Black People : Where are the Black Firemen?

PurpleMoons

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Apr 22, 2003
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I ask this question because today I saw a small document on firemen. As it caught my attention I saw one young brother training to become a fireman.

This made me wonder how many Black firemen are there really. I can't recall ever seeing one in this small town where I live or is it because I come so accustomed to seeing white fire fighters that a black one sprinkled in the mist went unseen to me.

With all the talk of reparation and whites evening the score for the harsh abuse inflicted on our ancestors, Where is this so called evening the score really accounted at?

With More Blacks completing college and gaining Higher learning, In all our efforts, things are scarcely changing! We have a few Blacks seated in the political arena but when int comes down to community services such as, the fireman, Where is the people who looks like me?

I wonder if Black people do not find this position of great interest or is it the domination of white Supremacy that is nailing down all the entrances from Black firefighters? If so, Then what is it about the firemens society that has one of the strongest rebellions against affirmative action? In my opinion!

Is their organization directly connected to the masonic order?

Does anyone have the statistics for Black firemen state wide?

Below is a link about Black Firemen
http://www.chicagoreporter.com/1990/03-90/0390 White Firefighters.htm
 
I dont know about NYC stats...but the fireman thing is other places too. I remember reading about the Toronto firefighters and how in 1996 there were less than 10% were not white males....meaning about 6% (I think that was the number) were either a visible minority (black, asian etc), a woman, or an aboriginal. Firefighting is a white male job I guess and they dont want anyone else getting in.
 
:wave: Hello Brother Blak!

As much as I would like to believe that firefighting is a white mans job my curiousity tells me its more to the story than we are aware of. I did a little on line search for the history of the fireman and I came across thier symbol.
(The Maltese Cross) Not knowing much about the Maltese Cross I did a search on that also. The Maltese cross is the symbol of the Knights of St.John.

The Knights of St.John was a band of crusaders who fought the Saracens for possession of the holy land. On their quest to conquer they encountered a new weapon unknown to European warriors. The Saracens weapons was fire.
Here is a link if you care to read more.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/history/maltese_cross.shtml

The knights are servants of the Grand Master of the Order of St John. The founder of the knights was someone called blessed gerard. There were many Grand masters that followed the death of each.

What I'm trying to find out is, if these people were/are deeply rooted in the secret society. Which on top of white supremacy will bring me more clarity on how the Firemen society has the lest rise in Black employment.

It's just a hunch but it makes interesting reading.
 
PurpleMoons said:
:wave: Hello Brother Blak!

As much as I would like to believe that firefighting is a white mans job my curiousity tells me its more to the story than we are aware of. I did a little on line search for the history of the fireman and I came across thier symbol.
(The Maltese Cross) Not knowing much about the Maltese Cross I did a search on that also. The Maltese cross is the symbol of the Knights of St.John.

The Knights of St.John was a band of crusaders who fought the Saracens for possession of the holy land. On their quest to conquer they encountered a new weapon unknown to European warriors. The Saracens weapons was fire.
Here is a link if you care to read more.
http://www.nyc.gov/html/fdny/html/history/maltese_cross.shtml

The knights are servants of the Grand Master of the Order of St John. The founder of the knights was someone called blessed gerard. There were many Grand masters that followed the death of each.

What I'm trying to find out is, if these people were/are deeply rooted in the secret society. Which on top of white supremacy will bring me more clarity on how the Firemen society has the lest rise in Black employment.

It's just a hunch but it makes interesting reading.

Maybe that is whats going on. There are many other professions that were "just for white males" and they ended up diversifying....they had no choice often...but firemen have held off.....both from the US system and Canadian system....whats up with that?

I am gonna check that link you posted cause I never knew much about firefighters or if they had unions or what ever....this is interesting as you say......DISTURBING.....but interesting!
 
Hi, Sista Purplemoons!

Interesting that you should ask that question... This Saturday night, September 11th, PBS will be broadcasting a half hour documentary on our brothers who lost their lives battling the inferno on September 11, 2001... As you may, or may not, know, 12 African men lost their lives in the WTC, and as our numbers were not great to begin with(3% of the department), this wiped out a very large percentage of the brothers who were employed by the NYFD... The broadcast is for 5:30 and 11:00pm, EST, so catch it if you can...

Now, in addition to that, remember that the NYFD and NYPD, in an effort to upgrade the intelligence level in these departments, have raised the entrance standards... You must have at least 60 college credits, or near the equivalent of a 2-year degree to be accepted for training in these agencies... The numbers of college grads among African men is an issue, as well as, our desire to put our lives in danger to fight fires... Some of us just are not willing to do that kind of work... One of the fallout issues of September 11th is that many firemen went out on their pensions, citing ill health, and other reasons for their retirements... We in the city know otherwise... We know that a Firemen's or policemen's final salary dictates what their pension is going to look like, and since so many worked such massive amounts of overtime following the 9/11 disaster, the time to go out was just as good as any other(smile!)

As a result, there are mad openings in this agency now, and a massive recruiting promotion of African and Latino firemen is under way - has BEEN underway even before the 9/11 disaster, courtesy of the Vulcan Society, the African American Firemen's Fraternal organization... So we cannot sit and complain about prejudice in the department as the sole problem anymore... The Vulcan's have even said this... Even when you catch a train in the morining, or walk along the streets of my community in Brooklyn, the promotional blitz cannot be missed... It just seems we African men and women aren't paying much attention...

Peace!
Isaiah
 

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