Where firefighters come to talk training

A scary trend

One of the headlines on FireEngineering this morning reads"NY fire dept says it's recruiting more minorities". This statement doesn't sit well with me....

I come from Vermont...potentially the least diverse state in the Union. So maybe it's just my lack of experience dealing with racial issues, or maybe it's my lack of understanding on WHY IT MATTERS? Wasn't the whole civil rights movement about getting past the color of someones skin? I get it...there were terrible, terrible things done in the past (and probably still today), but aren't we as a society still overcompensating? Affirmative action gives more opportunities to minority groups, while taking away opportunities from others that have the same skill set. Take college for example. No longer is it about how good your did on your SAT's or what your high school GPA was, or how many AP classes you took. If you have two applicants, one white and one black, who have the EXACT same grades, scores, interview results, etc...9 times out of 10 the black applicant will be admitted because of their skin color. Even further, if the black applicant scores lower than the white applicant, they STILL get accepted over the white applicant. This is not right. Equal rights my ass...

(and just a personal pet peeve of mine...they have the BET awards? If I started a wanted to start the WET awards, not only would I be laughed at because of how the acronym plays out, but I would be called a racist. Holy double standard batman!)

I believe that this is a dangerous game that the fire service is playing right now. We need to be recruiting based on skill, not color. TAKE THE RACE/RELIGION/ETHNICITY/BACKGROUND/ETC QUESTIONS OUT OF THE APPLICATION PROCESS!!!!!! Only then will the scores be truly based on how well someone is qualified rather than what color they are.

We wear bunker gear. We wear masks. When we're all dressed, you can't tell what our skin color is. The fire doesn't give two sh*ts if you're white/black/hispanic/mexican/martian....it will kill you and your partner just the same. Just like I dont give two sh*ts what color you are...all I care about is that you will be able to drag my ass out of a fire if something goes wrong. That's it.

I just dont get it...

And...I am also worried now that I am starting my application process with two big departments that I will be at a disadvantage because of the lack of melanin in my skin.

Am I wrong?

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Comment by P.J. Norwood on August 19, 2011 at 11:13am: Trevor, I commend you asking some of the questions you have. Too many people seem to not want to touch this subject. I would recommend that you look up Frank Ricci here on the community and Google Ricci VS Destafano New Haven CT. I will also forward your post to him as he may be able to offer some information to help you understand this issue a little better.

I will comment on this paragraph you wrote;

"We wear bunker gear. We wear masks. When we're all dressed, you can't tell what our skin color is. The fire doesn't give two sh*ts if you're white/black/Hispanic/Mexican/martian....it will kill you and your partner just the same. Just like I don’t give two sh*ts what color you are...all I care about is that you will be able to drag my ass out of a fire if something goes wrong. That's it."

I come from a family where skin color didn’t matter. I grew up in an area still to this day that has some racial undertones that have resulted in Law suits from the NAACP that impact hiring practices to this day. I also grew up as a white Irish / Italian (ya what a mix) and have an Aunt and Uncle who I am still close with that are African American. My grandmother took in over 200 foster children and raised them. In the late sixties she adopted Billy and Cyndi. Billy and Cyndi were part of my family before I was. They are my Aunt and Uncle and no one can tell me different. Do they have a different skin color? Absolutely! Does that matter? Absolutely NOT!

I was in the Army and proudly served amongst many, many different races who protected and still protect this country. As the Army put it; skin color doesn’t matter we train and treat you all the same to do the same job. We were referred to all have Army Green or OD green skin!

So to make my point here; you are right it doesn’t and shouldn’t matter! But, yes it does too many. But those that it matter to are not the ones crawling down dark smoke filled hallways. Don't let this worry you as it is a bigger issue then us. Study hard take those test get the job in the best profession in America, train hard and go to work every day with a smile. There is just way too much out of our control! Good luck with the test and stay safe.

P.J.

Comment by Trevor Ashe on August 19, 2011 at 10:35am: I guess I'm looking for input from more "wise" fire service members. I don't want to sound harsh, but I just don't understand why we are still putting so much emphasis on ensuring we have diversity rather than fixing the systems that create the divide between socio-economic "classes" if you will, and hiring based on skill not color...

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