Brent Gobbell, Tennessee State Trooper, Placed on Administrative Leave After Being Accused of Sending "Proud to be White" Email

Gobbell has been suspended for 15 days without pay and will have to attend diversity training.

Tennessee highway Patrol trooper Brent Gobbell, 51, is under investigation over allegations he forwarded a racist email on the state's computer system. Gobbell, who is white, has been placed on administrative leave with pay last Friday. This is the second incident in which a racist email was sent by a state employee on government property. You will recall that legislative aide, Sherri Goforth, who works for Sen. Diane Black, forwarded a racially-charged email about President Barack Obama. She was reprimanded and later apologized. Gobbell is accused of receiving it on his state account and then forwarding it to other state employees.

According to the Tennessean, the email includes a string of racial epithets directed towards various ethnic group in an argument that says, "I have been wondering about why Whites are racists and no other race is... Proud to be White." The email apparently made its way around the Internet. The email is purportedly from a speech made in court by comedian Michael Richards, who played Kramer on the television show Seinfeld, though it has been considered a hoax in some Google search references. You will recall that Richards came under a barrage of criticism in 2006 after he embarked on a racist rant toward a black club patron. He later apologized and hasn't really been heard from since then.

There is no room for such racial bigotry in any government office and it is certainly not appropriate in any workplace, for that matter. It is troubling that a state trooper is involved in this email drama and one has to wonder what his attitude is towards blacks, since he is a law enforcement officer. The stakes are too high to have someone who harbor these thoughts to interact with the public. Gobbell has been a state trooper since 1983 and was reportedly on the security detail at the state Supreme Court building next to the Capitol.