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As there are delicate flowers that wilt when opinions contrary to theirs are presented, we will herein present “just the facts”. We also call on Vulcan President John Coombs to participate in a debate with me regarding the issues surrounding FDNY integration and the current lawsuit. It can be held at Vulcan Hall with a moderator of his choosing. Our contact information is at the top of this page. We also remind everyone that our essay contest, discussed in our release dated 12/30/11, is again open for entries. Now, some facts:
Current Vulcan Society leaders have been quoted, and we can provide the sources, making the following statements:
“The fire department killed Jamel Sears!”
Speaking of quotas: “...if they set numerical goals, the Vulcan Society would be all for that”.
“We just want more black firefighters on the job”.
Discussing the 1970s Federal court order that required the FDNY to hire one black for every three other candidates (a quota that resulted in blacks comprising almost 8% of the firefighting ranks): “That was good then, and we’d love to see that return even higher. We are not averse to the most radical of methods. If that’s what has to happen, that’s fine with us”.
FDNY promotion tests are “pretty fair” and allow black firefighters to advance; “the problem is getting in the front door” due to entrance exams that are biased. When asked in print to explain how one form of a written test could be fair and another not, this leader failed to answer.
About firefighting: “...there is some danger involved in the job but not nearly as much as people think”.
More on firefighting: “...fires eventually go out; it doesn’t matter who fights them”.
“I got a little upset and spoke out in a way that I shouldn’t have” said one leader after stepping out of the City Council Chamber to collect himself. He was referencing an audible comment he made while then - Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta was testifying. The comment asserted that Scoppetta wanted to make the FDNY 99% white. We don’t believe any disciplinary action was taken in this case.
“Mayor Bloomberg is a new version of George Wallace, who said, ‘Segregation now. Segregation tomorrow. Segregation forever.’” We are again unaware of any disciplinary action resulting from this personal attack.
There is one FDNY leader who was also a Vulcan who we agree with: Gus Beekman, one of two black FDNY Commissioners, said that rather than expecting special programs or simplified exams, applicants should be dedicated to becoming firefighters and must work hard on their own.
The Vulcan Society has aligned itself very closely with Black Panther/City Councilman Charles Barron, who once infamously said that he wanted to slap a white person to aid his mental health. There are so close that Capt. Paul Washington and he were photographed engaging in what was described as a “scuffle” with police and, in fact, Capt. Washington was arrested on that same day. Disciplinary action? We are unaware of any. Capt. Washington has also pronounced Malcolm X is one of his heroes and has repeated his call to violence, “by any means necessary”, when discussing FDNY integration.
A Vulcan member defied orders and attempted to gain entrance to a firehouse to have lunch with President Obama. He thought protocol should be waived because he was black and the Vulcans supported him in this belief. This defiance of orders has, to date, not resulted in any disciplinary action we are aware of.
There are more facts to review but for the time being we will stop here. Our goal is to point out that although the Vulcan leadership supports quotas (which discriminate on the basis of race), apparently has little if any respect for the dangers of firefighting, apparently is free to show disrespect to superiors and defy orders without consequence, can freely align themselves with someone who makes blatantly racist comments and even accuses FDNY members of killing someone, Merit Matters must be censored.
Go figure.
Paul Mannix
President - Merit Matters
516-848-9847 cell
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