Fire Brigade ‘Discriminating Against White Men’
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| Report from Britain (Sep. 2001) |
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| The Racial Transformation of Britain (Aug. 2000) |
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A fire brigade has been accused of pursuing a policy of discrimination after it excluded white men from part of a recruitment drive.
Only women and people from ethnic minorities are allowed to attend four of the five open days being held by Avon Fire Service to attract new recruits.
The fire brigade said it was targeting specific groups because currently 97 per cent of its 921 employees are white men.
But MPs, serving firefighters and race relations groups questioned whether it was acting illegally by pursuing positive discrimination.
Phillip Davies, Tory MP for Shipley, said: “This sort of thing makes people’s blood boil, and does more damage than good to race relations in this country.
“How would people react if women and black people were banned from an open day?
“These campaigns are also enacted by white men, and it is deeply patronising.
“I don’t care whether the Fire Service is only made up of ethnic minority women as long as they are the best people at fighting fires.”
A serving firefighter, who declined to be named, claimed targeted recruitment drives were “not helpful” as they caused tension in the service.
He said: “It has a very negative effect on everyone. When we see people from black and ethnic communities working as a firefighter, the first thing you think is ‘Have she or he only got the job because of their minority origin?’
“It is not helpful to them as they may also feel that this is the case. Open, across the board recruitment is the only way to stop this.”
The Bristol-based charity Support Against Racist Incidents, which provides support to victims of racism at work, also criticised the drive.
Its director Batook Pandya said: “None of these days should be closed to white communities. Positive discrimination is illegal, it has to be a level playing field—that’s the law.”
At the open days, known as “have a go days”, potential recruits meet firefighters, use firefighting equipment, and hear about the selection tests, ahead of the application deadline on Feb 4.
Two of the six-hour sessions have been limited to women and ethnic minorities, one to ethnic minorities only and one to women only.
Avon Fire Service said engaging in “positive action” by encouraging more people from certain groups to apply for a job, which it said was lawful.
The Chief Fire Officer Kevin Pearson denied it was engaging in positive discrimination because the open days did not involve selecting people for jobs.
He said: “I totally refute the allegation that Avon Fire Service is engaged in any form of positive discrimination. It is unlawful and we would not do it.”
He added: “We are doing what we can to encourage applicants from women and minority groups who are currently under-represented in the fire service.
“It is my concern to improve diversity so the fire service reflects the community it serves and we can provide the best possible service. But that positive action stops at the point of selection. Once someone has applied, they are selected on merit.”
He said the service was aiming for 15 per cent of its workforce to be female, and three per cent to be from ethnic groups.
Two years ago, Avon and Somerset police paid compensation to a rejected white male recruit it turned down due to “positive discrimination”.
Ralph Welsman was one of 186 white men whose applications were rejected in favour of those from women and ethnic minorities.
Counsel told the force that its policy could have contravened the Sex Discrimination and Race Relations Act. The policy was later scrapped.
Avon Fire Service was at the centre of controversy last year when four firemen were disciplined for shining their torches at four gay men having outdoor sex in park bushes.
Two of the firemen were fined up to £1,000; one was demoted in rank and the other given a written warning.
Each of them was also ordered to attend an equal opportunities course titled “Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender Equality in the Fire Service—an absolute taboo?”
(Posted on January 28, 2008)
Comments
“Race in the ancient sense denotes extended family, and there is nothing more conservative than the defense of one’s family.” - Russell Kirk
Posted by at 6:04 PM on January 28
I would prefer a white male firefighter to fight fire. They are strong and professional. I don’t want women or blacks. Women aren’t strong enough to carry me and I don’t trust blacks.
Posted by realist at 7:38 PM on January 28
That’s what the definition of diversity has become, right?
Only inclusion of ethnic minorities and women
Everyone knows that’s why this country is in the state that it is. Our government won’t allow the best, but it will be ‘equal’.
If white men are the best firefighters, doctors, etc. out of a certain group; I would only want their help.
Posted by GAonMYmind at 8:16 PM on January 28
The Bristol-based charity Support Against Racist Incidents, which provides support to victims of racism at work, also criticised the drive. Its director Batook Pandya said: “None of these days should be closed to white communities. Positive discrimination is illegal, it has to be a level playing field—that’s the law.”
However, the closed recruitment drives are only half the problem. Even if white men were allowed to attend, they would still not be hired by personnel departments that probably have a quota.
“Positive Action,” Anglospeak for affirmative action, so its advocates tell us, isn’t a quota system. Looks like this story belies that.
Posted by St. Louis CofCC Blogmeister at 8:21 PM on January 28
Maybe ten or fifteen years ago, David Horowitz, the ex-Red, wrote an article about affirmative action in the San Francisco Fire Department. It told of everything you’d expect, ignorant Black fire captains, one of whom burned to death out of his own stupidity, cowardly females running out and leaving the men inside a burning building with no water, tiny Oriental women unable to lift the equipment. One Black female got a transfer because she thought the fire station was haunted, and the light duty slots, traditionally reserved by seniority for older, physically worn firemen close to retirement, were given to young runts. Any city that tries to protect itself with unfit people deserves to burn. The only thing I’ve ever admired about New York Mayors is that they’ve allowed the NYFD to remain largely a White man’s job. As Mayor Koch said, “I want firemen who can haul a 200 lb Mayor out of a burning building”.
Posted by Schoolteacher at 8:39 PM on January 28
Bristol City in Avon County has a fairly large black community. Now if they do not want to apply to be firemen, why should they be encouraged just because they are black? And it is described as “positive discrimination”? It is plain and simple discrimination which under British law is illegal. But more and more people are objecting to the Marxist crowds who have been in recent years trying to control Britain to be the way they want it to be.
Posted by Brian Deller at 10:19 PM on January 28
Merit and experience used to count for something when hiring new policemen or firemen, but now it’s all about race and gender and always at the expense of white men.
This so-called positive discrimination against White fire recruits is not only happening in Britain, but also in Canada according to this story:
http://torontonews.wordpress.com/2007/10/22/white-male-job-discrimination/
Posted by at 10:19 PM on January 28
As a resident of the county of Avon I’m outraged by this story and contacted the fire brigade to complain.
It is obvious that blacks are underrepresented in the fire brigade not because of discrimination but because they don’t want to be firemen. Ask young white boys what they want to do when they grow up and one of the stereotypical answers will be a fireman. Ask black boys and the answer will be different.
These people are not claiming that if a black was to apply for a job in the fire brigade and was the best applicant he would be passed over in favour of a white. They are claiming it is their duty to socially engineer a situation in which more blacks apply, which really isn’t their job.
As for women in the fire brigade, my grandmother served in the Birmingham Fire Brigade during the Second World War in the control room dispatching firefighters to where they were needed dure to fires caused by bombing. According to her the sky in Birmingham was red from the city of Coventry burning 20 miles away one night in 1940. As far as I know she did not demand the right to be an actual firefighter!
Posted by Ed at 10:46 AM on January 29
“It has a very negative effect on everyone. When we see people from black and ethnic communities working as a firefighter, the first thing you think is ‘Have she or he only got the job because of their minority origin?’
No, when there’s a fire and someone is killed, people will start to ask “did they get the job only because of their minority origin?”
“I don’t care whether the Fire Service is only made up of ethnic minority women as long as they are the best people at fighting fires.”
But it’s not okay to have white men who are the best people at fighting fires. The article mentions no negative impacts on the fire brigade from being mostly white male. Is that because *gasp* there are none?
Posted by Karl Alfred at 2:33 PM on January 29
If you are a white male in Canada you are last in line for just about anything.
Natives, women, blacks, cripples, mentally challenged, and other visible minorities are the preferred choices.
Traitor white politicians and stupid voters.
These stupid voters will one day pay the consequences big time.
Posted by at 3:20 PM on January 29
The same situation is occuring in the USA in many major cities.
Posted by at 5:16 PM on January 29
I do weight training and play sports, as well as having a very physical job- in short, I have about as much upper body strength as a woman can have without being a freakish female bodybuilder type.
My cousin is a firefighter and a trainer. He took me through the physical portion of the testing. I really couldn’t do alot of it, and some that I could, I couldn’t do fast enough for when time is of the essence and lives are at stake. There were points when I felt I might be slowing down the team.
Perhaps there are women out there who are excellent firefighters, but if I found it that rough, I really don’t see how many there could be.
I would think that nothing less than excellence would be requirement for that profession.
Hey women- if you want to get physical and save lives, be an EMT. You can do that- if you’re really strong and work out alot, anyway.
Posted by at 8:00 PM on January 29
Are white people this girly that they would tolerate such hatred against them? I cringe in my mind over this type of hatred against us. Aren’t there others out there like me who are willing to get out on the streets and shake our fists?
Posted by Elrey Jones at 10:08 PM on January 29
Here are the variables:1)a rapidly growing non-white population in America and Britain driving the population of both countries upward;2)resources becomming scarcer in both nations with each passing year. Possible rediction for both America’s and Britain’s futures:1)racial harmony or 2)violent racial conflict(another way of saying race-based civil wars)
A fool would predict number 1.
Posted by Jupiter at 7:23 AM on January 31