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Responsible Writing
While I said my piece on here and on Firehouse Zen, I guess a little follow-up is due in regard to the post insinuating that the fire service might be an extension of the....
The subject of racism in the firehouse is an compelling issue for discussion, as is some of the other close-minded actions of a small minority in our profession, but this is a very sensitive issue and has many other emotions intertwined within it. While I don't suggest we tiptoe around the problems, I do suggest that when discussing these issues, great care is taken to understand not only your point of view, but the reaction that your point of view will create when you voice it aloud.
There is never a good reason to "incite a riot". In fact, that is just what some of the rhetoric from the trolls seems to point toward, in order to get a reaction. And trust me, it is very difficult not to respond to some of it. But when you realize that you aren't actually engaging anyone in productive discussion but instead, feeding the miserable idiots who live for pissing people off, you realize you have wasted a good bit of your valuable time reasoning with someone who doesn't use reason.
As far as this issue goes, however, I don't see as being "troll-like", but an effort to generate discussion. But to generate discussion with an accusation, especially one so deeply ingrained in hate and bigotry, is simply irresponsible. It bothers me as a writer that someone who considers this to be their occupation would think that this would even be an acceptable approach.
I'm not angry or upset. I save that for the truly deserving and honestly, I know I'm not a racist and if someone wants to generalize us white males into a group of angry, hate-filled people, I know it's not true and I'm not losing sleep over it. I am, however, concerned that someone holding a "loaded gun" (in this case, a keyboard) decided to wave it around to get everyone's attention without considering the reaction. If you didn't think the response would be visceral, you certainly didn't know your audience.
While I am quite positive there are racists and Klan members in our midst and maybe even reading this right now, I don't think they're going to come of out hiding because Ms. Devone-Pacheco called them out.
The statement served to illustrate the difference between a child poking a stick in a hornet's nest and an adult doing the same. While the reaction is the same, the child didn't know what the reaction would be and I'd accept that they were sorry about the outcome; an adult should realize what was going to happen and take appropriate precautions and not doing so, probably deserves what was coming.
Don't make statements that will explode if you are desirous of enlightening; ask questions and listen. You'll find the results much more meaningful.
The subject of racism in the firehouse is an compelling issue for discussion, as is some of the other close-minded actions of a small minority in our profession, but this is a very sensitive issue and has many other emotions intertwined within it. While I don't suggest we tiptoe around the problems, I do suggest that when discussing these issues, great care is taken to understand not only your point of view, but the reaction that your point of view will create when you voice it aloud.
There is never a good reason to "incite a riot". In fact, that is just what some of the rhetoric from the trolls seems to point toward, in order to get a reaction. And trust me, it is very difficult not to respond to some of it. But when you realize that you aren't actually engaging anyone in productive discussion but instead, feeding the miserable idiots who live for pissing people off, you realize you have wasted a good bit of your valuable time reasoning with someone who doesn't use reason.
As far as this issue goes, however, I don't see as being "troll-like", but an effort to generate discussion. But to generate discussion with an accusation, especially one so deeply ingrained in hate and bigotry, is simply irresponsible. It bothers me as a writer that someone who considers this to be their occupation would think that this would even be an acceptable approach.
I'm not angry or upset. I save that for the truly deserving and honestly, I know I'm not a racist and if someone wants to generalize us white males into a group of angry, hate-filled people, I know it's not true and I'm not losing sleep over it. I am, however, concerned that someone holding a "loaded gun" (in this case, a keyboard) decided to wave it around to get everyone's attention without considering the reaction. If you didn't think the response would be visceral, you certainly didn't know your audience.
While I am quite positive there are racists and Klan members in our midst and maybe even reading this right now, I don't think they're going to come of out hiding because Ms. Devone-Pacheco called them out.
The statement served to illustrate the difference between a child poking a stick in a hornet's nest and an adult doing the same. While the reaction is the same, the child didn't know what the reaction would be and I'd accept that they were sorry about the outcome; an adult should realize what was going to happen and take appropriate precautions and not doing so, probably deserves what was coming.
Don't make statements that will explode if you are desirous of enlightening; ask questions and listen. You'll find the results much more meaningful.
Add a Comment
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Comment by Art "ChiefReason" Goodrich on December 19, 2009 at 2:05pm
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Rags should go into an air tight container and out of the way of direct sunlight.
From your friendly safety NATZIE.
Art
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Comment by Mick Mayers on December 19, 2009 at 1:24pm
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I've found that gasoline and an exothermic torch work too.
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Comment by Jack/dt on December 19, 2009 at 11:16am
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Ben,
Cindy et al only need to apply generous amounts of 'goof-off', it removes most types of paint spills, spatters and undesired comments.
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Comment by Ben Waller on December 19, 2009 at 6:31am
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Jack said it well - Cindy painted "broadly and carelessly". When you do that, you spatter people and things where the paint was never intended to go. That's why painters need to be careful painters and use drop cloths. "Sorry" doesn't make the paint spatters go away.
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Jack, et al;
Excellent points. No, unfortunately, I have no doubt that racism still exists. I travel the nation working with fire and emergency services and unfortunately, I still meet people from time to time that exhibit what I consider to be unacceptable but not overt racist behavior; racist jokes, comments, etc. But as these people would never probably go so far as to put a noose in someone's locker, their shaded comments don't hide the underlying feelings. And more so lately, it's not limited to African-Americans, but also to anybody perceived as being "different" than they. I live in a community with a large Hispanic population and I hear them called all sorts of things, like the fact that because they aren't black, in this case, it's okay to be derogatory. After all, they're just "mexicans", right? (A large number of the Hispanics or Latinos in our area are actually from places like Colombia and Costa Rica).
I would hope that we could purge the racism from our industry, but just as in society, you can continue to educate, disprove generalities and stereotypes, and demonstrate commonalities, but there will always be those who feel the way they do because they simply won't open their minds to any other possibility.
Furthermore, Art also makes a good point. When events like those he described occur (remember Tawanna Brawley?), it only makes our job of enlightening others that much harder. Being a white male officer, I have had individuals (infrequently, I must say) with "protected status" make statements that obviously showed me that they didn't know me very well, especially since I have a share of people in that broad classification who work just fine with me. I've found mostly that it's a case of someone trying to lean on that status to cover up their failure to do their job and I'm not afraid to call them on it, just as I would for anyone else on the job. That inference is just as offensive to me as well; it insults my willingness to look past the superficial and understand the person rather than their appearance and it certainly insults my intelligence.
Who knows? I wish we could all be model firefighters and do our jobs and work well together, but we can't get people to agree on the career vs. volunteer issues, and we think we're going to solve complex societal issues that have been inherent since the dawn of time?
This is the conversation that SHOULD have been occurring. Maybe we can set the example for others.
Mick
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Jack:
Excellent observations.
And since no one else has mentioned it (I think), who is to say that the noose isn't being "left" by the very same ethnic persuasion that it is supposedly targetting?
Does anyone remember the census worker recently found hung with the word "Fed" across his chest? Remember how it ended? HE hung himself. HE wrote "Fed" across his chest. But for a couple of days, cops were looking for a hate group.
My point is that we cannot take anything for face value anymore. We have been fooled too many times. So, cynicism is running rampant.
My thoughts, anyway.
Art
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Mick,
I'd like to address a couple of things that you've presented here. Firstly I suspect that the 'noose' article was just that, an article. Possibly it was the recent article that got the writer thinking about racism and how it relates to or why it exists in the fire service. After all, she does write for a fire service publication. But as I read, and re-read her blog it appears to me to be more a case of sloppy writing.
She paints broadly and carelessly with her last two posits, namely that "people" are trying to keep the fire service "strictly white guys" and that, by inference is in fact an extension of the kkk. She then carelessly misuses (and most likely misunderstands) the phrase "old school". I don't believe she fired the gun accidentally or on purpose. I still think it was lazy thinking and sloppy writing. That does not excuse her, in my opinion. She is a professional writer (journalist?) and as such, while we all make mistakes, at the level of her profession(alism) this is not an acceptable mistake.
My second point is directed towards your statement (of incredulity?) that racism (still) exists. Of course it does. It is naive to think otherwise. Racism is, in some respects not unlike regional accents and colloquialisms, you learn them as you grow up. If you never leave the area or associate only with others who "speak" like you do then you will retain your "accent" (racist beliefs) indefinitely. Education and regular exposure to diverse races, ethnicities and creeds tends to bring understanding and acceptance. Isolation and homogeneity breeds contempt and racism.
It shouldn't come as any surprise that racists do in fact exist in the fire service. Racism may be, to some extent controlled in the fire service (recent examples of tests and testing excepted) but it doesn't mean that the racists themselves have been driven out, only driven deeper. Jealousy and resentment tend to bring such attitudes to (or just below) the surface.
Immaturity (a failure to think through or thoroughly) may be the source of some of the racial occurrences but I think that for the most part, it is more ingrained and fundamental and is as resilient and persistent as bed bugs. And just as welcome.
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Kali- Don't worry about me. No problems here. Just wanted to reply to let you know that my "carefully worded response" was just that.
Art- Thanks, man.
Everyone else: Even I react to things sometimes and I'm certainly not saying that this issue wasn't deserving of some pointed conversation (and really, it's still not completely over). But as the designated adults, we need to sometimes step back and realize that there are some passionate feelings about certain issues and the intent shouldn't be to inflame but to clarify and comprehend.
Take the immature creeps who happen to be "firefighters" (I'm using the term loosely) that are setting fires for thrills. Does that make all firefighters arsonists? By no means. Would we be irate if someone painted us in that light? Certainly. But what it really comes down to is that there is a grain of truth in every statement and instead of reacting to it, we should be introspective and ask ourselves why the statement was made in the first place. Is it a perspective issue? Is it that the writer has had nothing but negative exposure to firefighters that have given them reason to believe this to be true? Or is it simply "waving that gun" I talked about.
When we have someone tarnishing our image, we do a pretty good job of running them off, in most cases. There are quite a few out there who will continue to give us that black eye. But in my experience in conflict management, when people make outrageous statements and generalize, there's probably a certain amount of frustration with the problem at hand and instead of walking away from it, we should strive to solve it.
The question is, where we have these people giving us a bad name, how do we recognize the behavior (because these personalities operate in the dark, it's not going to be overt) and then, having identified the problem, how do we get rid of it?
If someone tied a noose and put it in a fellow firefighter's locker on my watch, they'd be looking for a new job. How is it that in some departments, there is a "lack of institutional control" (as the NCAA terms it) and these departments continue to operate counter to the norms and mores of today's society? Do people just look the other way? Why?
Had Ms. Devone tried asking some questions to generate discussion instead of firing into the crowd, she might have gotten some more insightful dialogue. My suggestion is that since there really IS an issue, why is it so? Have we (as a society) not become more enlightened and understanding of others and realize that this kind of hate is completely unacceptable in a brotherhood?
I chalk it up to immaturity in a lot of cases and interestingly enough, it is that same immaturity that seems to surface when firefighters are found to be firesetters, when they are found to be stealing from the coffers, and when they host a strip party in their quarters. It is simply a lack of understanding the "big picture" and either not caring about, not knowing, or knowing there won't be any, consequences.
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Comment by Joey "BigShow" De Piano on December 18, 2009 at 12:18pm
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Hey Bro I appreciate the approach you are taking here and by no means am I losing sleep over her lack of good reporting,I am not angry over the accusation about racism its every where just a fact of life in our world for centuries and not just towards blacks either, I am more pissed off that she had the ignorance to say that we join the fore service to be labeled a HERO do some yes just like some have hidden agendas i am sure but most to all of us do this for love or generations of bloodlines before us, and that coupled with being told "those white guys and the KKK" is nothing more than a spit in our faces as a whole, I am sure some think my response to harsh or I blew off steam used on a mindless person and it was but we the Fire service take pride in not only our brotherhood but the lack of "blackeyes" we do to ourselves yes we all have the occasional one who leaves a mark on us but over all we do pretty damn good job of being a higher standard, so when some ignorant pencil pusher with a loaded keyboard sounds off i feel just like we would have to in a mistake she should be held accountable for her actions and start looking for a new job or career in the field of less public forum venue she just doesn't deserve her status yes we all make mistakes and MOST of us answer to them, i wanna know aside from sorry what she will answer ro or her magazine.
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I think that the absence of comments is as telling as the comments themselves. While this is more than a bit hyperbolic I think it makes the point: " All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing."
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