Greetings all; just weighing in on the issue of diversity and standards.  

First, let me say - let's not get caught up in the hype - when there is constant reference to "lowering the standards" in most instances it refers to women and people of color as they gain entry into any fire department organization.

Let's be clear - there is only "one" standard that determines if "any" firefighter is "qualified" to do this job - NFPA 1001: Standard for Fire Fighter Professional Qualifications.  

All fire service organizations or associated training entities should be teaching to this standard and nothing else.  This standard is recognized by both The National Board on Fire Service Professional Qualifications (Pro Board) and The International Fire Service Accreditation Congress (IFSAC).

Any discussion on lowering standards is just rhetoric designed to distract those that have no insight into this industry / profession.  Let's never fail to recognize the fact that these are trainable skills that require practice, commitment, and dedication to our craft.

The dialogue on lowering skills are separate conversations, and WE should not entertain that conversation and validate this absurdity under any circumstance.

All that I am I owe....I live eternally in the red. 

I have question on merit and standards, what are the standards for fire departments in America when the officer incharge of their company is off duty because of injury, vacation, sick leave, etc., who replaces that officer? "ACTING," most fire department use "Acting officers," who are those actors? They are those who have never taken a promotional exam or who have fail the exam or they never got promoted BUT they are RESPONSIBLE for the crew and the citizens of their city, well where is the MERIT?

Hotep All,
     Thank you for all of your very insightful comments. My own contribution centers on the standards and the standard setters being all too often incapable of seeing the world from a diverse perspective. If the ruling in the NYC vs the Vulcan's case indicated anything, it's the fact that the process includes too many steps where the voices of the totally unqualified are allowed to skew the result without checks to the advantage of the white males. The ruling in the Ricci case is another such example. The Supremes in that ruling failed to develop even the basic understanding of the process of validity, testing based upon actual experience, and the political context in decision making. The absence of effective standards renders the question of lowered or raised moot, weather one approaches the question from a goal of diversity or the trickier desegregation. As Les points out here, the goal of all efforts as it regards the nations Fire Service has and will remain the same, all white all male all the time and everywhere. That is unfortunately the standard to be achieved..... 

Diversity suggests that the “process” will begin with discussion  based on the viewpoint that everyone began / begins at the same starting point.  What has been eliminated from the equation is two basic facts;  black males are graduating from high school at rates below forty percent and hundreds of years of domination by Irish Catholic males, who are (all of a sudden) forced to share employment that they've always seen as their entitlement. 

 

It is also important to bear in mind that this discussion has been initiated by a white majority who (in a changing world) are fast becoming the minority! This race has never been run fairly and my obstacle has to do with respondents signing on to choruses of Kum Ba Ya as the solution!   Maybe someone can put me back on track . . . 

Brother Hyson, I don't really tie hiring goals and diversity initiatives in the same bundle. I see hiring goals as an equal employment opportunity position for the organization while, diversity initiatives reflect the organization's committment to developing recognition, understanding and appreciation of cultural differences among its employees and the community.

That recognition should maximize the organization's ability to respond to the unique needs within a given community and allow the employee to perform the duties of his/her job at full potential due to their ability to identify and connect with that community's needs, fears, expectations etc. 

I believe that performance can be enhanced by the inclusion of people who reflect those cultural differences and, a by-product of that inclusion is the creation of a workforce of top performers, who produce quality service for the organization and deliver quality care for the customer.

We,  have to speak the loudest about OUR our ability to meet ANY standard for the job, given the employment opportunity.

i believe diversity broadens the talent that is available without comprimising services