Color Them White

By Craig Cox and Utne Reader
Published on October 26, 2007

While the heroism of the New York City Fire Department is undisputed, it has come under criticism for its lack of diversity. As Jane Latour notes inGothamGazette.com, the department employed almost twice as many black firefighters in 1965 than it does today. In fact, of the city’s 11,344 firefighters, just 321 are black and 341 are Hispanic. Only 29 women serve on the force. In 1965, there were 600 black firefighters in the 13,500-man force.

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