Firefighters Brett Munsey, left, and Kenney Chan, do not believe the FDNY is racist.
Perhaps one of the more perplexing things about Judge Nicholas Garaufis’ ruling was the assertion within that Asians were “Not a minority group,” in relation to this decision, especially when Asian-Americans are the MOST UNDER-represented ethnic group in New York City’s Municipal workforce!
It may become LESS perplexing, in light of a recent Queens Chronicle piece by Assistant Editor AnnMarie Costella, which is titled, “Asian Firefighters See no Racism in the FDNY.”
It virtually goes without saying that Asian-Americans are the ethnic group most NEGATIVELY impacted by affirmative action’s preferences. High-achieving Asian-Americans are, in effect, punished for their success and diligence, instead of rightly admired and rewarded for it.
How can anyone argue that the rest of America shouldn’t raise their own standards, in order to adequately compete with them, rather than to tear Asian-Americans down to “level” the proverbial “playing field?"
Kenny Chan, 31, has been a firefighter with Engine 324 in Corona for three and a half years. He is a native of Hong Kong, but his family immigrated to the United States when he was two years old.
He expressed his frustration to Ms. Costella over some candidates getting what he feels amounts to special treatment, given that he and others like him had to study hard to pass the exam. Ms. Costella reported that Ken Chan took classes, prepared thoroughly and built up his physical strength. “It’s like everything I worked for means nothing,” said Mr. Chan, “Why should someone get hired ahead of someone else because of their race? It should be based on who has the higher score on the exam.”
Brett Munsey, 43 and a member of Merit Matters, is of Filipino descent and is a 5-year veteran of the FDNY told Ms. Costella that he greatly enjoys the job and at no time during the testing process or his time in uniform did he ever experience racism by the FDNY or his fellow firefighters.
“From my perspective, there is no bias toward any ethnic group,” Mr. Munsey said. “It’s open to everyone and anyone who is eligible.”
Mr. Munsey, a former Navy-trained nuclear machinist, was living in Seattle when he decided to apply to the FDNY and he wasn’t going to let the daunting amount of travel stop him from completing the lengthy process.
Mr. Munsey saw a notice for the FDNY test on a nationwide firefighter job listing website and decided to apply. He had to fly to New York from Seattle four times at his own expense, paying $250 three times for a round- trip ticket and $500 once when he had to leave on short notice in order to complete each part of the exam — written, physical, psychological and the extensive background check. He is currently trying to create a fraternal group for Asian firefighters similar to the Emerald Society, the FDNY Hispanic Society and the Vulcan Society, since one does not exist.
How can a written exam be “biased” against black applicants, who, for the most part, attend the same New York City schools as do most Asian-American applicants and who DON’T have anywhere close to the same language and cultural barriers?Logically, it simply doesn’t make any sense.
And yet, Vulcan Society President John Coombs has often used Flushing, Queens (a predominantly Asian-American neighborhood) as an example of the FDNY’s language and cultural barriers as a rationale for...hiring more black firefighters?
How does that possibly address the unique issues facing the Asian-American community in New York City?!
Read Ms. Costella’s article at; http://www.qchron.com/news/queenswide/asian-firefighters-see-no-racism-in-the-fdny/article_b00166b3-d682-5d97-bb36-30188d2ff64e.html
JMK
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