Kweisi Mfume, President & CEO, NAACP, in the wake of published reports that Baltimore City Fire Department has hired an all white recruit class, said the following:
The NAACP finds it unbelievable, if the facts as reported by the Baltimore sun are true, that in Baltimore or anywhere in America in 2004, something as sad as this can be the case!
We are left like so many others, to wonder how with all the human resources available in a city like Baltimore, that the fire department could find the barrel empty when it came to qualified black, Latino and Asian American candidates.
We are equally befuddled at the allegations if true, that seemingly out of a sense of guilt or embarrassment that the department has in the past skipped over higher scoring white candidates to get to minority applicants.
That, coupled with the fact that in the original class of recruits, nine of the 30 persons being hired do not even live in the state, speaks volumes about the department's pre-disposition to put itself at risk.
Most of all, there appears to be an inherent laziness at the City's Department of Human Resources when it comes to dealing with an issue as volatile and as sensitive as racial diversity.
While the fire department has an inherent responsibility to recruit the best men and women it can find for the positions of firefighter, it also has a responsibility to cast a wider net for applicants.
The fact that the examination has not been administered since November of 2002 suggests that those running the department have either an aversion to testing or an attitude that testing is not important.
Outreach to community organizations and the Vulcan Blazers, as well as stepped up recruitment, would at least suggest an effort is being made.
Black, Latino and Asian Americans don't need quotas, affirmative action or benevolence to become fire fighters; they just need a chance to apply and an opportunity to be fairly tested and judged on their ability.
There appears to be shortsighted leadership in both the fire department and the department of human resources. I spoke with Mayor Martin O'Malley at length today about this matter and he is equally outraged.
The bottom line in all of this is that this is a matter that is wholly preventable, but it requires vision and sensitivity to an age-old problem of race and a modicum of common sense.
The NAACP has several options before us, but we will withhold any action until we have an opportunity to review all the facts and assess the City's plan of action.
These options include but are not limited to:
- Filing a formal complaint with EEOC against the City for workforce discrimination
- Requesting an immediate investigation by the U.S. Attorney General and the Department of Justice for possible Title 6 & 7 violations.
- Filing a major lawsuit alleging disparate treatment and seeking monetary damages on behalf of a class of affected applicants.
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