The Spook Who Sits By the Door Shares A First Hand Report of Bias in DC Training Academy

Good Morning,

My name is Nakia Martin. I am speaking on behalf of the Fire Fighters in the class of 355/356/357. I am a life-long resident of the District of Columbia. I was educated in the public schools of the District and have voted and paid taxes in the city of my birth.

It is my and my fellow/sister classmates’ belief that charges of conflict of interest and racial discrimination cut to the very core of the Fire Department’s community values. It is imperative that they be thoroughly investigated and pursued, wherever they lead. We are speaking up because we believe that there remain several issues that need to be examined. We would like to highlight a sample of evidence that might help decide whether our complaints have been given fair, diligent and thorough consideration. I would like to list some examples of the unfair practices we are experiencing.

1. The first week we went through 8 Chapters; 2^nd week 16 chapters; and the 3^rd week we went through 18 chapters. The course previously was 4 to 6 weeks. Our class was compressed into three weeks. When the Black recruits requested help from the instructors, our requests were ignored and we were not given any assistance. Meanwhile, the White recruits’ questions were addressed and their requests for assistance were always granted. We had only two practice exams. One of the instructors left the practice to speak on the phone and never returned to the class. When a seasoned Black firefighter tried to offer us assistance, we were accused of cheating.

2. We had nine different instructors who were all White. One of our instructors was a recruit from the previous class and was not a qualified instructor.

3. We also had an instructor, Sgt. Murphy, who tapped another female instructor, Libby, on her behind in front of the whole class. This was offensive conduct to the female recruits.

4. At least one instructor, instructor Libby, was not a nationally registered EMT and was not qualified to teach. This same instructor informed us that she believed we were being set-up to fail. This was stated in front of a number of recruits.

5. A lot of the White recruits were already experienced fire fighters and EMTs from other states and counties. The classes were geared toward experienced EMTs not beginners; they were taught as if the entire class was in a refresher course and were all experienced EMTs.

6. When we questioned why we were not allowed to keep quizzes so that we could study for the test the instructors just tore them up and did not answer.

7. Members of the class were threatened with retaliation if they continued to question or complained.

We are in the 21^st century and I find myself perplexed by the form of racial discrimination I face today. We have been placed on an unfair playing field and I find that racism continues to be a real force in American life with severe consequences; and I regret that we find it necessary to point out that discrimination is demonstrable and real today in the DC Fire Department.

I have always wanted to be a member of the fire department. I speak for the members of my class who have had the same ambitions as I. When we joined the Department, went through the physical training and passed, we did not expect to face the type of problems we have been experiencing since physical training has been over. In the past it has been the practice of people practicing discrimination to use biased testing and subjective reasons for not hiring individuals. My class is experiencing this in 2008. We believe that we were not on a level playing field. We request that we be given another opportunity where the playing field is fair.

The Spook Wants to Know: If a Trainer is not qualified to teach a trainee, how could he or she be qualified to fail that same trainee?

Things that make you go Hmmmmmmmm...