More Accusations Of Racism Surface Against NY Fire Department

Black NY Firefighter Says N-Word Used Frequently By White Colleagues

NEW YORK — The former president of the Vulcan Society, a fraternal organization for Black firefighters in New York City, recounted numerous incidents of racial discrimination, saying Black firefighters were”effectively ostracized” by their white colleagues, yesterday in a discrimination trial agaisnt New York City’s Fire Department.

Paul Washington, 49, described rampant use of the N-word and detailed the startling low number of Blacks who are chosen to be New York firefighters. New York’s population is 26% Black, but only 3% of firefighters are Black, Washington told the court.

The New York Fire Department is so racism-riddled that just weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, someone defaced a flyer honoring the Black Bravest who died, an FDNY captain testified Monday.