Firefighter Says FDNY is Racist

Lanaird Granger is suing the fire department and city, claiming he's been harrassed and discriminated against by his fellow firefighters during his service as a firefighter. Granger, who is black, says that he found a noose in his gear last year, and his lawsuit also notes that he was told to "step and fetch it." Granger says that when he complained, he was transferred, versus the whole firehouse being disbanded. He is also worried that other firefighters' attitudes towards him might put him at risk while responding to calls.

While it's hardly a documentary about the FDNY, we're read that the FX show Rescue Me does capture the good and bad of firefighters - and it does seem like a close, tightknit, and sometimes very bigoted group of people with deep problems (women, drugs, you name it).

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By Jen Chung in News on March 1, 2006 8:26 AM

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bebe

My retired firefighter uncle calls the FDNY the "last white man's social club in existence".

rev pays

Is this even news?

I thought it was a given.

One group complains, why don't you do the job? and when said group joins the job, the original group won't allow them to do the job.

so, why is the original group complaining?

Not news, been going on since NYC was built, ie the original draft riots that pitted one group against the other.

Dave H.

From the Television Without Pity recap of the show I mentioned above:

But Don's point is ruined when Tommy raises a hand. Don asks whom Tommy thinks he's prejudiced against. Tommy lists off, "Chevy Neons that cost twelve grand to buy but have eight-thousand-dollar paint jobs and nine spics inside smoking weed. That's one thing." Don interrupts to try to object to the term "spic," but Franco says it's okay, since he is one. Tommy continues, "Crazy Chink broads who don't know how to drive in the first place and now they got cell phones stuck to their ears while they're doing sixty-five miles an hour down Sixth Avenue. The crazy Chinks on bikes with ten pounds of Chinese food strapped to the handlebars." Don interrupts again to say that "Chink" is a problem word. Garrity raises his hand and says that he'd rather be called a Chink than a Gook. Don tries to list off all the terms that are offensive to the Chinese, but Franco interrupts to say that spics get ripped off when it comes to racial slurs, because they only have one. Franco lists off a number of slurs for Irish people, and Italians as well, with help from the crew. Tommy lists off some for Jewish people, and the whole crew chimes in with slurs for black people. Don is stunned at the litany of slurs being tossed around, and says that he wants them to watch a video. They really need David Brent to come in and facilitate this thing. With his guitar.

Don starts the video, which features a clueless white guy making inadvertent racially charged remarks to a number of minorities. Specifically, he thinks a black guy must watch sports, and refers to Asians as "you people." In the end, everyone is friends again, and the white guy hangs out with the black guy, the Asian woman, and a Jewish guy wearing a yarmulke and eating a bagel. When the video ends, Don asks what they learned. Tommy supplies, "Only white people can be racist?" Don says that's not the point, and Tommy lists off a number of racial groups that hate each other. Laura laughs with everyone else. Tommy adds that the only reason they're there is because someone on their crew called someone else a name. Lou says it was "twat," and Laura's mouth gets all tight. Tommy stands up and says that this whole thing is just to cover the bureaucrats' asses, so that if a disgruntled female firefighter files a suit, they can claims that the crew couldn't have done it, because they took sensitivity training. Laura looks uncomfortable and Franco glances at her, wondering if he should defend her, or if that would just cause more problems. Tommy concludes, "Next time I run into a burning building and refuse to bring out someone who's the same color as me, that's when you can bring my angry, sober, pink, Irish ass back down here." Tommy says he's going out for a smoke and walks out. And he's got a point, and then again, he really doesn't, but that's why I like this show. Don sends everyone out on a break.

Dave H.

There was a whole episode of "Rescue Me" where the stationhouse crew had to go to sensitivity training, which to the horror of the moderator devolved into an academic recitation of ethnic slurs as they applied to each member of the firehouse. Probably made light of a real problem in the FDNY, but it was an interesting take on the subject.