Race and the FDNY

To the Editor:

I have refrained from responding to Kevin James's original article on race and the Fire Department (Aug. 11 issue) and subsequent responses, but after awhile it becomes difficult to tolerate the inconsistencies in his and Jeff Nichols's arguments. Rather than address the whole issue, I'd like to dispel some of their positions before it becomes a part of the urban myth about deliberate discrimination.

In Jeff Nichols's letter of Aug. 25, he asks how we can look at the diversity of every other city agency and not believe that racism is a main contributing factor for the Fire Department being predominantly white? Instead of crying racism, he should examine why the percentage of blacks who actually take the test is dramatically lower than the proportion eligible to take it.

The test is announced and administered by the racially diverse DCAS, not by the lily-white FDNY. But the Fire Department does spent a few million dollars in a recruitment effort aimed at increasing diversity. If enough blacks don't take the test, is the solution to do away with the test? Instead of writing letters, maybe Mr. Nichols could put his time to better use by visiting schools and community groups to encourage young black kids to take the test.

Fortunately, Kevin James has the answer, once again proving the axiom that a little knowledge can be dangerous. In his Sept. 8 letter he gives a scholarly discourse on the reasons why blacks do so poorly on written tests. However, once he moves from the term paper quality of his letter and renders an opinion, he gets confused.

First he makes a statement that could be construed as racist ("To rely on written test scores in this context is just as unfair to blacks as relying on test scores of natural athletic ability would be to whites"). I think what he means to say is that whites can't compete with blacks on a physical level.

In fact, this was the thinking of the FDNY and the Personnel Department 30 years ago when they changed the physical portion of the FDNY test from pass/fail to a competitive score. Responding to a 1971 lawsuit by the Vulcan Society that claimed the written test discriminated against minorities, it was thought a competitive physical better measured the ability to perform the mostly physical job of firefighting. Yet despite extolling the physical superiority of blacks, Kevin James in the next paragraph argues for a pass/fail physical. If blacks are physically superior to whites, why wouldn't he favor a competitive physical?

Kevin James knows the real secret to becoming a firefighter. It is well known that the written test is a joke and the key to achieving a high position on the list is to do well on the physical portion. The job is so good that all the white boys want the job, and despite their physical inferiority, they work out hard to get a good score on the physical.

Because the competition is so keen, being a natural athlete or physically fit isn't enough. To get a high mark, you have to work at it. If Kevin James was to bring that message to his audience, they would seek out the job and get it, in which case Kevin James would have to find another platform to advance his agenda. It is easier to tell them they don't have a chance because it is racially rigged against them.

Unfortunately, Kevin James and others like him only make the problem worse by seeking the easy, politically correct solution. Think about the argument. thirty-five years ago, the Vulcans said that because minorities are not afforded the same education as whites, a written test that only tests the quality of the education and not the ability to do a job is discriminatory. Today, the same argument is being made. Even if you agree with the argument, the only solution is to offer remedial prep to help everyone to meet the requirements or lower the requirements. But as I've noted in a previous letter, that does not solve the problem. Even if every city job was given to a minority, there wouldn't be enough jobs for all.

If minorities are getting such an inferior education that they can't compete on a civil service test, how can they possibly compete in a global job market? This is a terrible reflection on a city that is predominantly Democratic and liberal. Something much bigger than the FDNY needs fixing, but that requires an examination of the liberal Democratic policies that have governed this city and its education system. It is easier to blame the FDNY.

EDWIN HUBERTS, Retired, FDNY