May 07 2009
Reverse Discrimination in a Post Racial Society: Connecticut Firefighters Sue Over Promotion Exam
On November 5th 2008 Barack Obama took the stage to usher in a new era in American society. Barack Obama, the first African American President, was elected. President Obama suggested that we were living in the early days of a post racial society. Some may have believed that the new President’s statements about a post racial society were brash, others may have believed him naive. Regardless everyone had to acknowledge that a tremendous shift had occurred in a country that had ended the enslavement of African Americans only 146 years earlier.
Twenty firefighters in New Haven, Connecticut may dispute the “post racial” description of American society, as they prepare to argue their own discrimination case before the supreme court. Unlike many race issues in the past it isn’t blacks being prevented from advancement but whites. The city of New Haven, Connecticut determined that the recent promotion exams for lieutenants and captains were racially biased and through out the results.
According to an MSNBC report the numbers are as follows; the population is 44% white, 36%black, and 24% Hispanic. The fire department however breaks down as follows: 53% of all firefighters, 63% of lieutenants, and 86% of captains are white. 30% of all firefighters are black, 22% lieutenants, and only 4% are captains. The test also appears biased; of 118 candidates tested, 56 passed, and 19 scored high enough to be eligible for the15 lieutenant and captain positions. Of the 19 eligible candidates 17 were white and 2 were Hispanic.
At first blush it seems clear that to date, positions in the fire department are allocated disproportionately to whites, particularly in the upper level positions. Gary Tinney, in an interview with MSNBC stated that the test and the department have “hidden biases against minorities.” “I just call it the ‘the network,’” Tinney said.
The city and an independent council found that the test, though adhering to federal standards, was biased. A brief filed with the Supreme Court by the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology noted that the test, which was weighted 60% toward multiple choice, did not place enough emphasis on “leadership in emergency conditions.”
Frank Ricci, one of the white firefighters to pass and score sixth overall, stated that the details tested in the multiple choice section are critical to demonstrating an understanding of fire behavior and composition. Ricci a dyslexic explained that the material to pass was provided and available to everyone, and it took considerable effort for him to study and excel on the exam and he shouldn’t be punished.
The difficulty is finding real bias in the test itself. Though other fire departments weight the written portion of these exams less, everyone took the same exam. Is the suggestion that whites are somehow more capable of memorization and verbal computation than blacks? I doubt that that is the case being made before the Supreme Court. If the requisite number of minorities had passed would the quality of leadership represented in the exam still be in question. It seems like this is an arbitrary distinction and several deserving individuals are being stripped of an opportunity to advance. If New Haven wants to encourage or even force greater diversity in the leadership of their fire departments they should face the music and implement a quota, a very unpopular move for elected officials. Quotas punish the majority race while sullying the achievements of minorities. Regardless the back handed maneuver of blaming the test is disingenuous.
The supreme court is likely to find in favor of the white firefighters due to its current, conservative and anti-affirmative action make up. Either way it sets prickly precedents. If policies encouraging diversity are put in place, qualified white candidates will have precedent on their side, placing affirmative action legislation in peril everywhere it still exists. Which begs the question, “Do we still require affirmative action in President Barack Obama’s “post racial” society?”
