According to the Associated Press, nine New York City Fire Department officials have been suspended without pay after several racist messages and memes were shared on their phones.
Some of the memes included ones that made fun of the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis last year.
The New York Times reported that the suspensions had been the most severe punishments ever placed in the history of the Fire Department of the City of New York.
Fire Department Commissioner Daniel Nigro said that the department began to get several complaints from Black firefighters and decided to look into it. After investigating, the department decided to suspend the nine firefighters without pay for anywhere from a couple of days to six months.
According to Nigro, one of the firefighters suspended is expected to leave the agency once his suspension ends, while three fire department officers were reprimanded.
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Nigro mentioned that the department had made an effort to integrate diversity initiatives and historically diverse classes into the academy in the last few years. Despite saying the department is actively working to become more inclusive, he also admitted to their failures.
“We’ve welcomed the folks in, and now we have to make them feel welcome,” Nigro told the outlet. “We have to make them feel as if they belong. And in some cases, we failed.”
The messages and memes shared by white firefighters were in mockery of Floyd’s last moments alive after Minneapolis officer Derek Chauvin’s killed him by suffocating him with a knee on his neck. It’s also reported that the officers shared other racist messages, including one which detailed the use of fire hoses on protesters.
Black firefighters said that they don’t feel that the suspensions are getting down to addressing the root of the issues within the department, adding that leaders have acknowledged that racism, sexism, and harassment have been looked past.
