assistance to the driver and obviously did not disconnect the call before making racial comments about the African American woman.

President White said, "This incident is deplorable and indicative of the pervasive racism that erodes communities across Michigan and this country. Audette Cadillac Dealership needs to review the delivery of these services with their customer service representatives and operators. Calls of this nature should always be monitored for quality assurance and customer satisfaction."

The driver complained to the dealership and the operator was reprimanded. Attorney Gil McRipley, president of the Southern Oakland County Branch NAACP, stated that the reprimand is not enough to address the issue. The NAACP will arrange to meet with the dealership to address these concerns.

White further stated that there is no way that any person should pay for disrespect or that any company should think that racial discrimination is an acceptable way of doing business with African Americans, or anyone else.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is the oldest and largest civil rights organization in the country. It is a non- partisan organization whose vision is to ensure a society in which all individuals have equal rights and there is no racial hatred or racial discrimination.