Let’s keep up the nonviolent agitation. There were marches all over the country after the killing of unarmed teen Michael Brown Jr. by a Ferguson police officer. That terrible event brought light to an issue that has been in the dark and ignored for far too long – inclusion.
Inclusion when it comes to legislators and legislation is arguably the most important issues for blacks. I’m 51 years old and I was born before the Voter Rights Act of 1965, the law that said, in part, that blacks had the right to vote unimpeded. I recognize my life could have been very different if that bill had not passed.
Some barriers that blacks had to overcome were outlined in the movie “Selma.” Even today there are sections within the Voter Rights Act that aren’t permanent. Apparently, all men are not created equal. That’s why it’s imperative that we vote the black politician, or anyone who is for real inclusion, into office. But once in office, that legislator must continue to fight to overcome the avalanche of white and black politicians who just don’t get it.
Once there is legislative inclusion for blacks, there can be inclusion in all other areas like police, fire and personnel departments. It’s the legislators who strongly influence the heads of those departments, and it’s the heads of those departments who create policies and regulations for their particular areas of public safety.
For instance, the St. Louis Fire Department had an administrative regulation that guaranteed that there would be at least one black chief officer on all discipline review boards. That regulation was removed by the mayor-appointed director of personnel and/or the mayor-appointed fire chief; neither wants to take responsibility. Now, over 95 percent of discipline review boards are made up of all-white chief officers.
What was the motivation for removing a regulation that guaranteed inclusion? At least one of those appointments, the fire chief, was proven to be racially motivated (a white battalion chief was promoted over a higher-ranking black deputy chief) in a court of law.
The St. Louis Fire Department has been in existence since 1857, and the first black was hired in 1921. There were major gains made to include black firefighters between 1974 and 1994. That’s when the city’s personnel department performed a study to find out what type of test benefited whites over blacks. Since that discovery in 1994 to today, we’ve only had promotional exams that heavily favored white candidates, and gains that were made by blacks on the department have been eroding much faster than they were achieved.
The city’s personnel department knows how to achieve inclusion in the St. Louis Fire Department, but sadly, they have not taken steps to do so. In fact, they continue to do just the opposite. The Firefighters Institute For Racial Equality (FIRE) will stay the course for as long as it takes to make changes so that there can be inclusion on every level of the department.
History has shown it’s going to take persistence to make further strides. The country is primed to make important changes toward inclusion. Let’s recognize our opportunity, maintain our endurance and realize our destiny.
Note: St. Louis is hiring for the position of probationary fire private. FIRE is holding class for people who want to become firefighters. Contact FIRE at firefighterinstitute@yahoo.com and provide your name, phone number and a request to be in the class.
Abram L. Pruitt Jr. is president of the Firefighters Institute for Racial Equality.
