Poor Man's Lotto: Memoirs of a Black firefighter in America

For those of you who believe there is no racism or discrimination in America's Fire departments, think again. Poor Man's Lotto: Memoirs of a Black Firefighter in America brings to light the racial predjudices that are still part of this courageous group of men. Now only if they can find the courage to face their discriminatory practices. As Former Director of Emergency Services and Homeland Security, it disturbs me greatly and deeply that this continues to be a norm in this agency. Hopefully, Poor Man's Lotto will open not only your eyes but also your minds. Personally, I would be scared to go into a hazardous environment knowing how some of you really feel about Blacks!

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on November 13, 2009 at 5:10pm

I agree with you Jack, it wasn't the author making waves here.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on November 13, 2009 at 5:11pm

Peter, when I first responded to this discussion, it was about the issue of racism in the fire service (mostly). it digressed from there, as a result of a number of comments you made to and about people, in here and in general.

I think you forgot one important thing, you are not a firefighter. People (including myself) get more than a bit wound up when someone not a firefighter presumes to come in here and start lecturing us. Beyond that, you were making rather wild accusations as to who is or isn't a racist. And painting with an amazingly broad brush (not to put too fine a point on it) about how exactly you feel about white firefighters including (seemingly) all of us in here.

So you may want to re-think your thanks to me. I started out on your side, ended up on the other side. NOT because you're black, but because you lacked the ability to make or get your point across without being rude and offensive about it. I quote Michael C. Harrison, "and personally....I would still have no problem pulling you out of a burning building, even knowing how you feel about the fire depts in America, and specificaly how you feel about whites in the fire service.

And no matter how you feel about "us".....your welcome from the bottom of my heart

Stay safe
Jack

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Smoke Eater on November 13, 2009 at 5:16pm

Yeah, I'm with you Jack. The author of the book didn't want to make waves. He's just trying to get his book out there. And he is one of our own, unlike Pete.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Joe Stoltz on November 13, 2009 at 6:35pm

Ernest''s book is definitely on my Christmas list!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Alan Shaw on November 13, 2009 at 7:49pm

I am all for supporting a brother, but by buying his book it will put money in the pocket of the very publisher that many of these posts are by and most of our complaints are directed towards. If you are not going to blame the author for the sins of the publisher, you should also not reward the publisher for the hard work of the author.

Oh and I forgot to add, I am against closing this thread now or next week, unless there are specific terms violations by a large number of members in the thread. So far I don't see that happening.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Rusty Mancini on November 13, 2009 at 7:51pm

Jack,John,Capt. and Joe, I feel the same way! I think it's worth a look !!!

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on November 13, 2009 at 8:38pm

but by buying his book it will put money in the pocket of the very publisher that many of these posts are by and most of our complaints are directed towards. If you are not going to blame the author for the sins of the publisher, you should also not reward the publisher for the hard work of the author.

Yes, but here is how I'm going to do this. Book is on order, $12, not going to break me, but then I'll loan it out to others to read for free.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Loyd Dittfurth on November 13, 2009 at 9:32pm

Has anyone that has posted replies to this disscussion thought of the number one thing in advertising?

ANY PRESS IS GOOD PRESS EVEN BAD PRESS!!!

Maybe that was the point of peters arguing and keeping everyone interested in this very thread.

I dont know, but I will buy the book and I will read it before I make any assumptions about Ernest.

Besides I spend $20 on a lapdance $12 wont hurt me to much

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ernest Richardson on November 13, 2009 at 9:52pm

Gentlemen,

I'm glad to see that the mood have calmed down. We all have a story to tell but whos willing to tell it??? We all have been mistreated in this profession one way or another, and still love what you do like myself. As we just dealt with, one person can cause a firestorm. Think about it for a second. Some feel that if they support my book they are supporting the publisher. So that makes me "guilty by association", and I can understand some fellow brothers anger in this blog. The things that happened to me at work wasnt done by all white firefighters. Just a select few. I didnt treat all white firefighter bad because of them. That would be "guilty by association" right? I respect everyones view of this situation and sometimes as adults we need to voice our opinions about how we truly feel. Me being a black man I know everybody white is not my enemy and everybody black is not my friend, and because I feel that way I view people as people and not seperate them by race. One thing i learned in the Marine Corps is there are Light Green Marines and Dark Green Marine. I apply that attitute to the fire service. There are Light Blue Firefighter And Dark Blue Firefighters. We are all firefighters that wear blue and risk our lives to save others. Even if the people we are saving hate our guts because of our race. In life we all know that we have good people and bad people. Its just a matter of who we allow to influence us.

Stay safe brothers.....