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January 2002: Recently as I ambled through the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, I came across an old family friend. He, as it turns out, was returning from a visit to the Vulcan Society, which represents the Black firefighters of New York. Sure, the Uniformed Fighters Association, (UFA) is the organization enjoined to represent all firefighters engaged in collective bargaining and other labor negotiations with the city, but the Vulcan Society- as does the Emerald Society for the Irish firefighters, gives cause to the strivings of the small number of Blacks who proudly wear the uniform.
My friend who had worked in many firehouses in the city and served honorably, and with great camaraderie and professionalism with his Irish and Italian comrades on Linden Boulevard, Brooklyn, had gone to the Vulcan after the burial of two black firefighters. John and I regularly had robust debates in the early 70's, on issues of civil rights, social and political protest, employment discrimination and patriotism- and these within the context of the war in Vietnam and the women's and civil rights movements. He was a veteran who had served in Korea, was always the great American patriot, and could not agree with me that the failure to hire more minorities as firefighters was an example of "institutional racism". Even as we juxtaposed the situation in this agency in civil society with the military and its de jure and later de facto segregation of the 1940's -50's, John and I, still fresh out of Graduate School, could not agree on the causes of this institutional dysfunction or the most effective strategy to remedy it.
That day, however, he made a startling statement, as he commented on the challenges the new mayor-elect, Bloomberg, faced. John, the ultimate patriot, descried the fact that if there were more firefighters of "color" in the department, they would have been more equally represented among the dead, who so gallantly gave their lives to save all, some of whose salaries tripled theirs. And therein lies the paradox of race and race relations in our nation (city). An unintended consequence of the lack of minority representation in the NYFD had the result of denying more minority firefighters the chance to pay the ultimate sacrifice for their city and nation.
For years administrations at City Hall - from Mayors Wagner to Dinkins - had sought to find ways to redress this employment imbalance, and renewed efforts were made in the Lindsay and Dinkins administrations to spur minority recruitment, even within the parameters of the civil service system and its objective requirements. Under the current mayor Giuliani, efforts at minority recruitment were halting at first but had just begun to pay small dividends, only to be diminished by the horrific tragedy of September, 11.Indeed this was ever more glaring in the swift swearing in of over 300 new recruits, in that there were less than ten minority firefighters in their midst.
In many other social institutions in the city and nation - legal, medical, higher education and major corporations for example -there is a dearth of minorities employed, and far fewer in leadership positions. Minorities are not making anticipated gains in the occupational arena, but rather holding their own. For example, only dentists and natural scientists rank lower in minority representation of African Americans and Hispanics than law, which stood at seven percent representation in 1998, and is currently ten percent. Our next mayor, himself a successful businessman and captain of industry, knows the salutary effects of empowering all Americans to enjoy the benefits of this great pluralistic society by facilitating their entry into formerly closed portals of influence, privilege and power. Employment is such a pathway and the key to empowerment in our nation, for its multiplier effects are profound.
Mayor Bloomberg must eschew "identity politics" as a matter of course, but his social policies must be directed to forcibly address the past practices of racism and the inequities they engendered. In so doing, he enables all Americans to truly and manifestly enjoy the benefits of patriotism while simultaneously partaking in all its sacrifices.
Editor's Note: Dr. Aubrey Bonnett, a noted writer and educationist joins The Caribbean Voice as a columnist from this issue.